UNISON’s summer of campaigning gets off to a big start this weekend, with activists out in force at both the Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival, and the Durham Miners’ Gala.
At Tolpuddle in Dorset, the union’s south west region is organising a wide range of activities – with a particular focus on NHS members’ fight against an unprecedented attack by the South West Pay Consortium.
This is effectively a pay cartel that wants to cut pay and terms and conditions by moving away from the nationally agreed framework.
The region is organising a UNISON diary room, which will record visitor’s views on the importance of trade unions, what the current austerity measures mean to them and the importance of joining a union.
These vox pops will be uploaded to the regional website and posted to social media sites such as Facebook.
Find out more here.
And the union will also be present in Durham for the annual miners’ gala. Clare Williams, UNISON regional convenor said: “There has never been a more important time for working people to voice their opposition to the Tory-led government’s attack on everything: from decimating public services, to welfare reform, to threatening the future economic recovery of the country.
“The region is fighting back and the Durham miners’ gala on Saturday will show the strength of anger people feel about what the government is doing.
“UNISON is committed to defending services and communities. We are campaigning for an alternative economic policy that invests in the public sector, delivers social housing and supports growth.
“Through the Public Services Alliance we are bringing local people together to fight for services to our communities. As citizens we do care what is happening to the services that affect us not only as workers but for our families too.
“The gala is an opportunity to show the strength of feeling that the government has got it so wrong with their austerity policies that are destroying peoples’ lives.”
To find out more about UNISON in the northern region, click here.