Pay up now in Community!

Conference notes that UNISON membership in the community service group is increasing and attendance at the community service group meeting at national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) conference improves annually. Issues affecting LGBT members raised at the meeting include low or no pay increases, attacks on terms and conditions, facility time and bullying, harassment […]

Fair Funding

There is a persistent problem of funding and how contracts are put out for tender. The impact of this is that there is often so little money in the contract that staffing costs are the area employers target to cut back so members end up with larger workloads and lower pay, wages rarely allow for […]

Digital Organising Framework

Conference notes the introduction by UNISON from 1st September 2017 of the new Digital Organising Framework which replaces the paper-based Joint Branch and Regional Assessment Process (JBRA) and that It is intended to act as a discussion framework for a sit down conversation between a Regional Organiser and Branch Secretary (or Committee); It is an […]

Training and Development for Lay Activists

Conference notes the annual national training event for Community members facilitated by UNISON Learning and Organising Services (LAOS) which took place in Birmingham in October 2017 and its continued success in assisting to develop and empower our membership base. Conference also notes that throughout UNISON nations/regions much innovative work has been undertaken in conjunction with […]

Raising the Bar in North West Social Care

Conference notes the continued success of the North West Region’s Social Care Organising Project ‘Care Workers for Change’ and the revitalisation of the participation and sector organisation of Community members which are key objectives within its Regional Work Programme. Funded by the Region and participating branches, its aims are to recruit new members and activists, […]

Violence towards support staff

Care and support staff in both the Community & Voluntary Sector and Housing Associations should not accept incidents of violent or aggressive behaviour as a normal part of their role. All support staff have a right to expect a safe and secure workplace. Violent and aggressive incidents are the third biggest cause of injuries reported […]

Sleeping in Shifts and compliance with National Minimum Wage Regulations

Conference notes that in the past year our union has once again been leading the way on the issue of payment of the statutory minimum wage for sleep-in shifts. Many Community members carry out sleep-in shifts and have often been paid less than the legal minimum for their work. By any reasonable definition of the […]

UNISON Pay Campaign and the Community Service Group

Community Conference welcomes the new UNISON wide pay campaign called “Pay Up Now“ which seeks to put pressure on the government to end public spending austerity which has proved so disastrous for public services in recent years. Community Conference supports the campaign objectives which are to: a. Put an end to the pay cap b. […]

Sickness Management

Around 80% of organisations in Community & Voluntary Sector and Housing Associations reported that the most prevalent form of short term absence from the workplace were the common minor illnesses like colds, stomach bugs, migraines and influenza. 40% of organisations reported an increased level of stress related illness; this is thought to be a response […]

Mental Health

In the Community & Voluntary Sector which includes care provision, charities, not for profit organisations and housing associations, it is becoming evident that the biggest issue in the workplace is poor mental health. Statistics now show that it causes many millions of working days to be lost every year. The mental health problems experienced by […]

We Need Pay Ratios in Higher Education (HE)

Conference notes: 1)By the end of 2017, members in Higher Education will have lost the equivalent of one fifth of their pay since 2009/10. 2)At the same time, Senior Managers have seen their salaries consistently increase above the rate of inflation, with twenty-three Vice Chancellors taking an increase of 10% or more last year. Conference […]

Increasing participation of young members

The last general election saw thousands of young people registering to vote for the very first time. Youth engagement with politics led to a change in the political landscape. Subsequent debates amongst MPs has shown them that the issues important to them will be taken up by politicians when there is strength in numbers. While […]

Brexit and our European Unions (EU) colleagues

Colleagues may recall the lacklustre support by the UK Universities for any position during the Brexit Referendum despite UNISON’s call to Vice Chancellors (VCs) to take a position to support EU staff and students. There are 45,000 EU citizens working in the Higher Education sector in the UK (11% of the Higher Education (HE) workforce) […]

Engaging Higher Education members for LGBT equality

Conference welcomes the high level of engagement of Higher Education (HE) members in UNISON’s second equality survey, conducted summer 2017, which gives useful insight into their experiences and involvement in UNISON. Conference also notes the responses from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members (LGBT), which reinforce the findings from the 2016 survey that LGBT members […]

No to a Hard Brexit

Our political landscape has become dominated by the referendum decision to leave the European Union. Whatever the specific position in January 2018, there are particular principles which will defend the rights and freedoms of both UK and EU nationals working in Higher Education (HE). At the time of writing we have not seen full details […]