Conference notes the debate around devolution which occurred in 2014 impacted on all parts of the United Kingdom with the referendum on Scottish independence and the subsequent Smith Commission; the passage of the Wales Act 2014; the increased momentum behind combined authorities and “City deals” in England; the Conservative Party’s proposals around “English Votes for […]
Conference motions
Conference notes: 1)That a Scottish Trade Union Delegation to Bhopal participated in events marking the 30th Anniversary of the gas leak disaster of 1984 for which Union Carbide was responsible; 2)That Dow Chemical Company (which now owns Union Carbide) has continued to avoid accountability and evades legal liability; 3)That the people of Bhopal are still […]
Add new rule D 3.5.10: “D 3.5.10 No member who holds a seat on a Service Group Executive can hold a seat on the National Executive Council as a service group representative under Rule D.2.3 at the same time. She/he may stand as a candidate in an election or by-election for a seat on the […]
Add new Rule D 2.9: “D 2.9 Meetings of the National Executive Council shall take place, so far as is reasonably practicable, in venues which are accessible to all members eligible to attend.” Renumber as appropriate
D 3.5.8 add at end: “She/he may stand as a candidate in an election or by-election for a seat on a Service Group Executive, subject to Rule D.2.3.4. If elected, she/he will be deemed to have resigned from the National Executive Council from the commencement of the period of office for the Service Group Executive […]
Conference welcomes the work of UNISON’s National and Regional Young Members Forums to raise the profile of young workers and young members through activity during young workers month, which is now held in November each year under the auspices of the TUC. Conference believes that recruiting young workers and organising young members is an all-year-round […]
Conference notes that issues around the scale of governance have come to the fore in political debate in recent months. Questions that have become more prominent in the political discussion include: 1)The relationship between the UK and Europe; 2)The relationship between the nations of the UK; 3)The relationship between central and local government. Conference notes […]
Conference notes that since the current government came to power in 2010, public services have been subject to savage cuts. Consequently, despite growing demands on the health service because of an aging population, there has been a significant cut in staffing levels. Since the Mid-Staffordshire report on safe staffing levels, the health service has begun […]
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 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 notes that communications between branch, regional and national levels remains unsatisfactory as far as UNISON retired members are concerned. Conference is also concerned that there has been a failure to produce updated literature on retired members matters such as the Branch Retired Members Secretary’s Handbook, the UNISON Code of Practice for Older People and […]
Conference notes that the European Union (EU) is currently negotiating three free trade agreements including the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The others are the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada (CETA) and the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). These agreements threaten public services by harmonising regulatory standards, forcing through market liberalisation and […]
Conference recognises the massive housing crisis which exists in London and nationally. Conference condemns the UK Government’s financial policies that have focused upon “Buy to Let” as the main source of housing and rented housing in the UK. The result has been growing inequality, poverty, the break up of families and communities across the UK […]