What next after the NJC Pay Consultation?

The conference notes that the employers supposedly final offer of 1% for 2013-14 and the deletion of scale point 4 from October 2013 made on 24 April. Conference also notes that the offer is currently well below the Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation rate of around 3% and does not meet our claim for a […]

SJC Local Government Pay 2013

The Scottish Joint Council employers made a final pay offer last November of: 1)1% increase on all spinal column points from 1 April 2013. 2)Introduction of a Scottish Local Government Living Wage set at £7.50ph (The living wage element to be applied after the 1% uplift) 3)Potential for detrimental changes to terms & conditions next […]

Effect of Government’s Austerity Measures on Black People

Conference deplores the devastating impact the Government’s austerity measures are having on Black communities and the most vulnerable groups in the society. Conference notes with concern the severity of the impact on people from the Black community. Research from the Institute for Public Policy and Research shows that the unemployment level for young Black people […]

Raising the profile of Black activists

Raising the profile of Black activists within water, environment and transport employers and increasing the number of Black members involved at branch, regional and national levels within the WET service group and wider union is critical in meeting the UNISON’s recruitment and organising objectives. Conference also notes the Leadership School where activists can take steps […]

Facility time in the Environment Agency

This conference is greatly concerned to learn of the Cabinet Office’s decision to extend its guidance on trade union facility time beyond government departments to non-departmental public bodies (NDPB’s) including the Environment Agency. UNISON is the biggest trade union in the EA and has had a key role in securing employment policies, terms and conditions […]

Concessionary Fares

Conference welcomes UNISON’s policy calling for free travel at all times on buses and trains across Britain as a whole and that this should be funded by the Government as per the policy document ‘Moving Forward’. However, inconsistencies in provision across Authorities and cuts in funding for this provision are having an effect on the […]

The Impact of the Regulator on Pay and Conditions of Members in the Water Industry

Conference notes the critical role that Ofwat play in regulating the privatised water industry. It also notes that despite the role of the regulator, profits within the utility businesses have increased to record levels making the owners and key executives very wealthy. Despite the increased profits, members have seen their pay and conditions attacked over […]

Ofwat Price Review 2015-2020

This conference notes that Ofwat has launched its price review policy for the period 2015 – 2020. The SG Executive responded to the consultation raising major concerns on a number of fronts: a)The failure to propose a national scheme for the introduction of social tariffs to protect the most vulnerable households from ever increasing water […]

Tackling transphobia in WET workplaces

Conference welcomes progress made by UNISON over many years in negotiating for equality in our water, Environment Agency and transport (WET) workplaces. However, conference is concerned that equality considerations fall down the agenda in the face of cuts, reorganisations and redundancies. Conference is further concerned that transgender workers face particularly extreme discrimination when seeking work […]

Tackling biphobia in WET workplaces

Conference welcomes the first ever UK-wide report on bisexuality, which was published by the Open University last year. Conference notes that even casual biphobia, too often pervasive and unchallenged, can make our workplaces hostile environments, where bisexual people are unable to work to their potential. The Open University report showed that: a)Bisexual people’s experiences differ […]

Cabinet Office Review of Facility Time

Under the Coallition Government workers in the public sector have faced attacks on their pay, pensions and working conditions on a scale unseen since the “Thatcher” years. Now the Cabinet Office is reviewing the amount of union facility time available in the Civil Service and Non-Government Agencies such as the Environment Agency. The review is […]

Outsourcing, the privatisation agenda and disabled workers

Conference is concerned about increased outsourcing and hidden privatisation in local government and the impact on disabled workers. Local authorities who oppose privatisation are looking at mutuals, cooperatives and social enterprises, all privatisation by another name. Public services by their nature are under-provided by the market because they do not make a profit. They are […]

The true cost of Local governments’ pay and increment freezes on Black staff

Local government employees have had their pay and in some instances increments frozen for the past three years. Councils like Sheffield are planning to dismiss and re-engage staff to force through yet another pay and increment freeze. Black staff employed in the public sector are concentrated in the lower grades and the impact on such […]

The Black Experience – UNISON’s Freedom of Informatiom

UNISON’s initial Freedom of Information (FOI) exercise conducted in the Greater London, West Midlands and North West regions has revealed that a significant number of local authorities are shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs across the UK. Those FOIs show the number of Black staff that have been made redundant in the financial year 2010/2011. […]

Negotiating for equality in a time of local government cuts

Conference notes that the Tory-led government’s onslaught on public service workers and their failed austerity measures have led to worsening terms and conditions for local government workers. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers are affected like any other local government worker as pay and conditions are undermined. But the impact on terms and conditions […]