The ‘Peelian principles’ describe the philosophy that Sir Robert Peel developed to define an ethical police force. This philosophy is commonly known as policing by consent. In the British model of policing, police officers are citizens in uniform. They exercise their powers to police their fellow citizens with the implicit consent of their fellow citizens. […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that according to the 2011 World Report on Disability published by the World Health Organisation and World Bank there are an estimated one billion disabled people globally. Disabled people face barriers to participation in society, such as in accessing development programmes and funds, education, employment, health care, communication and transport. Disabled people and […]
One in four people experience mental health issues at some point in their lives, but there is still a lot of stigma associated with mental health impairments, making many people unwilling to disclose mental health issues in the workplace. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people still face high levels of bullying and harassment and […]
Conference is extremely concerned that Lincolnshire Police have introduced the first Volunteer Police Community Support Officers (VPCSOs) in the country. This is despite Lincolnshire Police losing 4.7% of their paid Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) during the period 2010 to 2013. Conference notes that Volunteers are not accountable to the public in the way paid […]
With a static or decreasing number of members in our branches we need to review how we organise within the Water, Environment and Transport Service Group (WET). As moves are made to change our branches we need to find a structure that suits us before one is imposed. There seems to be a coordinated effort […]
Conference notes: a) Many funded pension schemes include provision for member nominated trustees. b) The financial crisis has highlighted the need for appropriate oversight and responsible management of workers capital. c) Proposed changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme are likely to extend the rights of workers to be represented on pensions committees; d) In […]
Conference notes that: a) The existing branch structure within the Environment Agency was established at the time that the Environment Agency was created and was based largely on water company boundaries. b) The structure of the Environment Agency has changed significantly since this time and concern has been expressed that certain bargaining groups are no […]
This Water, Environment and Transport Conference 2014 welcomes legislation banning smoking in workplaces etc. One area that wasn’t addressed however and continues to give our members health and safety concerns is visiting customer’s residential properties whereby the occupiers’ smoke. We call upon the Water, Environment and Transport Executive to produce appropriate guidance which will include […]
Conference 2014 notes that some but not all employers in the water industry currently provide free flu jabs for their employees/our members. UNISON believes that this “best practice” should be adopted by all employers within our service group and calls upon the WET Executive in conjunction with Sector Committees to devise a negotiating guide on […]
This conference notes the devastating impact that marketisation, public sector funding cuts, and welfare reform, have had on workers in the community and voluntary sector. Market mechanisms have led to a race to the bottom in terms and conditions in many parts of the sector, as employers undercut each other to win contracts. The Government […]
Conference notes that in the UK there are 168 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Research conducted by the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) reports that Black people represents 8.6 per cent of higher education academic staff and 6.9 per cent of professional support staff. Conference is aware that in the UK the Higher Education context has changed […]
This conference believes that recent restructurings (such as at Middlesex University which has seen the creation of centralised student services, combining the services from 4 campuses into one) and outsourcing exercises, mean that many ‘entry-level’ jobs are severely reduced or disappear altogether. It is also often the case that these jobs are the first to […]
Conference notes that in this current climate of Government cuts resulting in a reduction to services and jobs, professional support staff are experiencing many challenges within the workforce. Since 2008 government funding cuts have become more savage; ministers have publicly called for more to be done for less across the entire public sector and specifically […]
Conference notes the continued promotion of shared services and privatisation of higher education by the Coalition Government. Evidence from the outsourcing and marketisation of public services suggests that in many cases additional costs are incurred and, increasingly, public sector organisations are looking to in-source services in order to achieve greater efficiency and better value for […]
Conference is aware that disabled people make up approximately of 45% of the workforce in the UK and that a number of disabled people work in the Community Sector. Whilst there are examples of good employment practice, this is inconsistent across Community due to the absence of a national negotiating body and the number of […]