General Election

“This Energy conference notes that following the closing date for motion submissions a general election was called for the 8th June. Subsequently political parties have during the hustings and manifesto launches made numerous comments about the failings in the energy market and the need to directly intervene to protect consumers or bring elements of the […]

Support ‘The Total Eclipse of the S_N’ Campaign

Conference notes and deplores the racist comments made in April by Sun columnist Kelvin McKenzie about Everton FC midfielder Ross Barkley. Further comments made in the same column were derogatory about the City and people of Liverpool. These comments were made just days before the 28th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. Conference notes the appalling […]

Under-Representation of Bus Sector

This Conference notes: a. The decline in UNISON membership in the Bus Sector. b. The difficulty in recruiting activists and forming viable Bus Sector branches. c. That to address the above, UNISON has increasingly moved members who work for bus operators into larger employer-led branches. d. That these decisions are determined locally based on the […]

Protecting National Collective Bargaining through the PTF

Conference notes that in recent months the employers at Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) have made clear their intention to serve notice to withdraw from the Passenger Transport Forum (PTF). This is a consultative body for the Combined Authorities and PTE’s and also the […]

Wheelchair Access on Buses

Conference notes the Supreme Court ruling in January 2017 on the FirstGroup V Pauley case, and the issue raised under the Equality Act 2010 for “reasonable adjustment” and whether a bus companies policy or “provision criterion or practice” (PCP) was been met in relation to wheelchair users. In particular, whether a bus driver should compel […]

The Great Repeal Bill – Protecting Devolution

Conference notes that following the vote to leave the EU in June 2016 the UK Government has consistently shown a disregard for the views of the devolved administrations in relation to the protections necessary when leaving the EU. Conference notes the UK Government plans to introduce a ‘Great Repeal Bill’ designed to repeal the European […]

EU Exit – Protecting the Northern Ireland Peace Process

The current position of the UK Government for a ‘hard’ exit from the EU places the Northern Ireland peace process in severe jeopardy and has serious implications for the island of Ireland as a whole. This peace agreement received the consent of the majority of the people in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of […]

Working globally for LGBT rights

Conference celebrates our union’s rich history of international work and recognises that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) group has incorporated this into its own work. UNISON continues to raise LGBT issues in the different international forums in which we work and raise trade unionism in all LGBT forums in which we engage. Conference […]

Standing together for LGBT equality

Conference believes UNISON’s championing of public services and public service values has never been more important. Conservative government austerity cuts have left public services reeling, struggling to meet ever rising demand from services users. Service user needs become greater and more complex as they struggle with financial insecurity due to stagnant or falling wages, redundancy […]

Challenging the Trade Union Act 2016

Conference continues to condemn the Trade Union Act 2016 in Great Britain and its various restrictive and draconian regulations to hamper the ability of unions to bargain and to advance pay and conditions in the workplace. In Wales the Act was opposed by the Wales Assembly Government and nearly every local council and health board […]

Workplace domestic abuse policies

Conference notes that following on from a women’s conference decision in 1998, a model domestic abuse workplace policy and accompanying guidance were produced. It is the intention that all UNISON workplaces have such a policy in existence, and many have been negotiated in the public sector. However, they are still not commonplace in the private […]

Call Centre Charter – how far have we come?

Conference notes the increasing numbers of our water, environment and transport members working in call centres. Call centres can leave workers chained to their workstations under extreme pressure to provide faster responses to more and more callers. Conference welcomes UNISON’s Call Centre Charter, launched in 2012, to seek to establish a decency agenda for these […]

Call Centre Charter – how far have we come?

Conference notes the increasing numbers of our energy members working in call centres. Call centres can leave workers chained to their workstations under extreme pressure to provide faster responses to more and more callers. Conference welcomes UNISON’s Call Centre Charter, launched in 2012, to seek to establish a decency agenda for these members, allowing them […]

Supporting our Supporters

As the Energy Industry has changed from the “glory’’ days of privatisation to the very complicated structures we now have to organise within so too has the range of problems affecting our members and representatives. The Energy Sector has faced major changes including the splitting off of the distribution businesses, company mergers, business diversification, the […]

Activity-Based Budgeting

Conference welcomes Motion 121 passed at National Delegate Conference 2016. It notes that Motion 121 was intended to introduce a new process of activity-based budgeting, which would meet branch needs by facilitating funding for the activity required for branches to be successful in meeting the union’s objectives. Motion 121 acknowledged the vital role branches play […]