This Conference notes that in two years more than £10m has been cut from public spending on public conveniences in Britain, these cuts are posing potential risks to public health. In 2011/12 councils across England spent 13% less on maintaining and repairing public conveniences compared to the 2010/2011 financial year. Some councils are now spending […]
Conference motions
Conference is deeply concerned about recent events in Edinburgh and elsewhere in Scotland where contempt of court proceedings have been brought against social work staff as individuals whilst acting in their social work role to fulfil their statutory duties consistent with their codes of practice. Social work members have an overriding legal duty to ensure […]
This Conference notes the insidious spread of zero hour contracts and the impact this is having of the employment, terms and conditions of UNISON members employed in the transport industry. Conference notes that recent media focus has brought the issue of zero hour contracts to the public attention. Recent CIPD research suggests that zero hour […]
Conference notes a General Election must take place before 6 May 2015. Conference welcomes the British Youth Council’s decision to prioritise “Votes@16” as its main campaign this year, and that 16 and 17 year olds have been enfranchised for the Scottish independence referendum (18 September 2014). Conference reaffirms its policy that the franchise in all […]
In the face of ever rising water costs (water as well as gas electricity, telephone etc) to members, we call upon the WET Service Group Executive in conjunction with appropriate UNISON partners to debate the feasibility and implications of campaigning for a change towards “not for profit models” or other models for our water companies. […]
Conference condemns the current attack by the Conservative-led Government on health and safety rights in the workplace. David Cameron has declared his aim to “kill off the health and safety culture” which he views as an “albatross around the neck of British business”. This should be seen as part of the wider attack on working […]
Mark Duggan a young Black man and father of 5 was shot dead by armed Officers in August 2011 in Tottenham, which sparked riots and large scale civil unrest across England. Following the inquest into his killing the jury found that Mark Duggan had thrown a gun from the vehicle he was travelling in just […]
Conference notes with alarming shock the ruling by India’s Supreme Court on December 11, 2013, that same-sex conduct between consenting adults remained a criminal offence. This is a setback for the rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) people. The court reversed a landmark 2009 Delhi High Court decision that a colonial-era law infringed […]
Conference notes that: 1) Since 2010 the government has imposed a £2.6 billion reduction in social care funding which has had a devastating impact on home care services; 2) As local authority’s budgets have been squeezed they have used competitive tendering to drive down the costs and standards of home care; 3) A recent UNISON […]
This Conference congratulates UNISON’s hard work to create the Call Centre Charter, launched in 2012, which calls on all employers who have UNISON members working in a call centre or in call handling operations to commit to improving the standards which those staff operate under. However only one energy company has signed up to it […]
The National Retired Members’ Committee continues to work to ensure that the UNISON website serves as an efficient means of communicating with over 166,000 Retired members. It is vital that members are provided with information about campaigns that they can get involved with and the activities being undertaken by UNISON. Conference notes that since the […]
Conference opposes any attempts by Governments across the UK to cut universal benefits for older people such as the winter fuel payment, free bus pass, free prescriptions and free TV licences. These benefits are essential to ensuring a decent standard of living and social inclusion for millions of pensioners who face daily poverty, fuel poverty […]
Conference notes with concern the impact of a shift to a market centred model across Europe is resulting in an increasingly hostile debate around immigration. Parties such as the UK Independence Party (UKIP) on the immigration debate in the UK, are scapegoating some of the most vulnerable workers in the labour market for the economic […]
UNISON remains committed to and will continue to fight for public services delivered by workers directly employed on terms and conditions that have been collectively bargained by democratically accountable public bodies. Nevertheless, Conference recognises that more and more public service workers are employed by the private sector and the community and voluntary sector. Often working: […]
Conference welcomes the progress of the Local Government Service Group’s Ethical Care Campaign. The campaign highlights how low wages and poor terms and conditions for workers undermines the quality and safety of the service and the dignity of service users, and urges local authorities to sign up to UNISON’s Ethical Care Charter. The Charter addresses […]