AMENDMENT TO STANDING ORDER 6 – TELLERS

Delete “Tellers will be appointed from amongst the members of staff present” And insert “Conference shall appoint delegates to act as tellers”.

Breast Cancer Screening

The NHS Breast Cancer Screening Programme provides free breast screening every three years for all women aged 50 and over. At present routine invitations are sent to women up to age 70 and in England the age range is being extended to age 47 to 73. This extension should be completed by 2016. However, the […]

25 Pence Age Addition Payment For Over 80s

On 21 March 2013, Chancellor, George Osborne, made no mention of increasing the Age Addition Payment of 25 pence per week paid to pensioners receiving the State Pension on reaching the age of 80 years. Conference is very concerned that the age addition of 25 pence per week was not increased in the 2013 Budget. […]

INEQUALITY OF HEALTH SCREENING

This Conference notes there is inequality of screening in the the Health Service. Once people reach 70, they are not automatically called for screening, but have to request it. This gives people the assumption that the incidence of diseases goes down, whereas with breast cancer the incidence actually increases after 70. This gives rise to […]

Pledge to Close the Health and Care Gap

NHS and Local Government leaders have announced a shared commitment to ‘close the gap’ between the health and care systems. A series of pilot projects will begin in the autumn of 2013 to explore new ways of pooling budgets, speeding up discharge from hospital and conducting assessments. This initiative is to be welcomed – if […]

Medication Packaging and Content Issues

Modern day packaging of many types of medication is becoming increasingly difficult for elderly people to cope with, in particular the ‘bubble strip’ type packaging of tablets. This type of packaging often results in the user suffering finger cuts and sometimes the destruction of the capsule encased in the ‘bubble’. In addition to difficulties with […]

TUC Pensioners’ Committee

This Conference considers that the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Pensioners’ Committee is not as effective as it could be and that as a result the TUC sometimes fails to gain pensioners’ support for its aims and campaigns etc. Conference considers the committee would be more effective if: 1)Its constitution and purpose were clearer and more […]

Removal of Gender Discrimination in Pension Provision

Conference notes that the median income of a woman pensioner is less than two thirds that of a man and that two thirds of pensioners living below the poverty line are women. This shocking injustice is the result of lifelong discrimination at work. In general compared to men women earn less so they save less […]

What next after the NJC Pay Consultation?

The conference notes that the employers supposedly final offer of 1% for 2013-14 and the deletion of scale point 4 from October 2013 made on 24 April. Conference also notes that the offer is currently well below the Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation rate of around 3% and does not meet our claim for a […]

SJC Local Government Pay 2013

The Scottish Joint Council employers made a final pay offer last November of: 1)1% increase on all spinal column points from 1 April 2013. 2)Introduction of a Scottish Local Government Living Wage set at £7.50ph (The living wage element to be applied after the 1% uplift) 3)Potential for detrimental changes to terms & conditions next […]

Scottish Independence and possible impact on Pensioners

This Conference notes the referendum on Independence for Scotland will be held on 18 September 2014 and if carried it is likely Independence will be gained in 2016 – less than 3 years from now to totally separate the existing integrated financial systems and set up new systems for both Scotland and England/Wales/Northern Ireland. Even […]

Training and development of Black workers

Conference is concerned about the lack of development opportunities for Black members working in the Energy Industry. For instance British Gas Business Spinneyside have a large proportion of Black members, most are on L8 with less L7 (team managers) and fewer at senior management and above. This is disproportionate considering the number of Black members […]

Recognizing Problems With Regard To Hot-Desking.

As Energy Companies strive to maximise their profits, we note with concern the use of ‘’hot-desking’’ as an Employer tool to avoid investment in work space. This is particularly true of call centre operations where staff is accommodated on a first come first served basis. However the use of hot desking is now more widespread […]

New Human Resource Initiatives

In recent years the industry has seen the widespread introduction of new Human Resource initiatives. These include Performance Management, Personal Improvement Plans, revised sickness policies. Such policies are introduced on the pretext of modernisation and improved efficiency. Academic research shows there is little economic benefit from such policies and confirms the view that they are […]

Raising the profile of Black activists

Raising the profile of Black activists in the electricity and gas industries and increasing the number of Black members involved at branch, regional and national levels within the Energy service group and wider union is critical in meeting the UNISON’s recruitment and organising objectives. Conference also notes the Leadership School where activists can take steps […]