Across the Service Group local terms and conditions and those underpinned by sector-wide agreements reside in the bargain basement of public sector employment. Even where a statutory basis exists they are rarely above the minimum entitlement. Yet many employers, with overt encouragement from sector employer organisations, are choosing to use central government funding cuts to […]
Conference motions
Conference notes with massive concern the ongoing savage cuts in public expenditure as a result of the Tory-led coalition government’s dogmatic pursuit of its austerity agenda. These policies have already led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs across the public sector as a whole with estimates that the overall number of public […]
Conference notes that more and more branches are likely to consider employing staff such as caseworkers, administrators and organisers to assist with the growing levels of work and the fragmentation of the public sector Conference believes that UNISON branches should be exemplary employers, follow ACAS best practice guidelines and provide good levels of support and […]
Conference deplores the continuing cuts to local government resulting in mass redundancies and cuts to all Council Services. No Council Service is safe from the threats of cuts in funding. The workforce faces mass redundancies, and for those who retain a job within the employer there is an onslaught of attacks on terms and conditions. […]
Conference deplores the cuts in funding from Central Government to Local Government. As a result of these cuts, groups of Councils are looking to become a combined authority. There is currently one combined authority in Greater Manchester, although by the end of April 2014 there could be another four such combined authorities in England. Such […]
Conference notes that discussions continue with governments across the UK on responsibility for administration of medicines and medical procedures in educational settings. Employees whose contract includes the administration of medicine and/or health care tasks should receive specific, regular training and be indemnified by their employer against any allegation of negligence, which enables them to feel […]
Conference is alarmed by David Cameron’s statement that Coalition government policy “…means something more profound. It means building a leaner, more efficient state. We need to do more with less. Not just now, but permanently” and by the further cuts to local government planned by George Osborne beyond 2015/16. Conference notes with alarm that: 1)Catastrophic […]
Conference views with alarm the increasing undermining of the employment law framework protecting members across the Service Group. Over half a million workers in local government and schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland alone earn below the Living Wage and many of these are employed on contracts with very few protected rights. We have […]
Conference notes that the Local Government Service Group’s pay consultation procedures were last revised by Conference in 2006. During that time, technological advances have meant that electronic means of voting and consultation are now available. Conference believes that the Service Group’s pay consultation procedures should enable the Service Group: 1)To consult all members in a […]
Conference notes the inability of the current National Joint Council (NJC) to effectively negotiate on behalf of UNISON members. Primarily this is because of intransigence from the employers’ side buoyed by a hostile Westminster Government. Conference recognises that the current NJC arrangements restrict the ability to negotiate on a National basis within Wales with a […]
Delete current Rule C 2.4.1 and replace with: “Members dismissed, made redundant, having accepted a compromise agreement or having resigned as an alternative to dismissal from employment within the meaning of C.1 who notify the branch secretary in writing within six months of their loss of employment may achieve unemployed membership for two years from […]
Conference notes that under the Conservative-led Government, massive cuts have been made in youth and community services. In a survey of UNISON members carried out in 2013, 89% of respondents reported that their local authority had cut services for young people. And according to responses to a Freedom of Information request by UNISON at the […]
Conference notes in the last three years energy companies have increased their profits by 74%. Last year Npower alone announced a profit of £766 million, yet in the further pursuit of profit Npower announced 1,400 staff would be sacked. Conference further notes: 1)That at the same time a TUC report last year showed that over […]
Conference welcomes the latest Branch Resources Review. UNISON faces ever increasing challenges provoked by the policies of this Coalition Government. The austerity agenda, with its drive to cut public spending and privatise public services, places major challenges on our organisation to mobilise major national and regional campaigns, as well as support our members in responding […]
All across the UK women have seen their standard of living fall since this government came to power. Their jobs and pay cut and the services they rely on severely affected by the Coalition government’s austerity measures. It is now more important than ever that UNISON as an organisation of women workers stands up for […]