This Community Conference notes the ongoing crisis in pension provision affecting our members in Community and also that community and voluntary sector employees are among the lowest paid in society. The minimum level of auto-enrolment pensions is grossly inadequate; and employers continue to dumb down pension schemes to limit any possible financial risk to themselves. […]
Conference motions
Conference condemns the continued attacks on the funding of public services and the impact of the poor pay awards for staff in the public sector. Our members’ wages have decreased in real terms and public sector pay no longer leads the way. Many employers within the public sector are now employed on rates less than […]
Conference recognises that activism is at the very heart of UNISON. Activists ensure that the union is accessible to members in the workplace giving day to day support and representation to members, encouraging other workers to join the union and building our organisation. Without activists we could not function as a democratic lay member led […]
Conference notes with concern that despite the government dismissing the Pay Review Body (PRB) from making any determination on NHS Staff pay in England, for 2015, it has instructed the PRB to consider the barriers and enablers ‘within the Agenda for Change pay system, for delivering health care services every day of the week in […]
Conference notes that the European Union (EU) is currently negotiating three free trade agreements including the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The others are the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada (CETA) and the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). These agreements threaten public services by harmonising regulatory standards, forcing through market liberalisation and […]
Conference recognises the massive housing crisis which exists in London and nationally. Conference condemns the UK Government’s financial policies that have focused upon “Buy to Let” as the main source of housing and rented housing in the UK. The result has been growing inequality, poverty, the break up of families and communities across the UK […]
Conference notes the unanticipated outcome of the 2015 General Election which produced a majority Conservative Government. The new Government is set to intensify austerity in the public sector and increase privatisation and outsourcing of public services. The Conservatives also explicitly targeted the right of workers to organise by including the following commitments in their manifesto: […]
Conference is angered that between 2010 and 2015 a five year austerity programme, driven by Conservative ideology rather than national necessity, saw massive cuts in public spending, huge public sector redundancies and pay restraint across the public services on an unprecedented scale. In his 2014 Autumn Statement last year, George Osborne let it slip that […]
Conference reaffirms its support for the One Team Caring campaign passed at last year’s conference and acknowledges the difficulty the SGE has faced in taking this campaign forward with the Industrial action being carried out in England taking priority. However this was to be a national campaign aimed at recruitment and organising within the Operational […]
Conference welcomes the ongoing campaign against the rising cost of Nursing and Midwifery Council registration but notes with dismay that the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) has similarly raised the costs of registration over a short period of time. Given that Allied Health Professions along with other NHS staff have suffered a real terms pay […]
Conference notes with concern the establishment of the NHS Mutuals Pathfinder Project and the selection of ten hospitals to take part in the project. A principal stated rationale offered for exploring mutual status is the prospect that mutual status might improve services by increasing staff engagement. By contrast, prospective pathfinder organisations were given a mere […]
Conference notes that as Trusts throughout the country come under more financial pressure they have turned to downbanding as a way of saving money at our members’ expense. These downbandings happen as Trusts undertake service reviews, cost improvements or reorganisations and abuse the Job Evaluation Scheme as set out in Agenda for Change. The Agenda […]
Conference recognises the NHS is facing threats more serious than ever before. Services and jobs are threatened, with some employers using the economy as an excuse to privatise services and attack staff pay, terms and conditions. Conference acknowledges that members working in operational services – administration, clerical, ancillary and maintenance jobs – are at a […]
Conference notes the pilot schemes for revalidation of registered nurses being run by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) within each of the four countries. Conference believes that the main aim of revalidation should be to protect the public from failures in nursing practice. It should not be a money making exercise by the professional […]
Conferences recognises that dismissal or early retirement due to capability as a result of disability, is something that affects members across all service sectors, but it is noted that many members are able to remain in employment due to the obligation on employers to redeploy staff into suitable roles. However, most employers within the NHS […]