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 […]
Conference motions
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 […]
Conference notes with concern the increasing number of trade union activists who are being victimised under this Tory-led government. We believe there will be an increasing number of victimised trade union reps, because we are at the forefront of defending the public sector from the cuts we all face. We must learn the lessons of […]
Currently no employer has a specific procedure for supporting workers mental health conditions and/or disabilities. Conference agrees that UNISON, as a union, should develop a good example of such a procedure, covering both temporary and long term hidden mental health conditions. In addition, that we will commit to work with employers to promote appropriate, quality […]
Conference notes that the UK is suffering from an acute housing crisis, with rents soaring and house building grinding to a halt as a direct result of the recession, whilst the number of new households is increasing faster than the number of new builds. Against a background of mounting debt across the country, huge numbers […]
Conference notes with massive concern the ongoing savage cuts in public expenditure as a result of the Tory-led coalition government’s dogmatic pursuit of its austerity agenda. These policies have already led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs across the public sector as a whole with estimates that the overall number of public […]
Conference notes in the last three years energy companies have increased their profits by 74%. Last year Npower alone announced a profit of £766 million, yet in the further pursuit of profit Npower announced 1,400 staff would be sacked. Conference further notes: 1)That at the same time a TUC report last year showed that over […]
All across the UK women have seen their standard of living fall since this government came to power. Their jobs and pay cut and the services they rely on severely affected by the Coalition government’s austerity measures. It is now more important than ever that UNISON as an organisation of women workers stands up for […]
Conference notes that in 1999 the Labour government brought in the national minimum wage. This benefited approximately two million people and boosted the economy; it did not cause the job losses the Tories had said it would, and improved the lives of many. Conference believes that at a time when austerity and spending cuts are […]
Political decisions have an enormous impact on the lives of our members. In seeking to promote and defend the interests of our members it is legitimate that we attempt to influence who is in a position to take such decisions and what decisions they take. It would be a disservice to our members if we […]
This conference notes the devastating impact that marketisation, public sector funding cuts, and welfare reform, have had on workers in the community and voluntary sector. Market mechanisms have led to a race to the bottom in terms and conditions in many parts of the sector, as employers undercut each other to win contracts. The Government […]
Conference is aware that disabled people make up approximately of 45% of the workforce in the UK and that a number of disabled people work in the Community Sector. Whilst there are examples of good employment practice, this is inconsistent across Community due to the absence of a national negotiating body and the number of […]
Conference notes that women remain under-represented in the activist base within the community service group despite its workforce being predominantly female. Despite the very positive measures within UNISON to promote women’s participation, there remain legacies and cultures which exclude women, including women from non-traditional union backgrounds, and particularly those working in the Community Sector where […]
Conference notes that there are a multitude of problems in organising with the Community Service Group, particularly in small employer organisations. Conference notes that: a) Whilst there are areas of good practice and supportive branches, the existing UNISON branch structure does not always easily facilitate engagement of Community members who are placed in Local Government […]
Conference, since the coalition have taken power there has been mass redundancies, with many jobs being frozen and those who have survived are facing massive attacks on pay and conditions and threats of zero hour contracts. Black workers appear to be disproportionately affected by this. Government figures suggest there are approximately 250,000 people on zero […]