Violence in Social Care Field

Conference recognises that the vulnerability of children and adults with special needs or challenging behaviour is readily acknowledged by staff working in the social care field. However, Conference notes with concern both the increasing numbers of attacks on staff and also the increase in allegations of assault against staff and the lack of procedures and […]

TUPE

Conference recognises that the current TUPE regulations are flawed and are not effectively protecting our members who are transferred to other employers. Conference therefore calls on the Service Group Executive in conjunction with the General and Affiliated Political Funds to ensure that the TUPE regulations are amended to ensure that all employees who transfer to […]

Disparity Between Local Government Staff and Local Government School Based Staff

This Conference urges the Service Group Executive to enter into appropriate negotiations to put an end to the inequalities and unjust disparity between local government staff and local government school based staff. Such representation should seek the end of Local Management of Schools (LMS) and that staffing powers for schools be handed back to the […]

National Workload and Remodelling of the School Workforce Agreement

This Conference urges the Service Group Executive to campaign as strongly as it can for the adequate central government funding of the National Workload and Remodelling of the school Workforce Agreement. They believe that repeated failure to do so makes a mockery of its claims that it wants to create a new way of working […]

Continuous Service in Local Government

Conference calls on the Service Group Executive to negotiate on improvements in the current policies regarding leave conditions. At present any time served in Local Government employment is discounted if a person leaves the service. If at a later stage a person rejoins Local Government they have to start as a new employee. Our members […]

Direct Payments

We recognise the introduction of Direct Payments could have a significant impact on UNISON members employed in local authorities. Direct Payments are where social work departments are required to offer payment to allow for purchase of private services, as an alternative to direct services. This could involve loss of jobs, changes to terms and conditions […]

Negotiating an end to disability discrimination

This Local Government Conference applauds the work undertaken by UNISON’s National Disabled Members Committee to promote negotiated agreements that make provision for Disability Leave. We are concerned that there is no adequate legislative provision to compel employers who provide services in Local Government to disregard disability-related absence and the consequence of this in relation to […]

“Fresh Start” Initiative for Schools

This Local Government Service Group opposes the Government’s “Fresh Start” initiative, introduced purportedly to give support to schools deemed to be failing. The “Fresh Start” scheme is fatally flawed because it forces staff at a school to reapply for their jobs at a time when continuity of staff is most needed, for their knowledge of […]

Winning the Organised College

This Conference notes that UNISON’s primary objective is recruitment and organisation. It also notes that membership in colleges is less than 30% of its potential. The campaign to achieve implementation of the two-year deal in further education presents an ideal organising opportunity. It also requires college-level negotiations on elements of the agreement, such as job […]

Work-Life Balance and Women

This Conference is concerned that women in predominately low paid jobs in Local Government are being denied access to work life balance/flexible working. Work/life balance is about introducing greater flexibility in the way people go about their work. Balancing work and family is one of the most important issues facing women in the 21st century. […]

The Future of Residential Care for Older People

This Conference: 1)Congratulates UNISON on the campaign against the two-tier workforce which culminated in the introduction of the Workforce Matters Code (March 2003) 2)Notes with alarm that companies who are attempting to take over residential care homes are looking at ways to avoid the code as they can only make profits by operating with a […]

Fragmentation of the Local Government Workforce

Local government in the last few years has witnessed some key changes in how services are being delivered. Best Value has forced local authorities to review each of their services. Many have remained in-house but many have used the opportunity to transfer services to different providers. Large scale transfers have been witnessed in Lincolnshire, Blackburn […]

Single Status

This Conference notes: 1)That Motion 31 carried at last year’s Conference called for an immediate campaign to ensure that Single Status is implemented 2)That Motion 31 agreed that the failure to implement Single Status was a debacle and that branches were being left to fight alone 3)That to date, no such immediate campaign has been […]

Local Government – Defending National Terms and Conditions

Conference is wary of the national employers’ wishes to ‘modernise’ working practices and the effect this will have on pay, terms and conditions for local government workers. Having witnessed ‘modernisation’ in, most graphically, the civil and fire services, we understand this is a euphemism for an attack on nationally negotiated terms and conditions. Conference opposes […]

Organising in the Voluntary and Community Sector

Conference agrees that our work in the Voluntary and Community sector (and also within private companies) is becoming of increasing importance. Many of our members work in small organisations, with few staff and consequently no stewards or activists. Many organisations do not recognise UNISON and their size leaves them outside the laws on trade union […]