National media team
These numbers are for media use only, not for queries about membership or general enquiries about the union.
Anthony Barnes is on duty for the bank holiday weekend of 4/5/6 May. If you’ve already sent an email, please do follow up with a call, text or WhatsApp to ensure we’ve seen. Many thanks
Liz Chinchen E: l.chinchen@unison.co.uk M: 07778 158175
Fatima Ayad E: f.ayad@unison.co.uk M: 07508 080383
Anthony Barnes E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk M: 07834 864794
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are facing long waits for appointments at gender identity clinics and being denied specialist mental health counselling because of cutbacks, says new research published today (Tuesday) by UNISON. Sexual health and youth support has also been scaled down. This has resulted in reduced opening hours, cuts to the […]
Government plans to increase the small claims limit for personal injury claims will deny many thousands of employees made ill or injured by their jobs every year the ability to take cases against negligent employers, says UNISON today (Friday). A consultation published by ministers seeks to increase the small claims limit for personal injury claims […]
A ten-year strategy launched today (Wednesday) to transform policing does not address the serious decline in staff numbers, according to UNISON. Police Vision 2025, drawn up by police chiefs and commissioners, will fail unless the government pays for more officers to patrol the streets, says the union. Community policing has become much harder to carry […]
Vulnerable older people are being denied regular showers and visits to the toilet because of cuts to social care budgets, a UNISON report has warned today (Friday). The Damage: Care in Crisis is based on a survey of more than 1,000 staff across the UK working in homecare, residential support and day services, and looking […]
UNISON has today (Monday) authorised a national hardship fund to ensure that no teaching assistants on strike in Durham suffer financial hardship. The fund, made up of an initial £150,000 will be administered by the union’s northern region. UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “Today I have personally authorised £150,000 from the union’s industrial action […]
Nearly 100 primary schools across County Durham will be affected tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday as teaching assistants strike in a long-running dispute over cuts to their pay. School support staff plan to protest at dozens of picket lines across the county over the two days. This will mean the closure of some schools completely, says […]
Government plans to reform the delivery of children’s social care have been overwhelmingly rejected by practising social workers in a new report published today (Wednesday) by UNISON. UNISON says the proposals could prove dangerous for children and fail to tackle any of the fundamental problems social workers deal with on a daily basis. UNISON says […]
Monday 31 October 2016 For immediate release Teaching assistants in Durham will take strike action on 8 and 9 November in the long-running dispute over cuts to their pay, their union UNISON has announced today (Monday). This follows a ballot over Durham County Council plans to move teaching assistants to term-time pay. This could see […]
An agreement to be signed today (Monday) between UNISON and the London Borough of Croydon promises to deliver improved homecare for residents and more support for the borough’s homecare workers. The signing takes place on the same day that London mayor Sadiq Khan announces the Living Wage Foundation’s new real living wage rate for the […]
An agreement to be signed today (Thursday) between UNISON and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham promises to deliver improved homecare for residents and more support for the borough’s homecare workers. Signing the charter commits the council to allocating enough time for home visits so workers have time to talk to clients, not rush […]
Thursday 27 October 2016 Hard-pressed health service staff are turning to high-rate loans, pawning their belongings and visiting food banks as they struggle just to make ends meet, according to research by UNISON. Financial hardship has led to almost half (49%) of those who took part in a major survey to seek financial help from […]
