Conference notes that brutal austerity has continued to blight public services. Despite claims from Prime Minister Theresa May in her 2018 Conservative Party Conference speech that “support for public services will go up”, all public services have been pushed to – and in many cases beyond – breaking point. Conference notes that during almost a […]
Conference motions
The damning report of the United Nations Human Rights Rapporteur found that in the UK “14 million people, a fifth of the population, live in poverty. Four million of these are more than 50% below the poverty line, and 1.5 million are destitute, unable to afford basic essentials. The widely respected Institute for Fiscal Studies […]
Conference notes that UNISON’s branches are of key importance in the provision of support for members and their responsibilities are ever increasing. The reduction of employers in national bargaining arrangements and the significant fragmentation of the workforce point to this trend. Many branches now deal with hundreds of employers, receiving no consolidated facility time and […]
Nearly 50 years since the Ford machinists went on strike at Dagenham, the UK still has one of the worst gender pay gaps in Europe. Women effectively work for free for two months a year. As the largest UK women’s union, UNISON is uniquely placed to be the voice of women in public services on […]
Conference believes that a decade of Tory austerity has starved our communities of essential services, eroded the resilience of the public sector and removed vital safety nets. It has also made communities less safe and left vulnerable people without the help they need. Public services are a lifeline for the most disadvantaged communities and it […]
Conference notes the national Black members’ committee ‘Creating, Building, and Strengthening Black Community link motion was debated with much support from other delegates at the 2018 Community conference and was carried along with the amendment submitted by the Community Service Group Executive. However the National Black Member’s Committee is concerned that limited work has commenced […]
One in four people in the UK will have a mental health problem at some point. While mental health problems are common, most are mild, tend to be short-term and are normally successfully treated. Mental health is about how we think, feel and behave. Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health problems. They […]
Conference notes the rising number of business reports and academic research regarding automation and computerisation across the whole economy over the last five years. From Frey & Osbourne’s alarmist 2013 “The Future of Employment”, claiming 47% of jobs in the USA were at risk of automation to Ford’s seminal “the Rise of The Robots” in […]
In the Community & Voluntary Sector which includes care provision, charities, not for profit organisations and housing associations, women make up nearly half of the workforce and with the increasing numbers of older workers many well be either be currently experiencing the menopause or will have worked through it. Around eight in ten women report […]
Community conference welcomes the recent nationally negotiated pay deals for Local Government and the NHS giving many public service workers deserved pay rises. However, many members in the Community and Voluntary Sector (CVS) work for employers who are held in long-term contracts with the public sector, with no annual or inflationary uplifts built into those […]
Conference notes: 1)UNISON’s sustained opposition to privatisation and the private finance initiative for more than two decades; 2)The positive role played by UNISON in securing the motions opposing PFI at the labour party conferences in 2001 and 2002 as UNISON demonstrated the negative impact of such schemes; highlighting that PFI contractors were cutting the pay, […]
Conference recognises the increase in homelessness in recent years. This is most readily seen by the increasing numbers of rough sleepers in all parts of the country. However, the number of people living in over-crowded conditions, ‘couch surfing’ and in inappropriate and often unsafe situations has also increased. The UK government has no credible homelessness […]
Conference notes that UNISON membership in Private Contractors and Community employers continues to grow due to both increased recruitment but also increased contracting. In 2017 recruitment in these areas now represents nearly 31% of all new joiners nationally. This proportion was matched almost exactly in the East Midlands, with around 6% joining from Community and […]
Equality and diversity in our union is vital. Whilst we have a lot to celebrate and are seen at the front edge of equality policy and organising for equality with our self organised groups, there continues to be significant equality developments within our union, across employers and in our members’ workplaces. There are higher proportions […]
Conference celebrates the fact that the hard work of our low paid women members has been central to all the many successes of our union. UNISON’s principles of proportionality and fair representation means that some seats on our elected bodies, including the National Executive Council, are reserved for women low-paid members, so that the make-up […]