Conference notes that UNISON has done much good work to defend the jobs, and terms and conditions of members in the National Health Service (NHS), through national and local negotiations, as well as campaigning to defend the NHS itself. Conference further notes that it is the public service nature of the NHS which has been […]
Conference motions
Conference notes with concern the impact that staffing shortages in the NHS are having on workers’ lives. In particular, staffing shortages can impact on: 1)Flexible working requests not being accommodated by employers. 2)Staff with existing non-standard working patterns being pressurised into changing their working hours, which could create problems with care arrangements and other home […]
Over 30,000 jobs have been lost in the NHS since the current government took office and at the same time, they have put in place a pay freeze for NHS staff between 2011 and 2013, and following on from that, caps on any pay award in the public sector at an average of 1% increase […]
Conference notes that the now defunct South West Pay Cartel advised member trusts to consider ‘alternative employment vehicles’ as one of a number of what they called ‘pay optimisers’ to cut NHS pay and conditions of employment. Conference further notes that one trust in the South West recently set up their own private company, of […]
Conference notes that the NHS South of England recently promoted an apprenticeship programme for employers looking at recruiting staff into bands 1 to 4. Their ‘NHS Manager’s Guide’ suggested a number of options for NHS Trusts to employ new ‘apprentices’ without them having to employ staff at the bottom of the appropriate pay band including: […]
Conference notes that for several years NHS staff have seen their pay squeezed by more than 10% in real terms. Two years of a virtual pay freeze were followed by a miserable 1% for 2013. Since 2010 essential living costs have increased out of all proportion to our members’ pay. Electricity prices have jumped by […]
In Teesside, which is south of the Northern Region, schools reported and had to deal with 359 racist incidents in the last academic year. In Middlesbrough there was 191 racist school based incidents alone. A recent survey by the VOICE newspaper showed that more than 80% of their readers claimed to have experienced racism when […]
Conference notes that the cuts in Housing Benefit and the imposition of the Bedroom Tax are forcing many Black families into a position of double jeopardy. Especially where it is alleged that there is under occupation in social housing homes. Black households are more likely to be housed in social housing and likely to be […]
Many of our fellow migrant workers, who are registered nurses in their own country, have been working here as care assistants because they did not obtain the results required by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for their English (IELTS) test (i.e. 7 in each section). The results required are of a very high standard– […]
The results from the 2011 Census showed that in England and Wales approximately 14% of the population identified as non white. This is a rise from the 2001 Census figure of 7.9%. The Census results also revealed the greater dispersal of Black people across the UK. This changing demographic across the UK, coupled with a […]
Black women are oppressed by both racism and sexism, so face a double strand of oppression in society as a whole. Violence against women and girls is the most widespread form of abuse in the world. Globally, one in three women will be raped or beaten in their lifetime. Statistics reveal the levels of violence […]
Conference notes with alarm that there has been a significant drop in the reporting of Hate Crime to the relevant authorities in the last few years. Conference also notes that there has been an escalating attack on Mosques, Muslim shops, Muslim people and their families, yet this is not covered in the legislation as a […]
The coalitions government’s ongoing austerity measures, cuts to jobs and public services, pay freezes in the public sector, privatisation, low pay, lack of socially affordable housing, the bedroom tax, rent increases, and zero hour contracts are all key elements in the current drastic reduction of living standards experienced by Black workers and Black communities since […]
Migrant workers continue to be extremely vulnerable to race discrimination and false allegations of abuse from patients / care home residents and their families. They are also less likely to have colleagues coming forward as supportive witnesses. While UNISON already supports its members from overt racist discrimination from an employer, there is not always a […]
Conference is extremely alarmed by the CONDEM Government intention to make legislative requirement for the UK Landlords to check the immigration status of all prospective Tenants from 2014. Conference is concerned that Landlords will be required by Law to request evidence from the prospective tenants and their families, friends, and any other person (s) living […]