Differential Proposals for Pensioners

The proposals for differentiation of retired members’ pensions proposed for 2015/16 is a form of discrimination affecting existing pensioners. The proposal if implemented will mean that the existing 14 million current British pensioners will lose approximately £53 per week. Conference therefore calls on the Retired Members’ National Committee to join with other organisations including the […]

Rolling Out the Elder Abuse Campaign to Branches and Other Regions

This Conference notes that elder abuse is the only form of abuse that is not a Statutary Specific Criminal Offence. There is a “Memorandum of Understanding”, that requires the Courts to take into account the age of the victim when considering punishment. The Greater London Regional Retired Members Committee are campaigning against elder abuse to […]

Role of Retired Members in UNISON

Conference recognises the different role and contribution of retired members to their working counterparts and accepts that their involvement in UNISON is more limited. However Conference believes that many retired members still have much to offer the union and that their preclusion from almost all aspects of its work is not necessarily in UNISON’s best […]

Retaining Members When They Retire

Conference notes the efforts of many branches and branch retired members’ groups to retain members when they retire but regrets to note the apparent lack of support, co-ordination and reporting to sustain these efforts. Conference believes a haphazard approach may lead to patchy results and may reproduce or exaggerate patterns of inclusion and exclusion among […]

Living Wills & Advance Directives

Conference believes many retired UNISON members would like to make their wishes known concerning their medical treatment and/or their financial or other affairs at the end of their lives in case they become incapable of doing so at the time. Conference believes many of them would be glad if their trades union could signpost them […]

Inclusion

Conference welcomes and endorses that it is among UNISON’s aims to seek to ensure equality of treatment and fair representation for all members and their right to be treated with dignity and respect. UNISON and the former partner unions recognised long ago that this needs more than goodwill and that there must be clear arrangements […]

Education Cuts

Conference is concerned about the increase in tuition fees for all areas of post-16 education. This is not only means for younger people as many retired people make full use of these facilities. Increases in fees apply not only to universities and colleges but to adult education courses and providers such as the workers education […]

NHS Care for the Elderly

Mr Cameron pledged, “We can’t go on like this. I’ll cut the deficit, not the NHS”. The election manifesto stated, “We are the party of the NHS, we back its funding and have visions for its future.” In January 2011 he said “We recognise its special place in our society, so we will not cut […]

Attack on Pensions

Retired Members will have noted with growing concern the government’s attack on both the state and public sector pension schemes. Not only are they constantly attacking the pensions in the media, but they are always doing their best to attack pension funds with statements about the public sector pensions being ‘gold plated’. If this is […]

Dental Inspection Charges

This Conference calls upon the National Retried Members’ Committee to strongly pursue and campaign to make available, for older people, free dental inspections; the same service as is currently available for eye examinations and publicise progress in UNISON publications on a regular basis.

Building Campaign Alliances Against Privatisation, Fragmentation and Cuts in the NHS

This Conference confirms UNISON’s total opposition to the ConDem Coalition’s White Paper – “Liberating the NHS”. If implemented, this would lead to the destruction of the NHS as we know it. The coalition government has no democratic mandate for its attacks on the NHS. It was not in any election manifesto and there has never […]

NHS Pay

Conference believes that the policies of the Coalition government pose the greatest threat to living standards of health workers of any time in the 63 years of the NHS. Whereas the Labour government recognised the value of national NHS pay, terms and conditions based upon equal value and fairness, the Coalition government is pursuing policies […]

Representing and Organising Health Members in the Private and Voluntary Sector

Conference notes with concern the growing number of NHS staff and UNISON members transferring to the private and voluntary sector under the Transforming Community Services programme, other NHS re-organisations, and the government’s agenda to shift to “any willing provider” for patient services. Lines of accountability will become increasingly blurred which will negatively impact on staff, […]

Hutton Report on NHS Pensions – Pay More, Work Longer, Get Less

Conference notes the withdrawal of motion 29 on pensions which means that there is nothing on Conference agenda to allow debate on crucial matters relating to NHS pensions. This motion highlights concerns around a number of the proposals in the Independent Public Service Pensions Commissions final report (the Hutton report) published on 10 March 2011. […]

National Blood Service

This conference is appalled at the news leaked on 17 February that the Department of Health is considering the privatisation of parts of the national blood and transplant service. If implemented, it would surely be the first step in the privatisation of the whole service. The blood and transplant service relies upon the millions of […]