August: it was no holiday

Think of August and you might well conjure up images of the seaside, country walks, ice cream, sunshine and holidays. And last month certainly continued the heatwave that started in July – but there was no lying on sun-loungers for UNISON or many of our members involved in key struggles at work. The month was book-ended by continuing industrial action from Birmingham care workers, who face having their hours and pay cut by a city council trying to save money. As the month started, general secretary Dave Prentis visited their picket line as 250 members staged the first 12 days of industrial action throughout August against the plans which could see workers on as little as £12,000 a year lose up to £6,000. And as August drew to an end, 50 of the Birmingham workers travelled to London in the middle of a week of strikes. The journey included a visit to UNISON Centre and another meeting with Mr Prentis. With no change of heart from the Labour-controlled council in Birmingham, Mr Prentis pledged the full strength of the union to back up the strikers – most of whom are women – and said the union will take the dispute to September’s Labour Party conference. And he assured the members: “We will win – we cannot afford for Birmingham council to win.” Birmingham says it has to tighten the purse strings because of cuts in the funding it gets from central government. And that is something that is affecting councils and local government as a whole – whether vital services...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article adult social care health care health pay higher education local government NHS subcos one team for patient care parks Police and justice staff police staff sexual harassment Sleep-in payments supreme court Source Type: news