Saving the LGPS and good pension schemes for our members

Conference is concerned that good pension provision is continuing to decline. Defined benefit pension schemes that guarantee pensions based on final salary or career average are under threat. The main reason employers give is increasing costs and risk of further increases of providing the benefits and increased employer contributions. In the public sector (for example […]

Defending our libraries

Conference notes with concern the ongoing closures of libraries and worsening pay and conditions of remaining library staff. Data released last December by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) shows that spending on local libraries has fallen by £25 million and 478 libraries have closed across England, Scotland and Wales since 2010. […]

Organising in homecare

Conference notes that members working in homecare suffer some of the worst working conditions in any sector in the UK, with widespread abuse of zero-hour contracts, breaches of minimum wage legislation, and non-payment of the time spent travelling between domiciliary care visits. Conference recognises the work done by UNISON at all levels to highlight these […]

Apprentices

Conference notes that: 1) The apprenticeship levy comes in from April 2017 and all employers, with a pay bill over £3 million each year, will need to pay 0.5% of their pay-bill to invest in apprenticeships – almost all further education (FE) colleges will be paying the levy. The growth in apprenticeships over the coming […]

Bullying of Black workers in the workplace

Conference notes that many local authority employers have anti-bullying and harassment policies in place. However, there are too many times when Black workers in the local government employers have reported experiences of bullying in the workplace. This conference also notes historical evidence from the TUC has shown that Black workers are reluctant to use the […]

Apprenticeships and new employers/new models of public service delivery

This conference notes that a range of new employers and models of service delivery are emerging in local government e.g. combined authorities, local authority trading companies, public authority mutuals, ‘Devo Manc’ etc. This conference also notes that these changes have profound implications for the local government service group bargaining and organising agenda on staffing, pay, […]

Privatisation

Conference notes that outsourcing and privatisation constitute a failed economic model for local government services. It only serves to reduce our members’ pay, terms and conditions and maximise profits for contractors, consultants and shareholders. Conference also notes that services get worse following privatisation and outsourcing. Private companies have a legal duty to reward shareholders, so […]

The crisis in social care

Conference recognises that the social care system is in crisis. Council spending on social care fell by 9% in real terms between 2010 and 2015 due to huge funding cuts from central government. The number of pensioners receiving care from their local council fell by 26% over that period. The King’s Fund estimate that the […]

Funding for Charities and the “National Living Wage”

Conference notes that in his 2015 Budget announcement the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced that the establishment of a “National Living Wage” for workers over the age of 25. The rate for this wage was established at £7.20 an hour from April 2016, rising to £9 an hour by 2020. Conference disputes […]

Member-led Democracy

UNISON takes pride in being a member-led, democratic union. It is in this spirit that conference notes with concern the decision taken by our Higher Education Service Group Executive (HESGE) to overturn the democratic decision taken by our members in the 2016 ballot over pay. This decision also overturned the mandate set at this conference […]

Higher Education workers deserve fair pay

Conference notes that members in Higher Education have lost the equivalent of between £1,585 and £8,248 over the last six years, while at the same time having to deliver a professional service despite severe cuts, redundancies, reorganisations and increased workloads. Members continue to carry out their duties even though their pay has failed to keep […]

STRATEGY FOR ORGANISING AND DEVELOPING OUR WORK

Conference notes the work undertaken by the Service Group Executive and in particular the Community Service Group in Scotland prior to the passing of 2016 National Delegate Conference Motion 2 ‘Organising for growth’. The preliminary work carried out by the Community Service Group in Scotland included a brief outline of regional Community structures and précis […]

Where next with the Housing crisis for women?

This generation is facing a housing crisis that is supporting ‘generation rent’ and the ‘boomerang’ generation. The majority of young women, the low paid, and those on a fixed income (including disabled and/or retired women) are struggling to find acceptable and affordable housing as private rental costs continue to rise. Between 2014 – 15 (Guardian […]

Women and the cuts – strategies for local campaigning

Research continues to show that the significant disproportionate negative impacts of the government’s austerity policies fall on women, particularly Black women and women who are low paid and/or from low income households (in which women dominate) despite government claims that the burden would be shared equally. Women are the primary carers for children and the […]

Gender wage gap widens for women with children

A report published by the Institute of Fiscal Studies into the gender wage gap has found that women experience a gradual but continual rise in the gap once they have their first child. The study also found, on average, that the hourly wages of female employees are currently about 18 per cent lower than men’s. […]