Stop the mutualisation of the fire service

Service Group Conference notes with deep concern the former government’s announcement of plans to turn fire authorities into mutuals. Under the plans, the government would change the law to allow fire authorities to set themselves up as independent social enterprise companies outside the public sector. They would then be contracted to provide geographical fire cover […]

Future Pay Consultation

Conference we welcome the opportunity to debate the protocols regarding consultation on any future pay awards within Local Government. Our current procedures ensure that the National Joint Council (NJC) representatives make recommendations on whether any proposals or offers are put to our members. In order to ensure we support our NJC reps, to allow them […]

Pay Consultation Procedures

Conference notes that the 2014 Local Government Conference agreed 10 core principles for revised Local Government Service Group pay consultation procedures. These were: 1)To consult all members in a sector on a final pay offer, once negotiations are deemed to be exhausted by the Sector Committee; or to consult all members in a sector on […]

Pay Consultation Procedures

The recent pay campaigns for members covered by both SJC and NJC highlighted areas requiring improvement such as lay activist involvement and difficulties with other trade unions. Pay is of the utmost importance to our members and in order to be effective in ending pay freezes, below inflation pay rises and further eradication of Terms […]

Campaigning for Fair Pay for Local Government Workers

Conference recognises that the pay of local government workers has been in decline for many years as part of a deliberate politically driven policy of successive governments and that the challenge facing UNISON is to reverse this trend. This is not an issue that should be seen as an annual pay round but a longer […]

Pay Campaign

The Cymru Wales Local Government committee recognises that UNISON has to be reflective and self-critical over how we have managed pay campaigns across our Service Group over recent years but specifically over the conduct of how we managed the 2014/15 NJC pay campaign and how we dealt with the 2014-16 employers’ pay proposal. As part […]

Central Collective Bargaining and UNISON Strategy

The 2014/15 pay rounds presented the union with a series of difficult challenges. Those challenges, and the proposals to resolve them, were finally determined by the membership through UNISON’s exemplary democratic process. There is a clear determination from the current UK Coalition Government to break central collective bargaining such as the NJC and to replace […]

Pay Campaign, lack of action

This Special Conference notes the lack of national leadership by our union in our recent pay dispute. In particular we note the lack of action following the July 10th strike. This strike day should have been followed by an intensive well financed national campaign to rouse our members to take further action. Instead month followed […]

The 2014 – 16 NJC Pay Proposals

This Special Conference notes the 2014/15 NJC Pay Claim submitted on 5 November 2013 was for: · A minimum increase of £1 an hour on scale point 5 to achieve the Living Wage and the same flat rate increase on all pay scale points. This Special Conference also notes: · The claim was based on […]

The decision to cancel strike action for 14 October 2014

This Special Conference believes the decision of the NJC Committee on 9th October to suspend the action planned for 14th October was a grave error which completely undermined the national campaign to secure a decent pay rise for Local Government members and an end to five years of real terms cuts in our member’s living […]

Ergonomic Risks to Water Field Based Employees

Recently, Thompsons Solicitors won an out of court settlement against United Utilities for an undisclosed sum on behalf of a UNISON field based Water Inspector member. For several years, this member had used his Toughbook laptop computer in his small works van receiving and sending work on a job by job basis to his central […]

Living Wage for Employers within WET

This Water, Environment & Transport Conference congratulates South East Water and its UNISON negotiators on being the first known employer in our Service Group to adopt the living wage. We call upon the WET Executive to produce appropriate communication materials for branches in the WET Service Group to use in pay claims and/or in other […]

Campaign Against Polymer

This Water, Environment and Transport Conference is aware of the ever increasing number of incidents in United Utilities and presumably other Water Industry employers involving polymer. Polymer is a very sticky substance and once it gets onto the soles of boots is not easily removed. This makes walking on certain surfaces very hazardous and increases […]

The 2014-2016 NJC (National Joint Council) Pay Proposals

This Conference endorses the 2014/15 NJC pay claim for a flat rate increase sufficient to raise scale point 5 to the Living Wage outside London. Conference deplores the fact that the 2014-2016 NJC pay proposals fall so very far short of achieving the 2014/15 claim. The 2.2% increase on most spine points perpetuates declining living […]

Decision To Cancel Strike Action On 14th October

This Special Conference believes the decision of the NJC Committee on 9th October to suspend the action planned for 14th October was a grave error which completely undermined the national campaign to secure a decent pay rise for Local Government members and an end to five years of real terms cuts in our member’s living […]