Transport Policy

Conference notes the success of the free bus travel system in Wales which has extended travel to all persons aged over 60 and disabled people. The Welsh system allows travel on any one, or a series of, buses for journeys beginning and ending in Wales. The benefits have been substantial and have led to an […]

Organisation of Young Members

Conference notes: 1) the hard work and commitment of activists at branch, regional and national level that resulted in the excellent young members’ recruitment figures for 2003, and that this is recognised as an essential part of UNISON’s work in building a sustainable, organised union; 2)that successful campaigning/organising work led by young members around workplace […]

Rule G.4.1.1 Branch Officers

After “Education Co-ordinator,” add “Lifelong Learning Co-ordinator,”

International Policy

International developments, whether economic, social or political, affect all areas of UNISON’s membership. Conference, in recognising this, notes that one of the founding principles of the union was that of international solidarity and friendship with trade unions overseas and in particular with unions struggling against the forces of oppression, privatisation and injustice. For decades we […]

The Disability Discrimination Act

Conference notes that the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) states that one in five of the population has a disability. A greater number of people are affected by disability by virtue of their role as a worker with disabled people or as a carer. As the population and workforce profiles age, it is likely that even […]

Supporting Equality and Diversity

Conference welcomes the work done by UNISON’s branches, regions and at national level to promote equal opportunities in employment, wider society and our own organisation. In particular, Conference applauds UNISON’s initiative regarding implementation of the Stephen Lawrence report and the Race Relations (Amendment) Act, our lead in the campaign against racism, and recent advice and […]

Asylum Seekers

Conference notes that the government is determined to introduce still another round of asylum/immigration legislation that will further restrict refugee rights, having already announced dramatic cuts in legal aid for asylum cases. Features of the forthcoming legislation will include: 1)added restrictions on the right to appeal negative decisions, with little or no access to higher […]

Young Lesbians and Gay Men – The Need for a National Strategy

Conference notes that young lesbians and gay men are six times more likely to attempt suicide than other young people. They are also more likely to succeed, so they account for over half of actual youth suicide in the UK. Conference therefore welcomes the repeal of Section 28 as the single most effective step to […]

The Management of Health and Safety Regulations to Include Stress

We call upon Conference to adopt this motion to press for the inclusion of the recognition of stress to be included in regulation 3(1)(a) of The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The main problems are that under the current legislation there are no laws that recognise work-related stress as an illness. […]

Employment Rights in the UK

Conference welcomes the government’s employment rights bill 2003 but believes that it does not go far enough, leaving workers in Britain with less protection than those employed in the rest of Europe. We welcome those provisions that build on the Employment Rights Act of 1999, improving the process of recognition and establishing important and consultation […]

Fair Play For Front Line Workers

Conference notes with concern: 1)the number of our low paid members in front line public service jobs who have their employment terminated on the grounds of incapacity; 2)that conditions affecting those members, such as vibration white finger, cervical spondylitis, carpel tunnel syndrome and tennis elbow are invariably caused by the nature of the job involving […]

Elderly Persons’ Homes

Conference notes with concern the increasing number of local authority elderly person’s homes which have transferred with the transfer to private companies. Conference believes that a well-funded and accountable local authority provision of this service is essential to the establishment and maintenance of high standards across all providers of this service. Conference also notes that […]

Agenda for Change and Membership Representation

Agenda for Change, if accepted, will completely change the structure of the NHS, and all the historical Whitley staff group demarcations will disappear. The way that UNISON Health members are organised will need to respond to this change. UNISON should grasp the opportunity to review the way in which it can best represent its members’ […]

Health Care Assistants

This Conference notes: 1.The successful regrading campaign for Health Care Assistants undertaken by Newcastle City Health UNISON; 2.This has involved updating the B Grade job description to take into account the changes and the development in roles of HCA’s since the grading structure came into being in 1998; 3.The campaign has involved HCA’s themselves re-evaluating […]

Unsocial Hours – Early Implementers Experience

Because of the lack of job profiles a considerable amount of information from Early Implementers has been lacking, especially around unsocial hours supplements. Therefore the SGE should be clear in its communication to members about information from Early Implementers especially calculating unsocial hours payments and how their calculations can be made when an individual is […]