On Sunday 15 June, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea (pictured) gave a powerful speech to delegates at the union’s annual local government service group conference, hosted in Liverpool.
“It’s been another difficult year in local government, with services still suffering from a massive funding crisis, which we know is a result of 14 years of Tory cuts,” she said.
“Cuts from a Conservative government that simply did not understand the value of the work that our members do.”
Ms McAnea described the Conservative party’s austerity cuts as a ‘pattern of deliberate neglect’.
In contrast, she said that she believes the new government truly understands the value of local government workers, as evidenced by a new ‘welcome’, funding boost of £3.4bn for councils announced in the government’s spending review on Wednesday.
Reform
Ms McAnea addressed the recent success of Reform in local elections, and the threats they have made to local government workers.
“This is a party led by posh private school boys with huge personal fortunes,” she said. “They pretend they’re just ordinary blokes, but I don’t think anyone in this room will be fooled by this ‘we’re a friend of people’ act because the day after local government elections, they were threatening to sack local government workers.”
However, Ms McAnea detailed how UNISON saw a surge in new members in the areas where Reform performed strongly in local elections.
“The number of new joiners in the ten Reform-controlled councils shot up by an average of 272% in the week after the results were announced.”
“Since then, Reform’s had a fair few things to say about local government, none of it good. Like axing the pension scheme for council staff. And while these plans are as badly thought-through and financially illiterate as you’d expect, they do at least reveal where Reform are coming from and whose side they’re on.”
“We know they hate things like workers’ rights, they vote against them every time they come to parliament.”
School support staff
Ms McAnea celebrated UNISON’s influence in the government’s employment rights bill, which she called ‘the biggest improvement to workers’ rights in a generation.’
Thanks to UNISON, the bill brings in bargaining structures for schools staff and care workers.
“The Tories ignored, dismissed and undervalued school staff,” she said. Ms McAnea said the re-instatement of the SSSNB is a ‘win’ for the union and is proud that UNISON will be the biggest union on it as the biggest union for school support staff.
“We have a quarter of a million members across the UK who are school support staff, and our members will have a say in their pay and conditions and what happens.”
“Our work in schools isn’t only about pay,” she continued. “Whenever I speak to members in schools, it’s clear they worry about their health and safety at work.”
“The school system, and children and young people, face enormous challenges. That does not mean our members should have to suffer violence and abuse, this is completely unacceptable. It is not and never will be a part of the job. That is why we have made tackling abuse and violence a top priority for the union.”
Fair pay for care workers
“Care workers are coming from a different place,” she said. “There’s never been a dedicated pay agreement or body for this group before.”
“We know we’ll need to push the government to make sure the money is there. But this will give a voice to workers who have been ignored for too long.”
Ms McAnea expressed her disappointment that, instead of introducing a national care service, the government are commissioning a review.
“We always knew that getting a care service would take a long time,” she said.
“What we did, was say right from the beginning: ‘get it right for the workforce, and you get it right for social care and the people who depend on it.’”
While that might be taking longer, the fair pay agreement and the work on the fair pay agreement has already started; meetings are being held. And we’re told there will be dedicated funding for this. Will it be enough? Probably not, but it will be a move in the fight direction.”
“We will keep our foot on the accelerator when it comes to pushing for fair pay and decent conditions for our members who work in the care sector,” she said.
Ms McAnea movingly spoke about her own recent personal experiences with the care service.
“Sadly my husband died last November. In the last few weeks of his life, he was at home, and we had care workers coming in.”
“To begin with, we had care workers coming in from the local hospice, where UNISON is the recognised union. They were UNISON members, they were fantastic.”
“We had them for about a week, and then we had a care package in place, and we were given to some other company that none of us had heard of, basically the hospice didn’t even know who we were. They were off the street, had no experience, nobody had briefed them on how you deal with a terminally ill patient who is in a lot of pain.”
“I saw the fear in their eyes when they were faced with circumstances they didn’t know what to do with and were immediately on phone to their supervisor.”
“That makes all the difference between a unionised workplace and a non-unionised workplace. A unionised workplace, working with employers pushing for standards, for training, for decent pay, and that is what we have to continue to do and keep our foot on the pedal to make sure that happens.”
Organising to win in local government
Speaking about local government pay, Ms McAnea said, “I’d like to congratulate everyone for their work on the strike ballot,”
She commended activists in Wirral, Knowsley and Barnet in particular.
“We are currently consulting on this year’s 3.2% offer. It’s not enough. And if we get a reject vote, we also need to look at the turnout and we need to think about how we play it.”
“You only win ballots by listening to members and engaging with them on the issues that matter to them, and we’ve had such great successes locally, like the one close to here with Livv Housing.”
“In Scotland a few days ago, the industrial action ballot closed. Members had made it clear that the 3% they’d been offered was not enough, and it was the threat of strikes there that forced the employers to make an improved offer.”
‘We are making a difference’
Ms McAnea ended her speech on a positive note, referencing the increased budget for local councils that was announced by in the government’s spending review this week.
“The increase in local government funding on Wednesday didn’t happen by chance, it’s a result of union’s campaigning work. The return of the SSSNB is what members want, and is the result of our campaigns.”
“We are making a difference. You are making a difference.”
“But it won’t be plain sailing from hereon in,” she warned. “Sadly there is no magic wand, and I believe until we see a change in fiscal policy from this government, and we start to tax wealth in this country, money for public services will continue to be tight.”
“So we do have to keep up the pressure on governments across the UK and with employers. No matter what party is in power. And we must keep campaigning together on the things that matter to our members and keep winning for our members.”
