UNISON delegates at the TUC congress in Brighton vowed to fight back against the ‘war’ which general secretary Dave Prentis said the coalition had declared “on our people”.
Moving a composite motion on austerity, Mr Prentis, had called for the March for a Future that Works on 20 October to be a “launch pad” for an organised, united campaign against austerity.
Saying the coalition had “declared war on our people” through the pay freeze, pushing workers closer and closer to economic oblivion while the rich remain untouched, he added that industrial action would be the inevitable response if the government refuses to bring an end to austerity (full speech here).
Picking up on that theme in the debate on pay, Jane Carolan declared: “As far as pay cuts go, we have never been all in this together.”
And she urged delegates: “We must say no to local variations in pay that make no economic sense,” while showing members “that there is another way, that pay cuts are not inevitable.
“To challenge the pay freeze, we must do so as trade unionists taking collective action.”
And when it came to regional pay, said Nicky Ramanandi, “these plans come from the government’s desire to run down the pay of public service workers by creating a race to the bottom.”
And while the NHS in the south west had been at the forefront of headlines in this race to the bottom, “It’s not restricted to the south west. Plans are afoot in the north east and elsewhere to do likewise.
“What we can be sure of is the threat of a domino effect: once the employers get away with it in one part of the country, others are sure to follow.
“The campaign in the south west has become increasingly high profile and this is another fight that we must win.”
And as congress discussed defending the NHS in the wake of the government’s Health and Social Care Bill, Roz Norman called on the hall to remember that “this is not an NHS that was failing. Quite the opposite…
“International comparisons, patient satisfaction levels and opinion polling all showed that the NHS was more popular and more successful than ever.”
But, she urged, “it’s not all doom and gloom”.
Unions fought a hard campaign against the Act, and now it has been passed “we will continue that fight to protect the NHS for future generations.
“We must use every means at our disposal within the new system to defend our NHS.”
Another key debate focussed on action to protect health and safety.
“The government and parts of the tabloid press,” said Sarah Brown, “have cooked up a cauldron of lies that health and safety enforcement is all an unnecessary diversion, and laws essential to the health and safety of our members are somehow responsible for job losses, rather than the government cuts and irresponsible negligence of their friends in the banking sector.”
And, she told congress, “the cuts inflicted on the Health and Safety Executive mean there is a vacuum which only safety reps can fill.
“If the HSE isn’t going to do any proactive inspections our safety reps must provide them with the evidence so that they are forced to act …
“So here’s to more troublemakers! We must make sure that employers understand their responsibilities; and that their negligence can lead to an injury, illness or even worse a loss of life.”
20.10.2012 – marching for a future that works
UNISON’s Our NHS, Our Future campaign
UNISON’s health and safety zone