Defending Meat Inspection Workers

This Conference notes the vital job which is done by Food Standards Agency meat inspectors, inspecting every piece of meat produced in Britain. However these civil servants work in appalling conditions with UNISON 2011 survey revealing that 64% have been bullied in the last 2 years, and 40% have had time off as a consequence. […]

Employee Led Mutuals “Pathfinder” Programme in Local Government

In February the government announced that the London Borough of Newham was one of these pilots, creating a new mutual model of delivery in children’s and young people’s early intervention services. We believe that the timing will inevitably lead to its being used as a mechanism for meeting some of the government cuts to our […]

Organising The Union

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 […]

The Green Book and Disabled Workers – A Basic Safety Net

Conference agrees that National Joint Council (NJC) agreements enshrined in the “Green Book” form the very basis of local government terms and conditions for all workers in the service especially disabled workers; we especially value those covered in Part 2. We value our leave arrangements and believe that our sick pay arrangements protect members who […]

Equality in Marriage and Civil Partnerships

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 […]

Stay in Local Government – No Free Schools or Gove style Academies

Conference is totally against the continuous proposals from the ConDems to make it easier to create Free schools or to have Local Authority schools become Academies and give away more and more community and tax payers assets. The Michael Gove version of so called outstanding status schools being able to become Academies is yet another […]

Social Care Integration with Health

Conference notes the proposals in Scotland to merge social care and health within the NHS. These proposals would see the transfer of Council functions in care for older people and adults transferred from local authority control and merged with health functions within local Health Boards. These proposals claim to build upon the experience of integrated […]

Effect of the cuts in Local Government in Rural Communities

This Conference is concerned that the coalition Government cuts to Local Authority funding are leading to substantial cuts in Local Government jobs. The loss of these jobs and services will have a disproportionate effect on some of the most vulnerable people in society, rural communities, and those low paid Local Government workers who remain in […]

Crisis in Social Work

This Conference notes that despite the existence of reform programmes for social work within each of the four UK countries, the crisis affecting social work staff continues to deepen. Conference notes the deep-seated problems of: 1)Excessive workloads, stress and long working hours 2)Unsafe working conditions and exposure to violence 3)Public and media hostility 4)Escalating need […]

Keeping Public Sector Services Public, the challenges presented by Mutual and Social Enterprise Organisation

Mutual and Social Enterprises will figure large in the efforts of the Con Dem government to redesign the delivery of public sector services. In order to address the many challenges that this will present to our union and members this union needs to prepare against them and consult widely in order to have a coherent […]

Rights At Work

Conference notes that in 2011 the trade union movement is facing the biggest challenges for a generation in the form of budget cuts and restrictions on our ability to bargain and organise. Trade union membership is about six million workers and collective bargaining covers 35% of the labour force. Conference records with anger that the […]

Young people and the Connexions service

Conference condemns the high levels of unemployment and that one in five young people are without work. Conference believes that the Con-Dem coalition government’s policies are actively contributing to this situation and are also ruining the employment prospects of our young people, and that the situation facing young people as they seek to find work […]

The NHS: An Allied Health Profession career for life?

This Conference is concerned that while many Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) have a positive experience of working for the NHS, some feel that they no longer have good career prospects and that there is a lack of training opportunities for AHPs. This means that therapists have limited chances to develop a wide range of skills […]

TUPE Protection and a fragmented workforce

Conference notes with concern the twin developments of the commitment of the Tory-Liberal Government to an ‘any willing provider’ approach to NHS services and the erosion of the value of TUPE as a protection for NHS staff transferred to other providers. Previously TUPE, the Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Transfers in the Public Sector […]

NHS Pay

Conference believes that the policies of the current government pose the greatest threat to living standards of health workers of any time in the 63 years of the NHS. Conference thinks that the government is using the deficit as an opportunity to cut the public sector paybill rather than increase taxation to those responsible for […]