Celebrate the Bus! Help Keep the Bus Pass

“Conference congratulates the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Midlands Region Pensioners’ Network on its ‘bus tour’ of the Midlands between 7th and 21st April this year to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme. Working with a range of local partners who included retired members of at least thirteen UNISON branches […]

Young Members in the Police Service

Young members are the future of our union and it is important that we provide as much support as possible within the workplace, enabling them to see the value of trade union membership within the Police Service. Not only do we need to support young members at work, we need to encourage them to become […]

Police Resources, the cuts and the impact on staff

The ideological swingeing cuts that have been placed on the police service for more than seven years have had a profound impact upon our members’ health and well-being. With up to 25% of force budgets being cut, we have seen a vast reduction in the service to the public, and to police officers and staff […]

Suspension is not a Neutral Act

Conferences notes with concern that UNISON members who are under investigation by their force or the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) appear to be facing longer periods of suspension for misconduct reasons, where they are removed from their workplace, isolated from their colleagues and generally left to look after their own welfare and mental […]

Members delivering services for private contractors within policing

A number of our members have been transferred to the private sector as part of TUPE transfers. These members are feeling as though they no longer fit into the wider organisation of the service group. It is essential that branches continue to offer the support necessary and to maintain a profile with the new employers. […]

Raising the profile of equalities in the police service

Since the advent of austerity, equalities and diversity have become less of a priority in the police service. Training where it exists, is no longer the quality that we would expect and our members have suffered as a consequence. Prior to 2010, equalities training was seen as the bedrock of delivering a fair and discrimination […]

National Insurance

The National Insurance scheme as established in 1948 to provide unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, retirement pension and various other benefits to employees and pensioners in the UK. Employed people who have not reached state retirement pension age and their employers contribute to the scheme through @National Insurance Contributions’ (NICs), which are based on a percentage […]

Older People and Loneliness

This conference calls on the National Retired Members’ Committee (NRMC) and requests the National Executive Council (NEC) to liaise with other agencies to raise awareness of loneliness and its affects in particular, on older people. Loneliness often comes about as a result of the lack of transport in rural areas together with the lack of […]

POST OFFICE CARD ACCOUNT

This conference instructs the National Retired Members’ Committee (NRMC) and calls upon the National Executive Council (NEC) to raise awareness, by any means at their disposal, to the pending threat of the removal of the Post Office Card Account (POCA). This account is used by thousands of pensioners and less able people as a safe […]

Police Staff Pay Negotiations

Police Staff in England and Wales were frustrated by the amount of time the 2017 pay negotiations took to be resolved. The very small gains that were known in January 2018 were consulted upon in February 2018. These small concessions were largely lost due to the amount of time it took to consult with our […]

Report back on combining Energy Conference and Energy Branch Seminar

This conference notes that at last years energy service group conference 2017, a motion submitted by the Scottish Electricity Branch was agreed by delegates, calling for a report into the setting up of a combined energy seminar and conference. It also called for this to be reported back to the 2018 energy service group conference. […]

Flexible Working

The landscape for all workers is becoming increasingly difficult in these times of austerity imposed by a Tory Government. As an energy sector, it is all too common to see our call centres becoming outsourced and frustrations around shift patterns are a common theme. Our members are being told that they have to work to […]

Inclusive workplace policies

Conference celebrates UNISON’s work over the past 25 years to promote women’s equality and participation and to tackle sexism and sex discrimination at work, in our union and across society. Like other service groups, the energy service group has a majority of women members and our rules and practices to encourage women’s participation are vital […]

Stress in call centres and operational centres

Conference notes that many energy members work in call centres and operational centres where they take calls from operational colleagues and customers. While most callers are reasonable, there is always a proportion that are unreasonable and some who are extremely abusive. In workplaces with generally high levels of stress, this can be intolerable. Members who […]

Renationalisation

Conference notes that UNISON is the largest staff trade union in the energy sector and has many thousands of members working in customer and retail operations in the big six energy suppliers. Conference further notes that this union is proud of its members in this area and recognises the services they provide to customers day […]