At Conference just last year UNISON attacked the government’s obsession with sickness rates, after figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that days lost due to sickness absence fell from 178 million in 1993 to 131 million in 2013. The figures also showed that the differences in absence rates between the public […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that according to the 2011 World Report on Disability published by the World Health Organisation and World Bank there are an estimated one billion disabled people globally. Disabled people face barriers to participation in society, such as in accessing development programmes and funds, education, employment, health care, communication and transport. Disabled people and […]
One in four people experience mental health issues at some point in their lives, but there is still a lot of stigma associated with mental health impairments, making many people unwilling to disclose mental health issues in the workplace. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people still face high levels of bullying and harassment and […]
Conference will be aware that on 13 May 2014, an explosion at the coal mine in Soma, Manisa, western Turkey caused an underground mine fire which burned until 15 May killing a total, 301 people in what can only be described as the worst mining disaster in Turkey’s history. The mine, operated by coal producer […]
With a static or decreasing number of members in our branches we need to review how we organise within the Water, Environment and Transport Service Group (WET). As moves are made to change our branches we need to find a structure that suits us before one is imposed. There seems to be a coordinated effort […]
Having an integrated, efficient public transport network is vital to the economy and to the daily lives of millions of people. While billions of pounds will be spent on building the HS2 rail line money is being cut from local authority budgets which leads to bus services being stopped, threatening the jobs of our members. […]
Conference welcomes the Coalition Government’s planned increase in rail investment, but questions the value for money, rape of the environment and a 12 year wait for completion of the HS2 high speed rail line at this time of austerity when the project will cut just 45 minutes off a journey from Birmingham to London. Conference […]
It has been reported that the Government is considering introducing means testing for the Pensioners Bus Pass. This is a short sighted policy that will bring little benefit to the taxpayer. It will however bring isolation and misery to those pensioners who rely on public transport to travel but who will not be able to […]
Conference is alarmed at the growing levels of sectarianism and division and continued and escalating violence and intimidation which is destabilising the peace process in Northern Ireland. Conference applauds the public stance taken by the Irish trade union movement currently led in Northern Ireland by UNISON. On the 31st January trade unionists led a public […]
Conference condemns the persecution of Colombian unionists and political activists. 15% more trade unionists were killed in 2013 than in 2012. Congress deplores that 26 members of union backed Patriotic March, Colombia’s largest opposition movement, were killed in 2013 and many imprisoned, including two of its leaders. National Organiser Huber Ballesteros, who is also an […]
Conference recognises that the role our shop stewards play in supporting members at work through discipline, grievance, absence procedures, changes to jobs, etc. can be very stressful on the individual stewards themselves. We recognise that stewards are often supporting members who have significant mental health issues. This can include members who consider suicide. The pressure […]
Conference reaffirms our opposition to the sustained attack on local public services and the public service workers who deliver them – including brutal cuts to local government funding made by a Tory-led government pursuing an ideological agenda that rivals the Thatcher attack on councils in the 1980’s. Despite David Cameron saying councils were “officially the […]
With the NHS having celebrated its 65th birthday in 2013, Conference believes it is necessary to reassert its importance as one of the few remaining symbols of social solidarity left in the UK. Conference condemns the government for having subjected the NHS to almost constant attack since it took office in 2010 – whether through […]
Conference condemns the Tory-led Coalition Government’s plans to split the probation service to create a small national probation agency for England and Wales to manage high risk cases whilst leaving the majority of the work to the private sector. The plans would see the dismantling of the 35 current probation trusts, who will not be […]
Discussion, debate and learning from one another are both at the heart of trade union education and are central to engaging people in union activity. Debate on the history of trade union struggle and the impact of political and economic change on working people and on women and minority groups in particular has always been […]