2022/2023 was a year of industrial dispute across the Public Sector, partly to address the indecent pay increases. UNISON Members in the Environment Agency are not immune to this – EA members took strike action over pay for the first time, which members voted overwhelmingly for in November 2022. Since 2010 salaries in the Environment […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that most of the UNISON membership in the energy sector plays a part in supplying energy to UK homes. This is either in retail supply, or as part of the energy distribution and transmission systems. In the last decade through countless reorganisations and general short-term thinking, thousands of jobs have been lost in […]
This Energy Service Group Conference welcomes the TUC report published in the summer of 2022. It builds on the pioneering work of UNISON in pushing the case for public ownership of energy retail. This is the part of the energy system that procures energy for householders up and down the country and is also the […]
In 2006 a motion was carried at energy conference to promote a non-nuclear energy policy for the UK. Recognising the initiatives taken by energy companies to invest in renewable energy facilities in difficult market conditions. However, stating that much more needed to be done to encourage the commissioning of green renewable sources of energy including […]
This conference notes that whilst 2023 is the Year of Black Workers, and its focus of ‘Establishing Legacy to Generate Change’, this year in and of itself is not the change we seek, it is merely the opportunity to generate change. Black Workers up and down our society often find themselves in low-paid, insecure work, […]
This conference notes that whilst 2023 is the Year of Black Workers, and its focus of ‘Establishing Legacy to Generate Change’, this year in and of itself is not the change we seek, it is merely the opportunity to generate change. Black Workers up and down our society often find themselves in low-paid, insecure work, […]
Conference is only too aware of the ongoing mismanagement of water companies’ finances. Water companies need to be more transparent with how their organisations are being financed. A number of large Water & Sewage Companies have been with the begging bowl to OFWAT, the Government’s Water Regulator, for help yet are still taking out millions […]
Over the last couple of years, we have seen how the continued impacts of the energy crisis have affected ourselves, our members, and the customers we serve. Low wages, below inflation pay rises, substandard housing, to name a few, have seen us all struggling to make ends meet. We all know fuel poverty is on […]
Conference is only too aware that having trained reps to support and guide our members during sickness meetings is essential in obtaining a good outcome. Conference will further acknowledge that supporting our disabled members requires a further detailed knowledge of the Equality act 2010. Some managers in the water industry may be competent with day-to-day […]
Conference notes that due to ever increasing expectations on our members more and more work is done out of normal working hours and in some cases routine inspections on wastewater treatment works is becoming the norm in hours of darkness. Of particular concern to our members are those sites with inadequate lighting, security or access […]
This energy conference notes that, In the past year we have experienced a cost of living crisis which has placed many energy customers in increasingly difficult circumstances. Fuel poverty is on the rise and many households are having to choose between eating or heating. It is making people more stressed and anxious and at times […]
Conference notes the success of UNISON’s Year of Disabled Workers 2022. Although the year is not yet complete, we have seen renewed focus on the experience of disabled members in our union, in the workplace and in society, including those in the Community service group. We have used the year to highlight the important contribution […]
Conference notes that “‘Staying Alive’: The Impact of ‘Austerity Cuts’ on the LGBT Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) in England and Wales” a Trade Union Congress (TUC) – funded research report by Fiona Colgan et al at London Metropolitan University in 2014 was the last significant analysis of the state of the sector in relation […]
This conference believes that we need to stop the regressive practice of some organisations in the Community and Voluntary sector charging their new employees to get their Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) done. In the midst of a cost of living crisis which is impacting the working of people the hardest, this conference motion contends […]
Conference notes that more than 82,000 UNISON members work in the community and voluntary sector. Many of them are women and a significant number work in social care, where women outnumber men four to one. Generally, women tend to have lower paid jobs and fewer hours than men. Also, there are three times as many […]