Like all other public sector service groups, jobs of Police and Justice staff are under intense attack nationally and have been since this Tory/Lib Dem coalition showed their intention soon after being elected to shrink the public sector. We face a ‘double whammy’ in that not only are our frontline jobs being made redundant, we […]
Conference motions
Conference notes the disproportionate effects the cuts on public services will have on women, in particular cuts to Sure Start. Users of the services are almost exclusively women as are the staff employed. Sure Start provides vital services such as Early Years play and development, family bonding, speech and language and family support services to […]
Conference notes the attack on women that is being instituted by the Tory-led government. Their first budget showed a disproportionate effect on women which was highlighted by the Fawcett Society. We are all aware that the public sector is being made to pay the price of the excesses of the banking and finance sector. Even […]
Conference is concerned at the ever-increasing discrepancy between the basic state pension and the poverty threshold. In 2009 the National Pensioners’ Convention’s figures state that the poverty threshold is £165 pw whilst the basic state pension is £97.25 pw, a discrepancy of £65.75 pw. Much of the blame for this can be laid at the […]
This conference is concerned that proposed changes being introduced by energy retailers to roll out SMART meter installations will have a disproportionate affect on disabled workers and disabled customers. Based on previous experiences disabled meter readers have been forced out of contractual work into self employed status. Disabled people want the assurance that energy workers […]
Conference approves the attached Constitution of the Energy Service Group.
The government has formed an independent Public Service Pensions Commission to undertake a fundamental structural review of public service pension provision by Budget 2011. We believe that the fact that private sector pensions are inadequate does not mean that public sector pensions should be. This action if taken will have a detrimental effect on Black […]
Conference believes that it is essential that the United Kingdom has a sustainable energy policy that ensures security of supply, affordability and environmental protection. Conference notes the failure of the last and present Governments to promote positively clean coal technology and is concerned that the cuts in public expenditure will seriously increase the number of […]
Conference notes that over the next few years the Energy Retailers will be pushing ahead with a national roll out of SMART meter installations. This will be a massive logistical exercise involving many thousands of workers and the probable extensive use of contract labour. Conference endorses UNISON’s position on SMART meters that seeks to emphasise […]
Conference notes that within the energy sector there is an increasing trend of ownership of gas and electricity distribution networks by pension funds and private equity consortia. The sale of network businesses by National Grid, EDF and United Utilities to such owners will likely be added to by other companies seeking to raise funds for […]
Conference notes that four of the big six Energy Companies in the UK are owned by overseas European based multi- nationals. Each of these four companies either already have, or are eligible for, a European Works Council (EWC). Recognising that UNISON has a significant membership base in all the UK’s energy companies it is important […]
Conference recognises the long term decline in numbers of trade union membership in the UK since 1979 from 13 million to 6.6 million members today. We note that this decline is reflected across many European and North American countries including Germany, France, Spain, Italy, USA and Canada. We also note that the average age of […]
Conference welcomes the progress in equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people under the last Labour government. Notable achievements include the introduction of civil partnership for same sex couples and the Gender Recognition Act, which gives trans people the opportunity to gain legal recognition of their acquired gender. Conference notes that in the […]
Conference condemns the Coalition government’s concerted attacks on public services and the welfare state. These attacks are driven by political ideology, not economics – a continuation of the Thatcher/Major government commitment to free market economics which cynically exploits and exaggerates the effects of the economic downturn to roll back the welfare state and open up […]
Conference condemns the Tory led Government’s savage and ideological attack on working people and the institutions and services upon which they rely. In addition to the deepest and most sustained cuts to public spending in living memory, we are also witnessing wholesale attempts to dismantle the welfare state and to undermine the concept of collective […]