Conference welcomes and commends the work done by the Service Group Executive over recent years to oppose volunteers as a replacement for the committed, experienced, well trained and accountable police staff lost due to the brutal budget cuts imposed since 2010. While the introduction of volunteers has not been consistent throughout all forces, what is […]
Conference motions
According to police force recruitment statistics widely published in January 2016 a white applicant to the police force has a better chance of getting a job than a Black applicant in more than 2/3rds of UK forces. Further, Theresa May, Home Secretary stated that ‘diversity profiles’ showed no force had a Black representation reflecting the […]
Over the last 4 years we have seen a wholesale reduction in police staff work forces across the country At the time of the general election in 2015, police staff budgets have been cut by 20%. The impact of this funding reduction has fallen disproportionately on police staff. Police staff, rather than police officers, have […]
Conference notes that Renfrewshire Council has announced an initiative to “offer 11-month, full-time ‘traineeships’” whereby the unemployed can be trained up as special constables but paid the National Living Wage. The local commander appears to support this “innovative” initiative. The Scottish Police Federation describe this as a “cynical attempt to deliver policing on the cheap” […]
Conference notes the vital importance of expanding the spirit and ethos of trade unionism amongst students. To this end, as a highly politically sensitive area of the union, we need to foster closer relations with students unions through the UK. Students, as a group of ‘consumers’, need to realise that with increased tuition fees, they […]
Conference notes that Higher Education pay and conditions continue to erode following the year on year meagre pay offer from UCEA (Universities and Colleges Employers Association). We know that Universities budget for a figure higher than what is eventually offered by the UCEA negotiators. UK Universities have been described by the Tory Chancellor as the […]
Conference, the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) piloted a Race Equality Charter Mark with the aim to inspire a strategic approach to making cultural and systemic changes that will make a real difference to Black staff and students. The Charter covered: a)Professional and support staff b)Academic staff c)Student attainment, diversity of the curriculum and progression of […]
Conference notes that government cuts mean employers are looking for new ways of working to save money without cutting jobs. Often referred to as Lean or Agile Working, these methods were developed by Toyota and are predominantly used in manufacturing industries. If implemented correctly they can bring financial savings and improve working conditions. While we […]
Conference recognises over the last 10 years there has been a massive growth in UK University’s opening overseas facilities, UK Universities are also increasingly involved in offshore campus partnerships. Conference believes that working overseas can be beneficial, both professionally and personally, for the members involved and can provide a new and challenging context for teaching, […]
Conference welcomes the advances made in the treatment of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the consequent increase in life expectancy of those living with HIV so that they are now expected to have a normal life span. This has exposed a whole set of new challenges for the HIV+ community as they face the […]
Conference notes UNISON’s long, proud history of internationalism. UNISON is known here and globally for its internationalist perspective on all areas: from organising and fighting privatisation to defending employment and trade union rights. The neo-liberal economic model behind privatisation and outsourcing, cuts in public spending and taxation, the driving down of workers and trade union […]
Conference notes the extent to which the political landscape changed on 8 May. With its Westminster majority, the Tory government has wasted no time in implementing swingeing budget cuts and deeply regressive policies and laws that were partly tempered when it was in coalition. These include a renewed zeal for public sector ‘pay restraint’; attempts […]
Conference notes that the Trade Union Bill is just a start on a wide scale attack on trade unions and activists. Clause 13 of the bill includes a reserve power which can permit the government to introduce a cap on the amount of money spent on facility time in the public sector. This, in addition […]
In many police stations across the country police staff who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) have a working life which is overshadowed by the fear of exposure and ridicule, be it by an accidental or deliberate act. Rural districts are sometimes traditionally conservative communities and their understanding of LGBT issues coloured by […]
Conference recalls that 2010 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Conference adopted the resolution “Protecting sex workers and tackling prostitution” which recognized there are divergent views within the LGBT group on the issue of criminalising those who purchase sex acts and acknowledged “a need for continuing dialogue, especially where these issues affect men and trans […]