Conference notes: Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as ‘Fracking’ is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release gas inside. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out at the head of […]
Conference motions
Conference notes the resolution from last year’s WET conference to look at increasing Black member participation in the service group. When looking at measurements of engagement such as representation on branch and national committees and attendance at service group and Black members’ conferences the activism levels of Black members in WET remains an area of […]
Conference, these are incredibly turbulent times in the public sector, especially those employers in the Water Environment and Transport Service Groups. Conference motions continue to reappear especially those of facility time, outsourcing and privatisation. Conference the nature of the barriers facing disabled workers is so diverse and complex this can affect how disabled people are […]
Conference, Disabled members are concerned over how mental health is addressed in the work place, what is in place to help those with mental ill health while they are at work? Many of our members may already have a mental health condition or may have mental health conditions triggered by stress, stress can be from […]
Conference welcomes the growing recognition of same sex partnerships, including the 2005 Civil Partnership Act and the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Acts that came into force in England and Wales and in Scotland in 2014. However, conference echoes UNISON’s condemnation of the inequality entrenched in these laws with regard to surviving partner workplace pensions. The […]
Conference notes that the charity Stonewall produces an annual workplace equality index, which it describes as an evidence-based benchmarking tool used by employers to assess their achievements and progress on lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) equality in the workplace. From 2016, they have pledged to also assess achievements and progress on transgender equality within the […]
UNISON remains committed to gender equality within all our pay structures and we commend the highly successful on-going campaign financed and delivered by our organisation to achieve this end. At the same time low pay and lower pay appears to have been largely ignored by UNISON as a priority of our members and most development […]
The problems of mental ill-health and mental health related illnesses are some of the biggest difficulties facing our members at work today. When jobs are under threat, pay packets are being frozen and workloads are increasing, the mental health of employees is always likely to be affected. Over the last two decades, we have all […]
Conference notes that Working Time Regulations stipulate that workers must have: At least a twenty minute break if they work more than six hours a day; At least eleven hours rest between working days, and; at least an uninterrupted twenty four hour rest without any work each week or an uninterrupted forty eight hours without […]
Conference notes that from 6 April 2016 the Basic State Pension and Second State Pension (S2P) will end and be combined/ replaced by a new State Pension. The majority of members in the WET service group are currently paying reduced rate NI Contributions because they are in a work place pension scheme that is better […]
Conference notes that from 6 April 2016 the Basic State Pension and Second State Pension (S2P) will end and be combined/ replaced by a new State Pension. The majority of members in the energy service group are currently paying reduced rate NI Contributions because they are in a work place pension scheme that is better […]
Conference notes that the majority of victims of the most severe forms of domestic abuse – and therefore those who are most affected – are women. In the energy service group women account for around 75% of the membership, and this is therefore an issue which has a significant impact on our members in the […]
Conference notes that domestic abuse has been demonstrated to have a significant impact on business productivity and the UK economy. Government statistics demonstrate that: i. 1 in 5 women each year take time off work because of domestic abuse. ii. 2 in every one hundred will lose their jobs iii. of those who remain in […]
Conference believes 1)The changes within the Labour Party since the leadership election in 2015 indicate a welcome move towards UNISON’s long-held view that the Energy Industry should be brought back into public ownership. 2)There is now a golden opportunity to provide support and information to help consolidate this view within the labour movement. 3)The research […]
This WET Conference notes that adverse changes have recently occurred to defined benefit (final salary) pension schemes in Severn Trent, Dwr Cymru, Northumbria Water and United Utilities as a minimum. The Water Industry has been a licence to make money since privatisation in 1989 when Thatcher wrote off all the debts and remains a monopolised […]