Young members ’ conference opens with debates about cost of living

UNISON’s second annual young members’ conference opened this morning in Bournemouth with a speech from assistant general secretary, Jon Richards. Welcoming delegates, he began by talking about the political state of the country, highlighting the importance of young people getting involved in democracy early on in their lives and noting that: “Since the Second World War, 13 out of 17 prime ministers of the UK went to Oxford.” To that he added: “Five out of the last five Tory prime ministers went there. “These people do not understand what it’s like to be poor, what it’s like to scrape by. None of them know what it’s like to go to a foodbank – apart from on a visit to show how good they are before Christmas. “Many of our members do know.” Moving onto the cost of living crisis, Mr Richards said: “Young members face particular challenges” with issues such as rent increases and the precarious nature of work disproportionately affecting them. Speaking of UNISON’s work in that area, he highlighted the union’s cost of living Together we Rise campaign, adding: “UNISON has written to every non-Labour MP on mileage and petrol costs”. Mr Richards noted that the union had also been involved in a number of parliamentary debates, notably with Dan Jarvis MP, in which many contributors spoke from UNISON briefings. He continued: “We launched a report earlier in the year, which identified where £30bn could be found by taxing wealth”, before going on to ...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article News 2022 National Young Member Conference cost of living young members Source Type: news