Council provided care

Conference notes the campaigns for a National Care Service in each of the 4 nations and UNISON’s support, in principle, for such a proposal. Local government in Scotland, Wales and England and that any proposals for a National Care Service should respect and build upon this. Conference notes that social care is essentially a community-based […]

Local government funding – a national crisis

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) have published as part of their “Save Our Services” bulletins a projected funding gap of £1billion for 2023/24. Scottish local government branches are already engaged in discussions with employers about cuts to jobs, cuts to terms and conditions and we note that some councils looking at wholesale restructuring […]

Caring for our carers

Conference notes that many local government branches currently support care workers both employed directly by local government employers but also those employed by private companies contracted by local government employers to deliver care for elderly, disabled people – both adult and children. Approximately 80% of the social care workforce are women. Only a small percentage […]

Using school forums as an organising tool

Conference notes that the continued fragmentation of the school system, together with the geographical spread of schools, provides organising challenges for UNISON. The use of school forums to bring together activists from across schools in branches is well established as best practice to develop collective responses to the common issues we face. The ability to […]

Promoting the Anti Racism Charter in the public sector

With the de-funding of public sector bodies, from a government which has little interest in the welfare needs of its citizens. It is no surprise that amongst those facing the most targeted hostile barriers are our Black members. The Tory anti-immigrant agenda has fuelled increased hatred and attacks on our Black communities across the country. […]

Taking the organising lead in Further Education

National pay negotiations with The Association of Colleges (AoC) continue to fall considerably short of the mark. With 1% and 2% pay ‘recommendations’ over the past few years, we are failing to deliver the pay awards our members need. As a consequence more and more branches are tagging on to the tailcoats of UCU and […]

Fighting cuts to local services and protecting disabled workers’ jobs

Conference notes that local government services have been cut to the bone by a decade of austerity and this has had an adverse impact on our members’ jobs, pay, terms and conditions. This is particularly the case for our disabled members who have often been first in line when job cuts are on the agenda. […]

Empowering our reps in the fight against outsourcing

Outsourcing and privatisation of local government services has almost zero benefit to the way that they are run but it can often have a disastrous effect on the quality of the services being provided. It also comes with a higher risk of workers receiving poorer wages and terrible terms and conditions, whilst lining the pockets […]

Securing the Legacy of the Year of Disabled Workers

Conference notes the success of UNISON’s Year of Disabled Workers 2022 and places on record our thanks to all of our disabled members and activists who have driven this success throughout our union. Through the year, we saw renewed focus on the experience of disabled members in our union, in the workplace and in society. […]

Cost of Living Crisis and Black Workers

Conference notes that everything is going up fast – 12 percent now but forecasts of upwards to 22 percent. However, the pay of many UNISON members has been effectively frozen for almost 12 years. We can’t make ends meet! We have a cost of living crisis because of the decisions made by political leaders and […]

Equality is UNISON Business

Conference notes that one of UNISON’s main aims is, as per UNISON’s rule book, “to seek to ensure equality of treatment and fair representation for all members and to work for the elimination of discrimination on grounds of race, gender, sexuality, gender identity, disability, age or creed”. To achieve this, UNISON seeks for branches to […]

Building trans equality in local government

Conference recalls that the motion “Trans Equality – Louder and Prouder!” adopted by the 2022 Local Government Conference acknowledged the toxic debate ignited by the United Kingdom government’s consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) and recognised the need for our union, including the local government service group, to become more visible and more […]

The cost-of-living crisis and local government workers

Conference notes that local government workers not only see the cost-of-living crisis first-hand as part of their jobs, but many are suffering directly at the hands of the government’s economic incompetence and political decision to prioritise the wealthiest in society rather than protecting those who need help the most. UNISON research shows since 2009 local […]

Resisting the Tories Sustained Assault on Democracy and Our Fundamental Rights

Conference notes that this UK government has launched a sustained volley of attacks on our basic freedoms at break-neck speed and in such volume that even very basic levels of appropriate scrutiny and challenge is almost impossible. They have defied legal norms of parliamentary process and sunk to new levels to force through their proposals. […]

Adult social care

Conference notes that the adult social care system in England continues to face an existential crisis and that the UK government’s proposed ‘reforms’ have done little to address this. Its white paper on the future of adult social care in England fell well short of anything transformative – doing nothing to tackle the marketised nature […]