The bus pass providing pensioners for free off peak bus travel in England and Wales has helped their mobility largely on a local basis. However, many pensioners find the cost of rail fares, even after using the 30% discount of a Senior Rail Card, an expensive hindrance to frequent visiting of friends and family across […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that the Conservative Party’s success at the General and local elections on May 7th carries with it significant threats to public services, our members’ jobs and standard of living and growing levels of inequality. As such Conference calls upon the National Executive Council to develop and put in place a comprehensive political campaign […]
The Westminster government announced in its last Budget that it planned to allow all those who have been contributing to Defined Contribution (DC) pension arrangements, the option of being able to take their whole pot of money as a cash sum from 6 April 2015. Up to then contributors could take a maximum of 25% […]
Conference calls on the Health Service Group Executive to take the lead in a campaign calling for a decent wage for healthcare students during their training. Conference recognises that healthcare students are required to work 37.5 hr on a rotational shift rota whilst on placement and actively participate in patient care often holding their own […]
Conference recognises that activism is at the very heart of UNISON. Activists ensure that the union is accessible to members in the workplace giving day to day support and representation to members, encouraging other workers to join the union and building our organisation. Without activists we could not function as a democratic lay member led […]
Conference notes with concern that despite the government dismissing the Pay Review Body (PRB) from making any determination on NHS Staff pay in England, for 2015, it has instructed the PRB to consider the barriers and enablers ‘within the Agenda for Change pay system, for delivering health care services every day of the week in […]
Conference notes the unanticipated outcome of the 2015 General Election which produced a majority Conservative Government. The new Government is set to intensify austerity in the public sector and increase privatisation and outsourcing of public services. The Conservatives also explicitly targeted the right of workers to organise by including the following commitments in their manifesto: […]
Conference is angered that between 2010 and 2015 a five year austerity programme, driven by Conservative ideology rather than national necessity, saw massive cuts in public spending, huge public sector redundancies and pay restraint across the public services on an unprecedented scale. In his 2014 Autumn Statement last year, George Osborne let it slip that […]
Conference, elderly and retired people deserve to have a decent state pension. Conference asserts that the state pension is not a benefit but is ours by right. Conference believes that older people are being hit particularly hard by current austerity measures. The basic State Retirement Pension which for many on the 6th April, 2015 will […]
Conference condemns the continued attacks on the funding of public services and the impact of the poor pay awards for staff in the public sector. Our members’ wages have decreased in real terms and public sector pay no longer leads the way. Many employers within the public sector are now employed on rates less than […]
Conference, a recent study commissioned by NatCen, an organisation which looks into British Social Attitudes has overwhelmingly established that racism is on the rise. While thirty per cent of Britons described themselves as having “very or a little prejudice against people of other races”, the survey also outlined that attitudes have changed since the 1980’s […]
Conference welcomes the ongoing campaign against the rising cost of Nursing and Midwifery Council registration but notes with dismay that the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) has similarly raised the costs of registration over a short period of time. Given that Allied Health Professions along with other NHS staff have suffered a real terms pay […]
Conference reaffirms its support for the One Team Caring campaign passed at last year’s conference and acknowledges the difficulty the SGE has faced in taking this campaign forward with the Industrial action being carried out in England taking priority. However this was to be a national campaign aimed at recruitment and organising within the Operational […]
Conference notes with concern the establishment of the NHS Mutuals Pathfinder Project and the selection of ten hospitals to take part in the project. A principal stated rationale offered for exploring mutual status is the prospect that mutual status might improve services by increasing staff engagement. By contrast, prospective pathfinder organisations were given a mere […]
Conference notes that as Trusts throughout the country come under more financial pressure they have turned to downbanding as a way of saving money at our members’ expense. These downbandings happen as Trusts undertake service reviews, cost improvements or reorganisations and abuse the Job Evaluation Scheme as set out in Agenda for Change. The Agenda […]