Conference is concerned at the government cuts to councils for bus services, £27m in the current year and the impact this will have on rural communities who depend on bus services to get around. Rural bus services are being wiped out in many areas of England and Wales due to cuts in subsidies. Described by […]
Conference motions
Conference is concerned to learn that the rail industry is planning to replace paper train tickets with smartphone technology within three years and the impact this will have on older/elderly travellers who it is feared will be subsidising younger generations. Campaign group Railfuture has warned that elderly people who do not have smartphones and will […]
Conference notes that the government is proposing new Local Government Pension Scheme investment regulations and asset pooling. Whilst there could be advantages in the pooling of LGPS funds, should this go forward, the proposal also gives new power to the government to decide where council pension funds make investments. As such, Conference fully endorses UNISON’s […]
This Conference believes it is clear that young members are amongst those groups where stress and mental health issues are of growing prevalence and concern. This Conference welcomes the work undertaken by our young members organisation to raise this issue through their work in Young Workers Month (November 2015). Workplace meetings and events were organised […]
Conference notes the report of the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee into the collapse of the Kids’ Company charity. Criticism was singled out for the charity’s trustees and the Charity Commission. According to the report the valuable work of this charity, along with its “inspired and motivated employees” was let down by the […]
Composite A NEPAL EARTHQUAKE The Nepal Himalayan earthquake struck on the morning of 25th April 2015 at 11.56, killing more than 7,000 people. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake, the worst for 81 years. The earthquake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing at least 19 people, making it the deadliest day on the mountain in history. […]
Conference welcomes the news that the Living wage has been increased to £9.40 per hour in London and £8.25 elsewhere. It is right and proper that UNISON is fully behind moves to encourage even more employers to sign up to the living wage. It is not acceptable that many of our members work 35 hours […]
Following the Chancellor’s budget speech on 8th July 2015 and the introduction of the “National Living Wage” we call on conference to lobby, support and campaign to prevent attacks on terms and conditions of the members working in The Third Sector. The Third Sector is now further under attack from the employers due to the […]
Conference notes within the community sector it is can be difficult to negotiate paid time off for trade union workplace representatives to carry out trade union duties, particularly in smaller workplaces. Workplace reps are entitled to paid time off to cover trade union duties related to collective bargaining on issues including terms and conditions of […]
Conference notes and applauds the role UNISON has played, and continues to play, in the campaign for a Living Wage. Around 4.8 million people, 20% of the working population, are paid less than a Living Wage – the hourly rate set by the Living Wage Foundation calculated according to the actual cost of living, and […]
Conference notes the challenges of organising lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) members in community, partly at least due to the way in which we are structured. Members may belong to a national branch, a bespoke community branch, a housing association branch, a health branch, a local government branch and/or a small branch. Where members […]
With rising pension ages both in the State and Employers Pension Scheme, Higher Education will see an increase in the age of its workforce. The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against employees because of their age. Age discrimination can impact on someone’s confidence, job prospects, financial situation and quality of life. Older […]
This Conference believes that the growth of privatisation and outsourcing in Higher Education presents a major challenge not just to the provision of services, but also to our ability to organise the workforce effectively. This Conference believes that the service group’s response to this challenge must be to support branches seeking to resist privatisation and […]
Conference notes that Health and Safety has not been exempt from the government’s austerity cuts agenda. The continued drive to “cut red tape” has brought changes to both the way work environments and hazardous substances are classified. Conference welcomes the initiative to standardise substance labelling worldwide and agree that when it comes to health and […]
Conference notes that it was our union’s national collective bargaining that established many equality protections long before they were enshrined in law. For example, our predecessor unions secured recognition of same sex partners for the purposes of workplace benefits before workplace discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation was banned and many years before the first […]