Government gamble means working people are the losers, says UNISON
Speaking to the annual Trades Union Congress in Brighton today (Tuesday), UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said the time had come for the government to take responsibility for its actions, that working people were paying the price and that co-ordinated industrial action could help solve the pay crisis.
“I was on a hospital picket line in Blackpool recently, early one morning in the wind and rain.
“Most of the strikers were cleaners, catering staff or porters, who work for private company OCS.
“They don’t get full NHS pay and leave, and even during the pandemic, when they worked on Christmas Day, they onl...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - October 18, 2022 Category: Food Science Authors: Anthony Barnes Tags: News Press release NHS ballot public sector pay TUC Source Type: news
‘ Co-ordinated action unites us, ’ McAnea tells TUC congress
“Our purpose binds us – co-ordinated action unites us.” That was the message at the heart of Christina McAnea’s speech to the TUC’s annual congress in Brighton today, as she moved a successful UNISON motion on Higher pay to tackle the cost of living crisis.
The general secretary had opened by telling delegates that she had been on a picket line recently in Blackpool. It was “early one morning, in the wind and the rain …
“I was talking to our UNISON members. Most of them were cleaners, caterers or porters, who work in the hospital but for a private company – OCS.
“They don’t get full NHS pay and ...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - October 18, 2022 Category: Food Science Authors: Amanda Kendal Tags: Article News Christina McAnea cost of living TUC TUC lobby 2 November Source Type: news
Blog: The menopause really is a workplace issue
Today, along with the rest of the world, UNISON marks World Menopause Day. As a union of a million women in public services, we are no longer prepared to shy away from talking about the menopause and the impact it has on just over half of the UK workforce.
What starts as forgetting silly things – going to the supermarket for milk and bananas and coming home with toilet rolls and potatoes, then the feeling of having a heater in your core that ends with a trickle of sweat rolling down the side of your face just sitting on the bus to work, not knowing why you just feel sad, anxious – soon becomes a very lonely place to be...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - October 18, 2022 Category: Food Science Authors: Christina McAnea Tags: General secretary's blog News Menopause women Source Type: news
Food Standards Agency strike ballot could mean Christmas meat shortages, says UNISON
Staff at the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are being balloted for strike action that could affect meat supplies during the festive season, says UNISON today (Tuesday).
The dispute involving several hundred inspectors, vets, and office-based staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland could bring the industry to a halt, according to the union.
Earlier in the year, FSA staff voted to reject a pay offer of between 2% and 5%.
UNISON says this is significantly lower than inflation – currently 9.9% – and falls short of the 10% pay claim put forward by the union.
The ballot closes on 31 October. UNISON says this could resu...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - October 18, 2022 Category: Food Science Authors: Fatima Ayad Tags: News Press release fsa Mike Short Source Type: news
Fast food fever: how ultra-processed meals are unhealthier than you think
UPFs form 50% of Britons ’ calorie intake – and vegans beware, this includes many plant-based meals. Now food scientists are learning more about what makes them so damagingFor a long time it has been known that diets dominated by ultra-processed food (UPF) are more likely to lead to obesity. But recent research suggests that high UPF consumption also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia and, according to a recent American study involving 50,000 health professionals, of developing colon cancer.On a more general note, last month a study inNature Reviews Clinical Oncology found that people born after 199...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - October 16, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Andrew Anthony Tags: Food science Health & wellbeing Veganism Nutrition Fast food Life and style Society Source Type: news
This government has run out of road, says UNISON
Commenting on the news that Kwasi Kwarteng is no longer the chancellor, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said today (Friday):
“Sacking the chancellor won’t put a stop to the economic madness. This is a crisis entirely of the Prime Minister’s making.
“The buck stops with Liz Truss for turning the UK into an international laughing stock.
“This government has run out of road, and credibility too. It’s time for an election to make way for a Labour government that will grow the economy in the best interests of working people.”
Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 ...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - October 14, 2022 Category: Food Science Authors: Anthony Barnes Tags: News Press release chancellor general election Source Type: news
Government must act urgently on NHS pay to bring record waiting times down
Commenting on new figures published today (Thursday) showing waiting lists for routine treatment in England have hit a new record high, UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said:
“Now’s not the time to be sick or injured. Under this government’s watch, the NHS is experiencing the worst crisis in its 74-year history.
“Health service managers are increasingly frustrated that there’s nothing they can do to slow the tide of staff heading to the doors.
“As a matter of urgency, the government must rethink its inadequate pay award and top it up to prevent more experienced staff leaving for better paid jobs.
“Only then...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - October 13, 2022 Category: Food Science Authors: Anthony Barnes Tags: News Press release nhs pay Put NHS pay right Source Type: news
NEC hears that building for the NHS strike ballots is the ‘ priority ’
UNISON’s national executive council (NEC) met today and agreed that the forthcoming NHS industrial action ballots will be its priority after hearing details plans of the work being undertaken now to build turnout.
General secretary Christina McAnea updated the meeting on bargaining, negotiations, disputes and industrial action that the union is currently engaged in, across sectors.
On health, she noted that a ballot opened in Scotland on 3 October, with phone-banking set to start this week. The ballot for England, Wales and Northern. Ireland opens on 27 October.
“These combined ballots will mean we could be balloting o...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - October 12, 2022 Category: Food Science Authors: Amanda Kendal Tags: Article News cost of living NEC Ukraine Source Type: news
Let ’ s rise up in Westminster on 2 November – in UNISON
UNISON is urging activists and members to lobby their MPs next month as part of the Together We Rise campaign.
Working with the TUC and other unions, UNISON is organising a lobby of the Westminster parliament on Wednesday 2 November, between 2-6pm.
This will be an opportunity for members to meet their MPs and tell them about the reality of the cost of living crisis.
Where relevant, it will also be an important opportunity to speak with MPs about current pay disputes and ballots in higher education, health, the Environment Agency and the Food Standards Agency.
Sign up here
The TUC will co-ordinate the lobby and arrange the ...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - October 11, 2022 Category: Food Science Authors: Amanda Kendal Tags: Article News cost of living together we rise TUC lobby 2 November We demand better Source Type: news
It ’s now up to the government to avoid strikes in NHS by putting pay right, says UNISON
Letters advising more than two hundred NHS employers across England that health staff, including paramedics, theatre staff, occupational therapists, porters and nurses, are to be balloted for strike action have been sent, says UNISON.
The union has also written to health secretary Therese Coffey urging her to meet and negotiate an improved pay award to avert action that could disrupt NHS services this winter.
UNISON has initiated a formal dispute after most NHS workers were given just a £1,400 wage rise for this year, falling way short of the inflation-busting increase health unions wanted.
Strike ballots for England, Wa...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - October 6, 2022 Category: Food Science Authors: Anthony Barnes Tags: News Press release NHS ballot nhs pay Source Type: news
Black History Month: Black NHS workers going above and beyond
Alvina Ware
UNISON member Alvina Ware (pictured above) is a clinical practice support worker at the Royal United Hospital (RUH) in Bath. Over the past two years, Alvina has transformed hair and skincare for Black patients at the hospital.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Alvina began to notice that elderly Black patients on her ward weren’t getting the skincare and haircare they needed – and set about to change that. She explained:
“Culturally it’s so important for our hair and skin to be oiled. Skin is the biggest organ in the body, and usually when a Black elderly person is in hospital, their family will come and ta...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - October 3, 2022 Category: Food Science Authors: Janey Starling Tags: Article Black history month Black workers health workers Source Type: news
UNISON launches next stage of cost of living campaign
UNISON moves into the next stage of Together We Rise, the union’s cost of living campaign today. The campaign, which was launched to members at this year’s national delegate conference and at the TUC #DemandBetter rally in London in June, will now be seen by the wider public.
The launch comes on the back of 80,000 people (at the time of publication) signing the union’s petition calling on new Prime Minister Liz Truss to prioritise pay rises over tax cuts, with over 26,000 tweet actions asking the PM and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to #EndThePayCrisis ahead of the emergency budget held on 23 September.
Instead of en...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - October 3, 2022 Category: Food Science Authors: Simon Jackson Tags: Article News cost of living together we rise Source Type: news
Government should focus on those in need rather than foolish tax cuts
Responding to the government’s u-turn on the abolition of the 45p tax rate, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said today (Monday): “This pointless tax cut was foolish from the off.
“It’s deeply disturbing that it took a week of financial worry for millions and damage to the UK’s international reputation before the government listened to reason.
“The Prime Minister and Chancellor should be focusing on those who can’t make ends meet, not lining the pockets of the already wealthy.
“If ministers really want to get the country back on its feet, they could start by increasing benefits in line with inf...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - October 3, 2022 Category: Food Science Authors: Anthony Barnes Tags: News Press release public services Tax Source Type: news
A Labour government can ’ t come soon enough, says UNISON
Commenting on Keir Starmer’s speech to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool today (Tuesday), UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:
“This was a speech from the Prime Minister in waiting.
“Keir set out how he will lead a government that protects the economy and living standards, and gives people hope of a better life.
“A government that will work for a fairer, greener future, where people can live in affordable homes, feed their families and pay their energy bills.
“Labour in power would understand that well-funded public services, with properly paid staff, help grow the econo...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - September 27, 2022 Category: Food Science Authors: Fatima Ayad Tags: News Press release Christina McAnea Labour party conference public services Source Type: news
Genuine living wage and public service investment show why Labour should be in government
Commenting on the speech from shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool today (Monday), UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:
“This shows the difference a Labour government would make to working people and public services. A windfall tax so our children’s children aren’t still paying off the cost of our energy support in years to come and sustained investment in rundown public services.
“Rachel Reeves is a future chancellor who understands that public services are both the bedrock of a decent society and help fuel the economy.
“Committing to a genuine li...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - September 26, 2022 Category: Food Science Authors: Anthony Barnes Tags: News Press release labour conference living wage public services Source Type: news
