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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Competition in the Water Industry

Over the last thirty years, the regulated market in water supply has enabled steady investment, predictable price increases enabling water customers to budget, steady improvements in water quality and low levels of customer complaint and dissatisfaction. Now, though, Ministers have expressed a wish to introduce competition for households, following the introduction of competition for commercial […]

Media Portrayal of Older People

Conference notes with concern the negative and profoundly damaging images of older people, both as individuals and collectively, that are continually and consistently put out by the mass media in Britain. This includes portrayal of the age group as having access to large pensions, doing little that is worthwhile and at the same time being […]

Equality in WET Companies – National Equality Standard

Trade unions and employers are dealing with an increasingly diverse workforce. There are higher proportions of women and people from black and minority ethnic communities in the workforce than ever before. The population is aging, with many people intending to stay in work for longer and many trying to juggle work with caring responsibilities. There […]

Tackling Health and Safety from the Inside

This conference notes the ever increasing need for safety improvements in the WET sector and especially in the light of the ever decreasing enforcement from HSE and government cuts. Yorkshire Water Branch would like the sector to adopt the approach being taking at Kelda where we have two Health and safety reps seconded into the […]