Conference notes the many initiatives that have taken place and are ongoing in Scotland in relation to the development of Social Work. These include:- 1)The establishment of the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) and Care Commission 2)The introduction of the 4-year Social Work degree and the “fast track” schemes for postgraduates 3)The Care in Scotland […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that some women still face discrimination in the workplace purely because they are pregnant. Each year, around 30,000 working women are sacked, made redundant or leave their jobs due to pregnancy discrimination. No woman should be penalised for being pregnant. An investigation recently found that some women are unaware of their rights during […]
Local government workers are coming under increasing pressure to work longer hours, often for no extra recompense, to cover for staff cuts and shortages. This is causing massive increases in stress levels exacerbating the situation and leading to further absence and staffing shortfalls. This spiral has been clearly demonstrated in the opinion polls conducted for […]
Conference believes that Playwork and Playworkers are having a very difficult and threatening time due to various local authorities making cuts in play provision and services at a time when they are already grossly underfunded. Playwork has been disrespected and misunderstood despite vast evidence of the great value of the work. Cuts are being made […]
This Local Government Service Group Conference notes with concern the vast amounts of money controlled by unelected, unaccountable quangos in the UK and the influence, for good or bad, on the lives of all of our members. This is perhaps demonstrated most clearly in the case of Boards of Management, which are the governing bodies […]
This Conference notes: 1)The large number of staff employed as agency staff within local government 2)That the employers in local government use agency staff as a measure to deal with what are long term recruitment and retention problems which are attributable to poor pay, terms and conditions 3)Agency staff are also used as a measure […]
Conference notes with concern the undermining of comprehensive education and the incremental and multi faceted process of privatisation and the continued marketisation of education which has taken place since 1997 through private management of state schools; privatisation of LEA functions; and the continued use of PFI. The Government’s 5 year strategy for education will speed […]
Soon after the formation of UNISON, National Conference agreed that the retired members would have a National Retired Members’ Manager appointed, with the duties of servicing the needs of the retired members. It was believed by the Conference that this would solve the problems of communication between members, branches, regions and head office with regard […]
Conference calls upon the National Executive Council to take appropriate steps to ensure that the government addresses the issue of the erosion of pensioners’ increases by the high annual increase to such charges as council tax and public utilities. Conference also notes that UNISON has established a council tax working group to establish clear UNISON […]
Conference notes the Local Government Pay Commission’s call for strong action by Government, councils and trade unions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to promote equality in local government, based on its view that “Equality in local government employment is a necessity not an option”. In particular Conference welcomes the Commission’s call for: 1)Guidance on […]
Conference believes that the UK desperately needs investment in decent, affordable, secure and democratically accountable housing to provide first class homes for all that need them. Further deplores the failure of the UK’s respective governments to tackle the backlog of repairs to council homes. We now know that council housing in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland […]
Conference notes that, throughout the UK, services for children are under extreme pressure. In education, in social services, and in health care, despite the skills and dedication of hundreds of thousands of workers, the system is reaching breaking point and children and their families do not consistently receive the basic services required to ensure their […]
Conference recognises that the current TUPE regulations are flawed and are not effectively protecting our members who are transferred to other employers. Conference therefore calls on the Service Group Executive in conjunction with the General and Affiliated Political Funds to ensure that the TUPE regulations are amended to ensure that all employees who transfer to […]
This Conference urges the Service Group Executive to enter into appropriate negotiations to put an end to the inequalities and unjust disparity between local government staff and local government school based staff. Such representation should seek the end of Local Management of Schools (LMS) and that staffing powers for schools be handed back to the […]
This Local Government Conference applauds the work undertaken by UNISON’s National Disabled Members Committee to promote negotiated agreements that make provision for Disability Leave. We are concerned that there is no adequate legislative provision to compel employers who provide services in Local Government to disregard disability-related absence and the consequence of this in relation to […]