- Conference
- 2014 Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 7 December 2013
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference notes the continuing trend for NHS Trusts to outsource services such as Learning Disability Services, to companies such as Thera, Creative Support, and others.
Increasingly members who are transferred to such organisations under TUPE, have seen serious attacks on terms and conditions.
In some cases, the transferred staff, on protected NHS terms and conditions, may represent a small proportion of the overall workforce in the new Provider. In the majority of cases, senior branch officials will be employed by the core NHS employer and will not have facility time to adequately support members with these serious problems in outside employers. These problems may result in those Reps transferred to the new employers (should they exist, and the members themselves, feeling very isolated in fighting these attacks.
Conference therefore calls on the Health Service Group Executive to:
1)continue working with all relevant bodies within UNISON to resist outsourcing by all appropriate means at our disposal;
2)prioritise recruitment within these organisations, since high membership density is important in resisting attempts to drive down pay and conditions;
3)ensure that regions provide adequate support to outsourced members and their representatives, including direct involvement in negotiations, and representational support where necessary.