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
Commenting on government proposals for all schools to become academies and have longer working days, UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said: “Forcing all schools to become academies will do little, if anything, to improve the quality of education. “Many schools want to keep their links with local authorities and not be forced into academy trusts. […]
Commenting on the report published today (Saturday) by the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said: “Rather than sit on the sidelines and watch as jobs are lost in energy, this report shows how the government could be leading the way, and actually creating employment in the sector, by launching […]
The strike over pay due to take place tomorrow (Wednesday) at the charity Action for Children, by members of Unite and UNISON, has been suspended. This is to allow talks to continue with the conciliation service Acas. Both unions met the charity’s management again at Acas this afternoon. Unite and UNISON consulted their Action for […]
NEX Investors Look to Build on Unprecedented Support at 2015 AGM, Highlight Hypocrisy of Business Finance Awards Nomination (WASHINGTON) –Today, National Express [LSE: NEX.L] investors are urging the company’s board to back a resolution seeking an independent review of employment practices in its U.S. school bus wholly-owned subsidiary, Durham School Services. Announcement of the resolution […]
The decision by the NHS Pensions Board to refer Oxleas NHS Trust to the pension regulator has been welcomed by UNISON. The Board has taken this formal action in response to the South East London Trust offering nurses who opt out of the NHS pension a higher salary. UNISON’s Head of Health Christina McAnea said: […]
Commenting on the announcement today (Tuesday) from NHS Pay Review Body of its proposals on pay for 2016/17, UNISON Head of Health Christina McAnea said: “It’s disappointing for NHS workers that the PRB has stuck to the artificial one per cent pay freeze imposed by the Chancellor. “Government pay policies since 2010 have seen most […]
Commenting on the announcement from Npower today (Tuesday) that 2,400 jobs are to go, UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said: “At the weekend Npower employees had to find out from the media that their jobs were on the line. Today’s poor results mean yet more uncertainty for the workforce. “Npower bosses are compounding the anxiety […]
UNISON has won an historic holiday pay victory for ambulance workers in Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS), which covers the four counties, has agreed to a union claim that holiday pay should include a payment for regular ‘overruns’. These are incidents of involuntary overtime worked by ambulance crews who attend […]
Commenting on reports that NPower are to announce 2,500 job losses, UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said: “These huge job losses will come as a devastating blow to the workforce. “NPower has been in trouble for some time thanks to poor decision-making at the very top, and workers are now paying the price. The company’s failure […]
Controversial new proposals to arm volunteer police community support officers (PCSOs) with CS gas and PAVA spray – due to be discussed later today (Monday) in Parliament – are a step too far, says UNISON. The Policing and Crime Bill, which has its Second Reading today, proposes arming volunteers with chemical agents. UNISON says this […]
Responding to NHS England’s announcement today (Saturday) of new financial incentives aimed at improving the health of staff, UNISON head of health Christina McAnea said: “This initiative has the potential to make a real difference to committed hospital employees, but it won’t help them at all if staff don’t have time to use these new […]
UNISON, the union that represents early years inspectors, has welcomed Ofsted’s decision today (Tuesday) to bring the service back in house from April 2017. Early years inspection was previously contracted to two independent service providers (Tribal and Prospects) that ran the service from 2010. UNISON has been campaigning for the service to be returned to […]
Commenting on the BBC story on the high number of vacant posts in the NHS, UNISON Head of Health Christina McAnea said: “Cutting vital nursing jobs in a bid to save money is a false economy. As a result, the NHS now has to spend huge amounts of money on agency staff to ensure patient […]
Vital evidence risks being destroyed because police forces are failing to properly train and protect the support staff who regularly guard crime scenes, says a UNISON report today (Saturday). The report – Out of Sight and Out of Mind – contains the findings of a new survey that says that nearly two thirds (66 per […]
UNISON welcomes decision that means fight can continue against imposition of fees to take a case to tribunal
