Closing the gender pay gap in local government

Conference notes that new government legislation on gender pay gap reporting, whilst a welcome initiative, will not, on its own, make a significant difference to the occupational gender imbalance in local government. Women continue to be excluded from senior posts within the sector, with as few as 1/3 of all management/director/senior officer posts being held […]

Environment Agency UNISON Members transferring to Defra

This Conference recognises that on 2 February 2017, an announcement was made by Sir James Bevan, (Chief Executive, Environment Agency) that the Environment Agency’s Corporate Services teams will transfer to Defra and that this transfer is expected to be completed by the end of September 2017. Many of the employees involved in this transfer are […]

Bullying of Black workers in the workplace

Conference notes that many local authority employers have anti-bullying and harassment policies in place. However, there are too many times when Black workers in the local government employers have reported experiences of bullying in the workplace. This conference also notes historical evidence from the TUC has shown that Black workers are reluctant to use the […]

National pay bargaining for Wales / a Welsh National Joint Council

Conference notes that local government has been a devolved responsibility of the Welsh government since 1999, with local authority financial settlements determined by Welsh government rather than Westminster. Since that time we have witnessed an increasing divergence of approach towards local government between England and Wales, with regards to funding, council tax, approaches to outsourcing […]

Bullying and harassment of local government workers must stop

This conference notes the bullying and harassment survey conducted by UNISON’s national young members’ forum in young workers month 2016. Highlights of great concern in the survey with respect specifically to young members in local government were: 1)One third were unaware of whether their employer had a policy on addressing bullying and harassment; 2)One quarter […]

Pension Ffnd costs and charges

Conference notes that the combined assets of workplace pensions in the UK stands at £3 trillion and that 99% of that money is managed by commercial asset managers. The most shocking consideration in this process is that no pension fund either defined benefit or defined contribution can tell scheme members how much it costs to […]

Apprenticeships and new employers/new models of public service delivery

This conference notes that a range of new employers and models of service delivery are emerging in local government e.g. combined authorities, local authority trading companies, public authority mutuals, ‘Devo Manc’ etc. This conference also notes that these changes have profound implications for the local government service group bargaining and organising agenda on staffing, pay, […]

Safe Driving

Many UNISON members working in Energy will be familiar with various safe driving initiatives introduced by energy employers. This development will include not just broad awareness of the hazards of driving but also tracking devices which can monitor speed, braking distances, erratic driving etc. Although UNISON would support common sense approaches to ensure we all […]

Hydrogen Gas

Conference notes that UNISON is the largest staff union in the UK gas industry and has a proud heritage of supporting Gas members going back to local municipal gas corporations. Conference further notes that UNISON has members working right across the industrial spectrum from qualified engineers, scientists, finance, managerial, customer contact, emergency response, shipping terminals. […]

Defending the safety of our members in Transport

This Conference believes that the failure to develop a safe, affordable and reliable integrated transport system means that not only is the UK adversely affected economically, but it also leads to unsafe working conditions for our members. This Conference believes that as well as commercial pressures to cut costs, the customer experience is often extremely […]

Contracting out of services in the Water Industry

Much of the water industry does not directly deliver key services, but instead contract them out to private sector organisations. The kinds of services contracted out include meter reading, water pipe maintenance, water testing and facilities services. For those employees who are transferred to a new employer this can mean huge uncertainty over their jobs […]

The impact of the Policing and Crime Act on fire and rescue support staff

Conference notes that the Policing and Crime Act became law on 31 January 2017, despite concerns raised by UNISON and other trade unions. This Act allows fire and rescue authorities to be abolished and replaced by Police and Crime Commissioners. Across England, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) will be able to take on the responsibilities […]

Energy Conference and Energy Branch Seminar

Conference notes the importance of the two main events in the Energy Service Group year – namely our Annual Conference and our Annual Branch Seminar. Both of these events are occasions of interaction and learning for our activists and also an occasion to recharge the batteries of our enthusiasm. However, it has been noticeable over […]

The crisis in social care

Conference recognises that the social care system is in crisis. Council spending on social care fell by 9% in real terms between 2010 and 2015 due to huge funding cuts from central government. The number of pensioners receiving care from their local council fell by 26% over that period. The King’s Fund estimate that the […]

Funding for schools

This conference believes that the government proposals for school funding reform in England are flawed, unfair and fail to address the funding crisis affecting schools. The DfE proposals will only result in a flat cash settlement for schools and takes no account of the increasing costs for schools resulting from from inflation and increased staffing […]