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 […]

Intergenerational Commission Report

Conference rejects the proposals contained in the Resolution Foundation think tank’s report of the intergenerational Commission, chaired by Lord David Willetts (nicknamed Two Brains), titled “A New Generational Contract”. Conference further rejects the myth of generational unfairness on which the report is founded, and which masks the fact that the real unfairness is based on […]

Growing the Union

UNISON as the biggest trade union should be congratulated on achieving growth in 2018. The whole union recruitment campaign demonstrated what can be achieved when all parts of the union work together. The Northern region believes the union should commit to this type of organising approach as a regular event. A core part of our […]

Year of the Young Worker – Creating a Legacy For The Future

Conference welcomes TUC Year of the Young Worker and congratulates all of the work being planned nationally, in regions and branches to promote recruitment of young worker’s, improve participation of young worker representatives and highlight issues especially relevant to young workers. It notes examples like those in Eastern region, where Eastern region Young Members Committee […]

Training Mental Health First-Aiders in Energy Workplaces

Conference notes that since 1981, workplaces have been required to provide adequate and appropriate first aid equipment, facilities and people, to ensure that employees can be given immediate help if they are injured or taken ill at work. Yet in 2019, there is still no statutory requirement for employers to provide mental health first aid […]

Utility and Energy Industry Privatisation

Many members within the above industries no longer have the luxury of a Defined Benefits (DB) pension and are relying on a much inferior Direct Contributions Pension scheme for their retirement. A lot of these workers have used the Share Save and Share Incentive Plan (SIP) share schemes within these companies to subsidise the shortfall […]

Rebuilding Collective Bargaining

Conference believes that collective bargaining coverage is crucial to the well-being of employees. Where pay and conditions are determined only by market mechanisms, employer discretion and legal minimums, employees invariably do not get a fair deal at work. Conference notes with concern that due to privatisation and outsourcing, a growing number of workers who deliver […]

Violence and Aggression

Conference re-affirms its belief that violence and aggression against workers, whether physical, verbal or psychological, is not part of the job. Conference notes, and congratulates all those involved in the work across the union in the past year, in highlighting this as one of UNISON’s key campaigning issues. It notes that UNISON has long campaigned […]

Make 2021 the Year of Disabled Workers

Conference believes that one of UNISON’s strengths lies in its recognition of the value and unique experiences disabled people bring to the workplace and to our union. UNISON recognises that people are disabled by societal and environmental barriers rather than their medical condition. Conference, commends the work of UNISON’s National Disabled Members Committee to raise […]

PROGRESSIVE TAXES TO END AUSTERITY

Conference notes that brutal austerity has continued to blight public services. Despite claims from Prime Minister Theresa May in her 2018 Conservative Party Conference speech that “support for public services will go up”, all public services have been pushed to – and in many cases beyond – breaking point. Conference notes that during almost a […]

STOPPING SOCIAL INSECURITY

The damning report of the United Nations Human Rights Rapporteur found that in the UK “14 million people, a fifth of the population, live in poverty. Four million of these are more than 50% below the poverty line, and 1.5 million are destitute, unable to afford basic essentials. The widely respected Institute for Fiscal Studies […]

Smash the Gender Pay Gap

Nearly 50 years since the Ford machinists went on strike at Dagenham, the UK still has one of the worst gender pay gaps in Europe. Women effectively work for free for two months a year. As the largest UK women’s union, UNISON is uniquely placed to be the voice of women in public services on […]

Austerity and Public Safety

Conference believes that a decade of Tory austerity has starved our communities of essential services, eroded the resilience of the public sector and removed vital safety nets. It has also made communities less safe and left vulnerable people without the help they need. Public services are a lifeline for the most disadvantaged communities and it […]

RESOURCING OUR BRANCHES – A UNISON PRIORITY

Conference notes that UNISON’s branches are of key importance in the provision of support for members and their responsibilities are ever increasing. The reduction of employers in national bargaining arrangements and the significant fragmentation of the workforce point to this trend. Many branches now deal with hundreds of employers, receiving no consolidated facility time and […]