Hot topics for national delegate conference

Nearly a decade after the global financial crisis first hit, the pressure is still unrelenting on our public services and the workers who provide them – including UNISON members working for public bodies, private companies or community and charity organisations. That is the background for June’s national delegate conference, when some 2,000 delegates from branches and regions across the union will gather in Brighton to discuss the union’s priorities and policies for the next 12 months. As motion 39 – about getting the public onside with our public service campaigning – notes: “Despite the unprecedented cuts that our members and the communities they serve have already experienced, a raft of further measures now threaten to push services to breaking point.” The motion, from the union’s NEC, points out that the causes of the problems include: a growing funding crisis hitting social care across the UK; an NHS funding shortfall described as “a humanitarian crisis” by the Red Cross; £3bn ‘savings’ imposed on schools in England by 2019/20; continuing cuts and redundancies across local government and police services; and much more. “UNISON, as the largest public services trade union, carries a heavy responsibility,” adds the motion. “Not only must the union counter the strong headwinds and continue to make the arguments for an alternative to the cuts and underinvestment that have characterised the austerity decade. “We must also use our members’ e...
Source: UNISON Health and safety news - Category: Occupational Health Authors: Tags: Article 2017 National Delegate Conference ndc 2017 Source Type: news