In the face of ever rising water costs (water as well as gas electricity, telephone etc) to members, we call upon the WET Service Group Executive in conjunction with appropriate UNISON partners to debate the feasibility and implications of campaigning for a change towards “not for profit models” or other models for our water companies. […]
Conference motions
Conference 2014 notes that some but not all employers in the water industry currently provide free flu jabs for their employees/our members. UNISON believes that this “best practice” should be adopted by all employers within our service group and calls upon the WET Executive in conjunction with Sector Committees to devise a negotiating guide on […]
Conference notes that on 7 May 2015 a new government will be elected in Westminster. Whatever its political make-up, there will be repercussions for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. As evidenced by the LGBT group’s research on the impact of austerity, four years of Conservative-led government have seen LGBT workers’ pay fall in […]
Conference is very concerned that the concessionary bus pass for pensioners is being attacked and no political party has stated that it will be retained after the 2015 election. Withdrawing the bus pass from pensioners will need another Act of Parliament (original Transport Act 2008) but that won’t stop this Government or any other one […]
Conference is very concerned that the Winter Fuel Allowance payments were included in the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne’s Budget statement on 19 March 2014, when he stated that benefits will be capped in 2015/16. The statistic (National Pensioners Convention) for the 2013/14 winter is that 31,000 pensioners died of cold-related diseases. The United […]
Community Stewards: Training and Support, Negotiating, Bargaining and Facility Time Conference recognises that trained stewards are vital to the success of building and recruiting strong UNISON membership within the community sector and to ensure that its membership is fully able to represent its members. Also many groups of workers in the Community Service Group are […]
Conference welcomes the increasing strength of the intersex movement and the third International Intersex Organising Forum, held in Malta in November 2013, attended by activists representing 30 intersex organisations from all continents. It notes that the Forum adopted a public statement including recommendations on a wide range of issues of concern to people born intersex. […]
The National Retired Members’ Committee continues to work to ensure that the UNISON website serves as an efficient means of communicating with over 166,000 Retired members. It is vital that members are provided with information about campaigns that they can get involved with and the activities being undertaken by UNISON. Conference notes that since the […]
Conference opposes any attempts by Governments across the UK to cut universal benefits for older people such as the winter fuel payment, free bus pass, free prescriptions and free TV licences. These benefits are essential to ensuring a decent standard of living and social inclusion for millions of pensioners who face daily poverty, fuel poverty […]
Conference notes that many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) housing problems are related to sexual orientation or gender identity. Increasingly, more LGBT people are having to rent their homes from a private landlord, because of the lack of council houses, social rented accommodation and other affordable housing, or the housing and local allocations policies […]
Conference recalls that in 2010, the United Kingdom (UK) Coalition Government pledged: ‘We will stop the deportation of asylum seekers who have had to leave particular countries because of their sexual orientation’. David Cameron promised that: “Those Africans seeking asylum on the basis of sexual orientation and at real risk of persecution in their home […]
Conference notes the importance of involving members of self organised groups in community branch activities including recruiting, organising, bargaining and negotiating. Members of self organised groups are a valuable resource to the community service group with experience and knowledge of how employers’ policies and procedures can fail to be inclusive. Conference further notes that while […]
This conference notes the insidious spread of zero-hours contracts in the community and voluntary sector, and in housing associations in particular. UNISON’s survey of Community members found that 9% were on zero hours contracts, but it is likely that this underestimates the true scale of the problem as it is hard to organise workers on […]
Conference notes a key finding of the report in the abuse at Winterbourne View Hospital was that the staff were not properly trained. Training is a key issue for Care. Often training is not provided, or is adhoc and/or inadequate. Furthermore, increasingly, more and more training is delivered as online courses whereby it is not […]
Conference currently local councils are setting budgets with substantial cuts in “Supporting People” funding. This is having a devastating effect on our member’s terms and conditions; removal of post TUPE enhancements for weekend working, Bank Holiday and Night Waking, sickness absence entitlements reduced from six months full pay, six months half pay to two months […]