Conference is deeply concerned that the attacks by the Coalition Government on the Local Government Pension Scheme will have a devastating effect on UNISON’s low paid and Black members. Conference notes new research by the Runnymede Trust that finds that Black people are three times as likely as white people to experience poverty in retirement. […]
Conference motions
The Localism Bill contains an important measure that will impact on local government and our members which is known as the Community Right to Challenge The Community Right to Challenge is presented as a measure to encourage the involvement of charities, social enterprises or employee mutuals in the delivery of local authority services. However if […]
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 […]
This Conference notes with concern the National Employers Bodies- NJC and SJC- failures to properly negotiate an affordable pay settlement. In 2010 the Scottish Employers side stepped the established negotiating body and imposed a 3 year settlement including a 2 year pay freeze. In reality UNISON members in local government are suffering a multi year […]
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 […]
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 […]
This Conference notes that members working in housing face redundancy, job insecurity, attacks on terms and conditions and pay, more stressful jobs and working environments and a renewed threat of privatisation as a direct result of the Conservative-led Government’s economic and housing policies. Conference further notes: 1)Cuts in housing benefit that will lead to an […]
This Conference notes the increasingly open and brutal nature of the Tory-led government attacks on public sector workers. Threats to the local government two-tier code in England (whilst the Welsh Assembly Government is proposing to retain it), the warning to academy schools not to sign up to national terms and conditions and the increased drive […]
This Conference believes that library services are key source of local employment and make an essential contribution to local communities and educational achievement. Despite recent pressures, many libraries have developed innovative and imaginative ways of serving local communities. However the service across the UK has suffered many years of funding cuts and the threat of […]
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 […]
Conference recognises the threat to thousands of local authority workers’ jobs who currently administer Housing Benefit due to the Westmister Government’s decision to replace in and out of work benefits and Housing Benefits with a ‘Universal Credit’. UNISON will need to respond robustly to defend members jobs and to retain a locally accessible provision for […]
This Conference deplores the recent announcement of the tri-borough merger of Hammersmith and Fulham, Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea we are now seeing the brutal attacks to our terms and conditions, job’s and pensions. Over the next three years the tri-borough proposal are suggesting that there will be a saving of 35 million a year […]
Conference notes the report “Apprentices and Gender” produced by the TUC and YWCA in October 2010. Conference is concerned that the report finds that “although the problems of occupational segregation, gender stereotyping, poor careers advice, low pay and lack of progression for women in the apprenticeships system is well documented and well understood, little progress […]
Conference notes that the Equality Act 2010 harmonised former equality legislation – the Sex Discrimination Act, the Disability Discrimination Act and the Race Relations (amendment) Act and related legislation. Although the 2010 Act failed to meet the aspirations of many interested parties, including UNISON, there are significant benefits for employees and public sector services. However, […]
This Water, Environment and Transport Conference deplores the continuing anti-union behaviour of management at UK based National Express Group’s North American yellow school bus subsidiaries. We note that National Express Group has declined to introduce a freedom of information policy in order to protect the human rights of their employees by being able to join […]