Male Energy members who work in the electricity and gas industries who have tried to donate blood have found that the National Blood Service has a ‘blanket’ ban in place against men who have ever had sex with other men, and so they are advised in their workplaces that their blood will not be accepted […]
Conference motions
Conference recognises the right of members in Energy to retire on a decent secure pension. Conference expresses its concern that some Energy Companies are attempting to eliminate or worsen early retirement provisions to the detriment of members. Conference believes that all employers should be required to offer an occupational pension scheme that employees should automatically […]
Conference notes with concern the growing number of energy utilities deciding to offshore work overseas. In the last twelve months npower, British Gas and Vertex have publicly announced their offshoring plans, each leading to significant reductions in their UK workforce. This trend is largely stimulated by the competitive pressures of the liberalised UK energy market […]
The Service Groups covered by the Business and Environment Unit held a successful Seminar of Health & Safety Reps at National level in the early part of this decade. Many Health and Safety related legislative changes that affect members in the Energy Service Group have occurred since this time and this Energy Conference calls on […]
Conference welcomes UNISON’s response to the Government’s Energy Review. We note that contrary to the growing clamour for a nuclear renaissance that there is no proven economic or environmental case for doing so. Conference believes that there remains an untapped potential to reduce the UK’s dependency on energy through energy conservation and savings measures. Conference […]
This conference welcomes welcome the increased participation by Energy Members at the 2005 LGBT Conference in Belfast. The Business and Environment Equal Opportunities Working Group (BEEOWG) has successfully engaged with Branches and Regions to raise the LGBT profile within Energy through specific LGBT events and, more recently, the successful Equalities Day. Conference is disappointed however […]
Conference notes that on 11 November, and on the closest Sunday after that date each year within the United Kingdom, civic and religious ceremonies are held to mark the death and injuries caused as a result of war. It is with sadness that Conference also observes that although the International Trade Unions Movement has designated […]
UNISON has taken the lead in producing excellent evidence-based analysis of the fundamental damage that the private finance initiative (PFI) does to public service delivery and public service workers. It has also demonstrated that the sums do not add up and that this is not value for money. Now the chickens are coming home to […]
Conference welcomes the 2005 recruitment figures which show that UNISON recruited 162,000 new members with a net gain of 32,000 members. With the exception of 2002, this is the highest number of members recruited in any year since 1994. Conference welcomes the challenging recruitment targets set by the National Executive Council for 2006. Conference further […]
Conference notes with dismay the growing negative effects that the marketisation of the National Health Service (NHS) in England is having on staff and patient services. According to a recent survey by the Health Service Journal, 63% of hospital trusts have been forced to close wards as a result of financial shortages, a quarter have […]
Conference notes with concern the recent findings of the Commission for Racial Equality on the spectacular failure of government departments and public bodies to meet, in the most elementary way, the statutory duty on the promotion of racial equality. This failure impacts on UNISON members as service users and employees. Application of a similar but […]
Conference welcomes the recent UNISON delegation to Palestine and Israel to see first-hand the reality of the situation on the ground and to discuss what support UNISON can give to our sister trade unions. Conference reaffirms policy adopted at National Delegate Conference in 2005. Conference notes that the political situation in both Palestine and Israel […]
In Q Fair Representation Delete all and replace with “Fair representation is the broad balance of representation of members of the electorate, taking into account such factors as age and low pay, the balance between full time and part time workers, manual and non-manual workers, different occupations, skills, race, sexual orientation, disability and gender identity.”
Conference acknowledges the result of the North East referendum on an elected Regional Assembly in 2004 as the democratic will of the electorate. While Conference recognises the result and the concerns it represents in relation to elected assemblies we are disappointed that the ‘no’ vote was largely based on the pessimistic and business orientated arguments […]
The government’s reform agenda for public services is being rolled out at an alarming rate and will radically and irreversibly change the provision and management of public services. Issues and proposals of concern include: 1)in health: a)proposals to re-organise strategic health authorities and fundamentally primary care trusts (PCTs) as part of ‘Commissioning a Patient led […]