Frozen Holiday Pay

This Conference notes with concern that unknown thousands of UNISON’s lowest paid members including catering assistants, cleaners, care workers and gardeners who work for local authorities and in the private sector (because of outsourcing) are still owed varying amounts of leave entitlement which was placed in suspension over twenty years ago. Conference is also concerned […]

Protection of Children Legislation – Advising and Representing Members

Conference notes that under the Labour Government there has been a great deal of new legislation with the aim of protecting children from harm as well as certain administrative changes in this area. This includes: 1) the Care Standards Act 2001 which amended the Children Act 1989 and led to new regulations in 2002 to […]

Transport

Conference is concerned that Britain’s public transport system continues to suffer from years of neglect and under-investment. Conference welcomes the Government’s commitment to increase investment over the next ten years, but believes that bus deregulation and rail privatisation will make it difficult to achieve the Government’s transport strategy, which aims to create a fully integrated […]

Single Status

This Conference notes the continuing debacle whereby the majority of Council’s have failed to implement Single Status: 1)That Job Evaluations under the National or London Schemes have not been carried out. Our members continue to be paid with out of date grades and job descriptions. That there is no prospect of equal pay issues, particularly […]

Assaults on Ambulance Staff

This conference is extremely concerned to note the continuing and increasing incidence of assaults on Ambulance Staffs. It welcomes the Government’s zero tolerance campaign aimed at reducing violence towards NHS staffs in general, but notes that frontline Ambulance Staffs remain particularly and unacceptably vulnerable. It therefore calls for a greater degree of consistency of approach […]

Early Retirement for Ambulance Staffs

This conference notes the failure of successive Governments and NHS employers to introduce an early retirement position for frontline Ambulance staffs. It notes that nearly 70 per cent of these staffs retire by the age of 55 because of work-associated ill health and burnout. Many of these staffs are incapable of finding alternative employment as […]

Lesbian and Gay Workers Rights

Conference notes that on 1 December 2003, Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations will come into force. Conference welcomes the new legislation, which will make it unlawful to discriminate on grounds of sexual orientation in employment and training. From this date, there will at last be an equivalent level of protection against discrimination and harassment on […]

Promoting Equality in Healthcare Delivery

Conference welcomes the provisions of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 which place a positive duty on all public health bodies to eliminate unlawful discrimination, and promote equality of opportunity and good race relations in all their functions. Conference believes that these provisions should be extended to cover all discrimination grounds to give a legislative […]

Building Strong Branch Organisation – Partnership Working and Staff Involvement

The issue of staff involvement has never been more important. The NHS is undergoing a radical shift in both structure and culture as it moves the balance of power from the centre to the frontline. If we are to succeed in moving decision making to frontline staff, we need to ensure that we have effective […]

NHS Financial Flows

This Conference notes with serious concern the Government’s plans for a new financial framework within the NHS, as outlined in the DOH consultation document, NHS Financial Flows – Introducing Payments By Results. These proposals set out plans to fundamentally change the way that funds flow through the NHS. They will have profound and potentially serious […]

Healthcare Assistants – Barriers to Progression

The government, in the implementation of the NHS Plan, has highlighted the need for services to be designed with the patient at the heart. We believe that the role of the HCA has changed fundamentally over the last 10 years and even more so over the past 5 years. Yet barriers still remain in their […]

Involvement of the Community and Voluntary Sector where Contracts are reviewed and TUPE applies

Conference recognises the importance of ensuring that, where health and social care services operating under a partnership arrangement are subject to review and a subsequent procurement process, members and activists working in the Community and Voluntary sector including Housing Associations must be properly consulted and involved for the entirety of the process where the Community […]

Violence Towards Health Care Workers

During more than thirty years of conflict in Northern Ireland Health Care workers delivered, without prejudice, care to all sections of the Northern Irish Community. Today as in other parts of Britain attacks on the health care team are becoming more frequent and more violent. These attacks against health care workers and in particular ambulance […]

Organisation and Recruitment in Primary Care

Conference notes the establishment of new Primary Care organisations and the planned future expansion in Primary Care and Community Health facilities including, Primary Care Trusts holding approximately 75% of the NHS budget and taking on the role of directly providing services. Conference therefore agrees that organising in Primary Care Organisations and Community Health is a […]

Nursing Students

The nursing sector welcomes the work that UNISON has done over the last 3 years to raise awareness on issues which effect-nursing students: specifically our campaign to return student nurses and midwives to salary and employment status. Whilst we recognise that entry figures are up in nurse diploma courses we believe that even more significant […]