CONTINUED DISCRIMINATION IN LGBT HOUSING PROVISION

Conference notes that many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) housing problems are related to sexual orientation or gender identity. Increasingly, more LGBT people are having to rent their homes from a private landlord, because of the lack of council houses, social rented accommodation and other affordable housing, or the housing and local allocations policies […]

ETHICAL CARE

Conference notes that: 1) Since 2010 the government has imposed a £2.6 billion reduction in social care funding which has had a devastating impact on home care services; 2) As local authority’s budgets have been squeezed they have used competitive tendering to drive down the costs and standards of home care; 3) A recent UNISON […]

Call Centres

This Conference congratulates UNISON’s hard work to create the Call Centre Charter, launched in 2012, which calls on all employers who have UNISON members working in a call centre or in call handling operations to commit to improving the standards which those staff operate under. However only one energy company has signed up to it […]

KICKING OUT THE TORIES IN 2015 MAKING LGBT VOTES C

Conference notes that on 7 May 2015 a new government will be elected in Westminster. Whatever its political make-up, there will be repercussions for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. As evidenced by the LGBT group’s research on the impact of austerity, four years of Conservative-led government have seen LGBT workers’ pay fall in […]

TRANSATLANTIC TRADE & INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP & EU

Conference notes that the European Union (EU) and the United States have started negotiations on a new trade agreement, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which could serve as a model for all future trade agreements. Conference further notes that the TTIP will not just remove trade tariffs but will also: harmonise regulatory standards; […]

Threat to the Bus Pass and Universal Benefits

Conference is very concerned that the concessionary bus pass for pensioners is being attacked and no political party has stated that it will be retained after the 2015 election. Withdrawing the bus pass from pensioners will need another Act of Parliament (original Transport Act 2008) but that won’t stop this Government or any other one […]

Winter Fuel Allowance: Time for an Increase

Conference is very concerned that the Winter Fuel Allowance payments were included in the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne’s Budget statement on 19 March 2014, when he stated that benefits will be capped in 2015/16. The statistic (National Pensioners Convention) for the 2013/14 winter is that 31,000 pensioners died of cold-related diseases. The United […]

ZERO HOURS CONTRACTS

Conference notes that employers have increasingly been turning to zero hour contracts, as part of the general attack on staff terms and conditions that has accompanied the intensification of privatisation and cuts to funding across the public services. Zero hour contracts are where an individual is not guaranteed work and is paid only for the […]