Ambulance staff work in uncontrollable and challenging environments. They are often subjected to abuse and injuries undertaking their duties. The Government doesn’t consider ambulance services to be emergency services and describes them as essential services. With the current proposed changes to retirement age this presents a difficult and a seemingly impossible challenge to our members […]
Conference motions
Whilst Conference acknowledges and supports all the NHS staff who are involved in direct patient/client care and who are traditionally regarded as front line, we reject the government position that they are not affected by the cuts to our NHS with nurses, therapists etc. facing redundancy and service closures constantly. However, we also need to […]
The turn of the millennium is often said to have witnessed a second golden age for Public Health across the UK. In the late 1990s and 2000s new programmes, services and initiatives were commissioned and launched intended to improve the health of our citizens and more directly to reduce the growing health divide between the […]
Conference is extremely alarmed by the roll out of Any Qualified Provider (AQP). Following experiences with the implementation of the similar Any Willing Provider policy on a West Midlands smoking cessation service, the contract was written in such a way that a number of NHS staff were lawfully made redundant as TUPE did not apply […]
Our members in the NHS are about to enter the second year of a pay freeze imposed as a result of the Comprehensive Spending Review presented by the Chancellor in October 2010. This means that for the second year running, the NHS Pay Review Body was given a restricted remit by the Secretary of State […]
Conference notes the damaging effects to patients and NHS staff through the privatisation of NHS shared services in England. Since 2005, shared services such as finance, accountancy, human resources, payroll and family health services have been contracted out to NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS). NHS SBS is a joint venture between the NHS and […]
While we all know the debate around Public Service pensions has reached a difficult and tense period, especially with all negotiations failing to be constructive and positive and the employers being more and more intransigent. We still do not have a true picture of how the changes in the Public Service Pension scheme affect our […]
Conference pledges its solidarity with the communities and cities affected by the disturbances in August 2011. Conference condemns the widespread damage to property, homes, small businesses – many owned by Black people – and employees losing their workplaces and jobs. The disturbances devastated communities that could ill afford it. However, Conference notes that the stereotyping […]
Conference believes that since taking office the Con-Dem government has had a devastating effect on all communities in the UK. Their policies have hurt the economy, the jobs and livelihoods of working people and slammed the barriers down on higher education for young people. Their rhetoric on race, immigration and multiculturalism have sought to divide […]
Conference notes the revised and improved version of the UNISON Challenging Racism in the Workplace Toolkit. In the Northern Region, we have encouraged branches to organize specific training for branch officers, representatives and lay members and this we would hope is being replicated elsewhere in other regions. In the East Midlands we have worked closely […]
Conference notes a motion carried at National Black Members Conference in 2008, titled “Black Community Projects in Crisis” that encapsulates problems among young Black youths and the need to maintain the existence of Black community projects. At the time of producing the motion many projects were facing closure and sadly many have since closed owing […]