Recognizing Problems With Regard To Hot-Desking.

As Energy Companies strive to maximise their profits, we note with concern the use of ‘’hot-desking’’ as an Employer tool to avoid investment in work space. This is particularly true of call centre operations where staff is accommodated on a first come first served basis. However the use of hot desking is now more widespread […]

Where’s your bus gone?

Conference condemns the ever increasing amount of disappearing bus services from Britain’s roads and the consequent impact on UNISON members employed in the public transport industry. This is due to the Government’s cuts agenda. Services are disappearing and fares are increasing, leaving the most vulnerable and those on low incomes more isolated and disadvantaged. There […]

UNISON calling

Conference notes that in 2012, UNISON launched the call centre charter, which calls on all employers who have UNISON members working in a call centre or in call handling operations to commit to improving the standards which those staff operate under. Conference notes that the charter was primarily aimed at branches in the energy service […]

Living Wage

Conference recognises the success of the campaigns to achieve the Living Wage in councils and notes that the pay offer from the Scottish employers for 2013 included a Living Wage for all 32 councils in Scotland of a Living wage of at least £7.50. Conference notes however that not all councils have agreed to pay […]

Local Government Funding Cuts

Conference is alarmed that many Councils have faced unprecedented reductions in Government grants since the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review. Since then, the position has deteriorated for local government with many councils now forecasting that central Government support over the six year period 2011-2017 will see reductions in excess of £100m. The December 2012 Autumn Statement […]

Fighting Cuts and Privatisation – Highlighting ‘The Damage’ to our Communities and the Economy

Conference deplores the scale of the austerity cuts and the damage they are wreaking on local services and our members who work in them. Despite the high profile failures of privatised services, councils continue to outsource services to private sector organisations – either through ideology or because they believe the bogus claims that the private […]

Modern Apprentices in Local Government

This Conference notes that the recession is impacting on jobs in the public sector: full time permanent jobs are disappearing at an alarming rate as Councils and other public sector agencies deal with the impact of reducing budgets. Support is confirmed for UNISON policies aimed at resisting attacks on our members’ jobs, pay and service […]

Analysis of Local Authority Budgets

Conference notes: 1)The impact of savage spending cuts in Local Government 2)The ongoing attacks on council services and the most vulnerable in our society by the Conservative led Government 3)The importance of UNISON fighting these cuts both locally and nationally 4)The importance of local branch knowledge in understanding the financial and budget setting decisions made […]

Motion 8. Service v Targets.

For call centre staff in our water companies it is becoming increasingly difficult to deliver a quality service to the public due to internal pressures to ‘get rid of’ callers as quickly as possible. If a caller rings up to say they have cellar flooding or sewage coming into their property they are in a […]

Motion 4. Overseas suppliers

The larger water companies import much of their sewage and water pipes from Asia especially large diameter pipes used in capital schemes, in the case of Yorkshire Water from Kolkata in India via a UK subsidiary. This contract has been running for ten years. Our company has someone who monitors the contract and makes visits […]

Motion 1. Safety of Dig Teams

With ever more private companies laying electric cables and gas pipes on new build sites and companies being bought out or going bankrupt, the health and safety of dig teams on water contacts are being jeopardised because there is no central database. Buried services may belong to utilities, commercial sites, industrial sites or the military. […]

Regional Race Action Plans

Conference notes that each UNISON Region has its own Regional Race Action Plan. The purpose of this is to keep aspects of each region’s race issues, at the forefront of UNISON’s structures, to affect change, increase participation from members and be a beacon to attract other people to join and remain with UNISON. After making […]

Black Members Representation at UNISON Conferences

Conference is concerned about the lack of visibility and representation of Black members at the National Delegate Conference and Service Group Conferences. Each year delegates and visitors are required to complete the proportionality and fair representation forms at conference. However, the information does not appear to filter down to regions and branches with regards to […]

Fighting the Far Right

Conference recognises that times of austerity prove a fertile breeding ground for far right rhetoric and feelings. High unemployment and rising costs creates opportunities for the far right to scapegoat minority groups. The rise of the English Defence League and her sister organisations, the Scottish and Welsh Defence Leagues (SDL and WDL) is disheartening and […]

The Black Experience – UNISON’s Freedom of Information

UNISON’s initial freedom of information exercise conducted in London in 2012 revealed that a significant number of local authorities were shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs across the Capital which was having a disproportionate effect on Black workers. In seventeen of the Capital’s councils, Black workers were unfairly bearing the brunt of the cuts, and […]