During an online meeting, the UNISON’s national executive council (NEC) discussed at length the result of the recent NJC strike ballot, which was in favour of taking industrial action despite failing to meet the government’s 50% turnout threshold.
And despite the low turnout, general secretary Christina McAnea confirmed that “pay is still our number one priority”.
The general secretary said that the union would continue to vigorously campaign on pay and would be reaching out to members and asking them what would motivate them to return ballot papers in the future.
The NEC also heard that UNISON would be working collaboratively via the TUC with other unions on the impact of pay across both private and public sectors.
Ms McAnea went on to remind the NEC that the union’s response to COVID-19 and the ongoing Omicron variant remains one of its top priorities.
“UNISON continues to update our advice at national, regional and branch level including risk assessments and return-to-work policies,” she said.
“The pandemic still remains a key priority and staff across the union are working incredibly hard on it.”
The NEC also:
- sent a solidarity agreement to Carmarthenshire County Council branch as it is engaged in a dispute over the council’s failure to adhere to the winter gritting collective agreement;
- discussed work around analysing pay rounds and the data on pay settlements so that the union could learn how to campaign more effectively on pay in the future;
- noted the work done across the union and with other organisations on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Court Bill as it continues its passage through Parliament;
- reiterated the union’s stance campaigning against mandatory vaccinations;
- agreed the union’s budget and financial plan for 2022-2024.
