National pay negotiations with The Association of Colleges (AoC) continue to fall considerably short of the mark. With 1% and 2% pay ‘recommendations’ over the past few years, we are failing to deliver the pay awards our members need. As a consequence more and more branches are tagging on to the tailcoats of UCU and […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that local government services have been cut to the bone by a decade of austerity and this has had an adverse impact on our members’ jobs, pay, terms and conditions. This is particularly the case for our disabled members who have often been first in line when job cuts are on the agenda. […]
Outsourcing and privatisation of local government services has almost zero benefit to the way that they are run but it can often have a disastrous effect on the quality of the services being provided. It also comes with a higher risk of workers receiving poorer wages and terrible terms and conditions, whilst lining the pockets […]
Conference notes the success of UNISON’s Year of Disabled Workers 2022 and places on record our thanks to all of our disabled members and activists who have driven this success throughout our union. Through the year, we saw renewed focus on the experience of disabled members in our union, in the workplace and in society. […]
Conference notes that everything is going up fast – 12 percent now but forecasts of upwards to 22 percent. However, the pay of many UNISON members has been effectively frozen for almost 12 years. We can’t make ends meet! We have a cost of living crisis because of the decisions made by political leaders and […]
Conference notes that one of UNISON’s main aims is, as per UNISON’s rule book, “to seek to ensure equality of treatment and fair representation for all members and to work for the elimination of discrimination on grounds of race, gender, sexuality, gender identity, disability, age or creed”. To achieve this, UNISON seeks for branches to […]
Conference recalls that the motion “Trans Equality – Louder and Prouder!” adopted by the 2022 Local Government Conference acknowledged the toxic debate ignited by the United Kingdom government’s consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) and recognised the need for our union, including the local government service group, to become more visible and more […]
Conference notes that local government workers not only see the cost-of-living crisis first-hand as part of their jobs, but many are suffering directly at the hands of the government’s economic incompetence and political decision to prioritise the wealthiest in society rather than protecting those who need help the most. UNISON research shows since 2009 local […]
Conference notes that this UK government has launched a sustained volley of attacks on our basic freedoms at break-neck speed and in such volume that even very basic levels of appropriate scrutiny and challenge is almost impossible. They have defied legal norms of parliamentary process and sunk to new levels to force through their proposals. […]
Conference notes that the adult social care system in England continues to face an existential crisis and that the UK government’s proposed ‘reforms’ have done little to address this. Its white paper on the future of adult social care in England fell well short of anything transformative – doing nothing to tackle the marketised nature […]
Conference notes that UNISON members in local government are experiencing an ongoing cost of living crisis. Despite the 2022 NJC and SJC pay settlements being higher than previous years’ settlements in monetary terms, they were still below inflation. Other sectors within the service group have also balloted for action in response to sub-inflation pay offers. […]
The last thirteen years of austerity have decimated local government budgets, meaning councils are struggling to provide the services that the communities they represent need and are failing to give local government workers the job security and pay rises they need and deserve. Rather than responding to the crisis facing local government by increasing funding, […]
Conference recognises that adequate facility time, with backfill, to undertake both union duties and union activities is vital to effectively organise and represent members in councils and schools at local, regional and national levels. Conference notes that facility time has come under persistent attack since 2010, due to a combination of factors. Some local government […]
Conference notes that school members make up around a third of the branch membership in many areas, but they remain difficult to organise. Conference also welcomes the various organising projects, some funded by the Branch Support and Organising Fund (BSOF), that are being developed around some branches and regions that aim to raise our collective […]
Conference believes that, due to years of under-funding and cuts from the Westminster government, local government across the UK is in grave danger. Extensive UNISON research from last autumn revealed that councils across the UK were facing a funding shortfall of £3.2bn in 2023/24 and a cumulative funding gap of £5.3bn for 2024/25. A small […]