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Dave Prentis is UNISON’s general secretary – the highest elected post in the union. He speaks up for UNISON members, campaigns for public services and leads the union.
Read Dave’s blog for views on issues UNISON is working on and information on what he’s doing.
UNISON will always stand up to those who seek to privatise our NHS – or any public service. The ideological push to dismantle the health service and put it into the hands of those who care more about profit than decent care will always be resisted. Right now, the incredible domestics of PAH are on the frontline of that fight. And our whole union stands with them.
For those working in local services, these elections decide who runs the local councils who employ them or manage their services. A change in council leadership can mean the difference between jobs maintained or lost. It can mean greater support for a service – or its abolition. It can make the difference between privatisation or services coming back in house. It can make the difference between decent pay or poverty pay.
Keeping our members safe at work is one of the most important tasks that trade unions can do. Today, let’s remember how far we’ve come in that fight – and how much more there is to do.
Lyra McKee’s death last week shocked us all. Today as her funeral takes place, we share in the collective grief and sadness at the loss of a friend of our union.
There’s a huge amount of work to do, but I know that our union is up to the task – and that every time we build our union, we make it easier to support, defend and represent our members in the decades to come.
Our union, the union we have built together, is perfectly placed to lead and win that fight. And I know that our incredible health activists, at this conference and around the country, will be at the forefront of that.
Twenty years on from the bold, landmark decision to establish a National Minimum Wage, it is time for a new landmark – a real Living Wage for all, regardless of age, that everyone in work can afford to live on. Doing so would meet the original aim of the National Minimum Wage – a decent salary for all. And that is what our union will continue to fight for.
This week, MPs will focus once again on trying to resolve Brexit, and rightly so. But when a government is elected, we expect it to be able to govern – not blame all of society’s problems on someone else. Whatever happens with Brexit in the days, weeks and months ahead, we need to see proper attention given to the real, daily problems that working people face – and action taken.
We’re balloting our Environment Agency members on industrial action. Our members are dedicated and hard-working and devoted to their jobs, keeping us all safe. They feel – with much justification – that the Agency has taken advantage of this dedication.
It will take all of us who care about equality and fairness playing our part to overturn these structural inequalities in our society. Yet the work our union and others have done already shows we can achieve real change.
Today is International Women’s Day, when across the world we celebrate the achievements of women and call for greater equality. As not only the UK’s biggest union for women, but the largest organisation for women in the UK, it’s a big day for UNISON and our members.
It’s difficult to see how Universal Credit can continue to deliver anything but misery for many. It’s difficult to see how any government – even this one – can justify ploughing on regardless in the face of such overwhelming evidence. The government needs to end the five week wait – but they also need to think again about Universal Credit, full stop, before any more damage is done.
The impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland cannot be reduced to simplistic quotes about borders or considered only as an afterthought. For UNISON – and for Parliament – it must be integral.
UNISON women are the majority of our members and the heartbeat of everything that we do – so it’s only right that women are a majority in our democratic structures too. That’s not an accident, that’s integral to how our union works and how our union succeeds.
We’re fighting every step of the way to win our case on “sleep ins” – making sure care workers who stay overnight with the vulnerable people they care for receive the pay they deserve for their work. And this week we were granted permission to take our case to the Supreme Court.
