Excluding Future Higher Education, Further Education and Sixth Form Staff from the Local Government Pension Scheme

Conference opposes this government’s continued attacks on public sector pensions, the latest of which comes in the form of the recent consultation “Local Government Pension Scheme: Changes to the Local Valuation Cycle and the Management of Employer Risk” launched in May 2019, from the Ministry of Housing, Local Government and Communities. These changes, if implemented, […]

Opposing the Cap on Exit Payments

Conference notes that in 2015 and 2016 the Government legislated for a cap of £95,000 on exit payments in the public sector. In April 2019 the Government launched a consultation on proposed draft regulations and guidance to bring the legislation into force. The consultation ends on 3 July 2019. Conference further notes that: 1) The […]

Excluding future HE, FE and sixth form staff from LGPS (England)

This union opposes plans, outlined in the consultation “Local Government Pension Scheme: Changes to the Local Valuation Cycle and the Management of Employer Risk” launched on the 9th May 2019, from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government , that would allow further education colleges (FECs), higher education institutions (HEIs), and sixth form colleges […]

Committee for Climate Change report and its impact on energy workers

This conference notes that on 2nd May the Committee on Climate Change set out how the UK could achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This landmark report by a government body has provoked a massive national debate in the last month and promises of immediate government action. Conference believes that UNISON energy workers […]

Rule D Young Members’ Organisation

Insert a new rule after D 6.2.4: “D 6.2.5 The National Young Members Forum may establish a national conference of young members from branch and regional groups.”

Turbulent Times Indeed! Training for UNISON Stewards and representatives on reorganisations, redundancies and TUPE

The Energy sector is undergoing an unprecedented level of change, arguably the most change since the privatisation of the sector in the 1980’s. The sector is facing real challenges from competition within the sector; political challenges from all political parties and the media; the need to meet OFGEM requirements; opinions from the consumers whose switching […]

Policies on dealing with abusive customers in call centres

Conference notes that many energy members work in call centres and operational centres where they take calls from operational colleagues and customers. While most callers are reasonable, there is always a proportion that are unreasonable and some who are extremely abusive. In workplaces with generally high levels of stress, this can be intolerable. People who […]

EU Exit and Protecting the Peace Process

Conference notes that at the time of writing, the UK is still set to leave the EU on 29 March but that the terms of its exit and whether it will exit at all remains very unclear. Conference believes that regardless of whether the UK has left the EU on 29 March under the terms […]

Young Member’s Facility Time

Facility time is a fundamental right of trade unionists in the workplace. It ensures we support our members at disciplinaries, and that policies of the organisation’s our members work for are scrutinised and negotiated effectively. UNISON already provides brilliant resources for our branches such as the ‘Facility Time, Guidance for branches’ document most recently revised […]

Feeling Good in the WET Service Group

Conference welcomes the fact that more conversations are being held around the issues of mental health, however, for many it is still a taboo subject and for others a painful subject. This however does not stop the effect it has on people, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, beliefs. Mental health does not discriminate and […]

The continuing drift from RPI to CPI and the impact on pay.

This conference notes the continuing desire by employers in the water sector to move away from RPI and embrace CPI when negotiating pay. Excuses abound, from the employers, to explain the reasoning to change to CPI. One of the main excuses being given, is the regulator Ofwat’s changes to the method used to increase consumer […]

Terms and Conditions eroded by stealth in the Water Industry

Conference notes with concern a trend within the water industry for workplace agreements to be circumvented by local managers. This is frequently done on a “trial basis”, in localised areas, without any systematic or meaningful consultation. Often the agreed communication and consultation channels between the companies and the unions are ignored on the pretext that […]

Imposed Pay in the Environment Agency

In December 2018, UNISON members voted by over 9 to 1 to reject the Environment Agency’s 2018 pay offer which would give workers an average rise of less than 1.3%. This amounts to an overall erosion of pay in real terms of over 20% since 2009. The other recognised unions which balloted also rejected the […]

Bus services in crisis – a 21st century solution

2019 is yet another challenging year for bus services, with operators facing financial pressures and local authorities facing further budget cuts. Increased congestion and road closures due to roadworks mean that operators have to allocate additional resources to serve reducing demand. The result looks like further cuts to and withdrawal of bus services across the […]

ABUSE IN CARE HOMES

There is an increasing demand for care in the UK. The proportion of elderly people requiring care in the future will place even more demands on a service that is already struggling. With year-on-year cuts to local councils, over 1.8 million people are already denied access to care. This will, as time passes, create an […]