- Conference
- 2021 Virtual Special Local Government Service Group Conference
- Date
- 1 January 2021
- Decision
- Carried
Conference recognises the efforts made by the sector committees and branches in pursuing the union�s ‘Pay Up Now!’ campaign in recent years, even during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Covid has highlighted the need for a new approach to pay in local government. Throughout the pandemic, local government workers proved themselves to be indispensable � keeping our communities safe and providing essential services, often at the expense of their own wellbeing. The increased public recognition of the work our local government members do, has shone a light on the real problems they have with pay. Pay in local government is too low and it has fallen in real terms over the last decade. Many local government workers have gone �above and beyond� during Covid-19, working extra hours for no extra reward, at the expense of their own safety and work-life balance.
Conference condemns the Westminster Conservative government�s public sector pay freeze, announced in December 2020. Local government workers have showed throughout the pandemic that they provide vital public services, keep our communities safe and well, and they often put themselves at risk during the pandemic so as to serve the public. Their work has become more recognised by the public over the last year. It is outrageous that the government now seeks to cut their real pay. The millions of pounds given by Tory ministers to families and friends for contracts during the pandemic shows there is plenty of money available.
It is clear that without concerted political, legal and industrial campaigning from UNISON and other trade unions, public sector pay will continue to fall behind.
Conference believes that organising and pay campaigning are intrinsically linked. The larger and more active our membership is, the stronger our pay campaigns will be. And with stronger pay campaigns, we will recruit more members and identify more active reps and local leaders.
Conference notes the success of the Scottish local government committee and branches� pay campaign over 2017 and 2018 which resulted in record levels of recruitment, member engagement and improved offers. Conference also notes that despite the restrictions caused by the pandemic, the digital-based NJC pay consultation in 2020 produced a vastly improved turnout.
Conference believes that while digital balloting is no substitute for face to face engagement with members, it is a vital complement to it, and if used appropriately can help strengthen the union�s recruitment and organising.
Conference affirms that industrial action conducted within the law and UNISON�s rule book is an important plank of our pay campaigns, and must remain so. The Trade Union Act 2016 put in place unacceptable and stringent constraints on our members� right to take industrial action in defence of their pay, chiefly the 50% turnout threshold. But many UNISON campaigns at local level have shown that when the issue is deeply felt and the membership is organised, the threshold can be met, and successful action can take place. This in turn increases recruitment and organisation. It is vital that we learn the lessons from these campaigns.
Conference notes and supports the democratic autonomy of the various sectors within the service group to conduct pay negotiations and make decisions around them. Conference also reaffirms the importance of the union�s devolution protocol as well as the structures created within the service group to safeguard devolution within its democratic framework.
But Conference believes we need a service group wide cross-sector strategy for local government pay campaigning that brings together as many members, activists, branches, regions and sectors, to strengthen our drive for equal, fair and better pay for our members in local government, and that links pay and organising by responding to members� priorities, and organising and building campaigns around them. This strategy should:
1) Build on the increased public awareness, during the Covid-19 pandemic, of how indispensable local government workers are in all of our communities, and use this to highlight the problems with local government pay;
2) Ensure that our pay campaigning builds on the increased profile and support for local government workers among the public and politicians that has arisen from the Covid-19 pandemic, to help secure decent pay increases. The pay campaign also must be linked to a high-profile campaign to increase funding for Local Government so that pay is not pitted against services and jobs;
3) Further explore a broad range of digital balloting and communicating, to help increase participation and engagement in pay ballots and campaigns;
4) Respect democratic sector autonomy, and the union�s devolution protocol and other devolution structures;
5) Recognise the loss in real terms pay that members have experienced since 2010;
6) Recognise the importance of having equality proofed pay structures;
7) Recognise the importance of all of the equality strands in the context of pay, for example the ethnicity pay gap;
8) Feature a strong focus on organising � recruiting members, getting members involved, and identifying activists;
9) Feature a clear industrial action strategy, working with the NEC and in full compliance with the UNISON rule book and trade union and industrial action legislation;
10) Develop a comprehensive process to ensure that lessons are learnt from all ballots where the turnout is high and a vote for action is achieved, so that good practice can be applied across the service group;
11) Develop a more systematic process for co-ordination of local disputes, where possible.
12) Be linked closely to our campaign for a better funding settlement for local government in the post-pandemic world. Local government has been under-funded for a generation, and a new resource settlement from central government is needed for all aspects of local government expenditure – including pay;
13) Recognise and deal with the issues with pay bargaining and campaigning in fragmented and outsourced areas;
14) Be high profile, with a strong media and social media presence.
Conference calls on the Service Group Executive to work with the sector committees, regions, self-organised groups and the Private Contractors� Forum, to develop and implement a pay campaigning strategy based on points 1) to 14) above.