National media team
These numbers are for media use only, not for queries about membership or general enquiries about the union. If you email outside office hours, please do follow up with a call, text or WhatsApp message so you can be sure that we’ve seen.
Liz Chinchen E: press@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
A UK-wide campaign aimed at reminding the public of the importance of public services –and those that provide them – is to be launched later today (Monday) in Liverpool. UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis will launch the campaign – Public Service Champions – at a fringe at the Labour party conference. It invites people to […]
Commenting on Jeremy Corbyn’s re-election today (Saturday) as the leader of the Labour party, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “Jeremy Corbyn has won because he’s captured the imagination of party members. I’m proud that our union nominated Jeremy for leader. “People are inspired by his promises to end austerity, fix our broken public services and build a […]
Healthcare assistants (HCAs) working in the NHS are doing the jobs of nurses without the equivalent pay or education, says a report from UNISON published today (Friday). Two in five (39%) say they have not received the training necessary to provide the care expected of them such as looking after dementia patients, according to the […]
Seventeen homecare workers employed across the London Borough of Haringey are taking care company Sevacare and the council to court.
The pay of teaching assistants should be agreed nationally like that of teachers, then local councils would not be able to undermine their earnings and working conditions, says UNISON today (Wednesday). Unlike teachers, many teaching assistants now get paid only during term time. Government spending cuts have forced cash-strapped local authorities to move them to […]
Sunday 11 September 2016 For immediate release The government must use the Brexit negotiations to build a new, fairer Britain, and should start by throwing off the shackles of austerity, says UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis today (Sunday). Speaking in the debate on the impact of the EU referendum vote upon the UK economy and […]
12 September 2016 Unions will today (Monday) be protesting outside Lister Hospital in Stevenage against an offer of cash incentives by East and North Hertfordshire NHS trust to nurses who opt out of the NHS pension scheme. The trust is offering higher salaries to new starters and existing staff in a bid to fill 200 nursing […]
Friday 9 September 2016 For immediate release Commenting on the prime minister’s speech about grammar schools today (Friday), UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The country may be under new management, but the Conservative Party’s obsession with grammar schools remains the same. “Grammar schools are outdated relics, removed in most parts of the country for very good reason […]
Friday 26 August 2016 For immediate release Responding to the Local Government Association call for councils to have oversight of academy school finances, UNISON national secretary for education Jon Richards said: “UNISON has raised cases of suspected financial irregularity with the Department for Education, Education Funding Agency and the National Audit Office, all of which […]
More than a million families with a household income below £30,000 are in extreme debt, and ongoing wage stagnation is making the problem worse, according to a new report published today (Tuesday) by the TUC and UNISON. The report, Britain in the Red, finds that total unsecured debt (which excludes mortgages) for UK households rose […]
At least half of councils have cut youth service spending in the past year as amount cut from service over the past six years hits £387m
The committee decision follows discussions at regional and national level, and a consultation of UNISON members who are affiliated to the Labour party
Failure to honour the minimum wage is endemic across the care sector as many homecare workers are unpaid for the time they travel between home visits – which can be up to a fifth of their working day, says UNISON today (Thursday). The union is urging the government to end the systematic underpayment that it […]
Government proposals to force the 89 local government pension funds to invest in infrastructure projects have prompted over 100,000 people to sign a petition calling for a debate in Parliament, says UNISON today (Friday). The proposals are part of the government’s attempt to create six new multi-billion pound British wealth funds. UNISON is concerned that […]
Responding to the announcement today (Thursday) that the government is to plough ahead with scrapping nursing bursaries and replacing them with loans and fees, UNISON head of health Christina McAnea said: “It was clear from the start that this consultation was a sham. Ministers have simply not listened. They seem not to care that in […]
