Christina McAnea introduces new energy report at conference
Gridlock, a new report outlining the inadequacy of current government help to drive energy efficiency, was launched by UNISON today at the union’s annual energy conference, being held in Liverpool.
It claims short-term policies and a complex array of ever-changing support packages have left millions of households with insufficient help to meet soaring energy bills.
It also concludes that unless substantial progress is made on making sure sustainable homes and vehicles are within reach of those on lower and middle incomes, the UK won’t meet its 2050 net-zero target.
UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea, said ...
Source: UNISON Health care news - June 12, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Simon Jackson Tags: Article 2023 National Energy Conference green unison Source Type: news
General secretary urges delegates to ‘ get the vote out ’
UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea, urged delegates at the union’s local government conference to ”get the vote out” in its latest strike ballot, which ends on 4 July.
“We need you, talking to members, face to face in their workplaces, explaining why this vote matters,” she said. The National Joint Council, which covers council and school workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is calling for a pay increase of inflation plus 2%.
“The case for better pay is compelling and clear cut,” said Ms McAnea. “Staff vacancies are endemic. Recruiting and keeping social workers, care workers, plannin...
Source: UNISON Health care news - June 12, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Martin Cullen Tags: Article 2023 National LG Conference Christina McAnea NJC pay Source Type: news
Water, environment and transport conference held in Liverpool
UNISON’s annual water, environment and transport (WET) conference met yesterday in Liverpool and opened with a speech from UNISON assistant general secretary Jon Richards (pictured above).
Environment agency pay
He opened by highlighting the situation that the country faced when conference last convened a year ago: “Inflation was ramping up and by the end of the year was at levels we haven’t seen for 40 years. Government borrowing soared and interest rates have climbed since.
“More people pushed into poverty, more hardworking people faced with the choice between eating, paying their mortgages, buying school uniform...
Source: UNISON Health care news - June 12, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Simon Jackson Tags: Article News 2023 National WET Conference environment agency Environment agency strike Source Type: news
A lasting legacy for Black workers
It is the duty of all union members to fight racism, delegates at UNISON’s local government conference in Liverpool were told yesterday.
Black workers in local government face multiple forms of discrimination, including bullying, racial harassment and a lack of opportunities for promotion.
An independent review found that 30% of those from a Black background reported witnessing or experiencing racial harassment or bullying from management in the last five years, while 29% of Black Caribbean employees felt that they had been overlooked for promotion because of their ethnicity.
To help tackle these issues, UNISON has decla...
Source: UNISON Health care news - June 12, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Martin Cullen Tags: Article 2023 National LG Conference 2023 year of Black Workers Source Type: news
Time to fight for a fair pay rise
Delegates at UNISON’s local government conference, which opened in Liverpool yesterday, were urged to vote yes to strike action in the union’s latest ballot, and to encourage other members to do so.
The National Joint Council, which covers council and school workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is calling for a pay increase of inflation plus 2%. The ballot ends on July 4.
Glen Williams, chair of the union’s local government service group executive (pictured), said: “It’s time to rage against inequality and rage against the hypocrisy of the Tory government. It’s time for us to refuse to be made poore...
Source: UNISON Health care news - June 12, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Martin Cullen Tags: Article 2023 National LG Conference cost of living NJC pay Source Type: news
Support Guaranteed: The roadmap to a national care service
This report is extremely comprehensive and I believe it strikes just the right balance of being sufficiently ambitious, given the state of the care sector at the moment, but also providing a practical, realistic roadmap for overhaul and renewal.
“It is the first time we’ve had a detailed plan about how a government could go about achieving this. And the hope is that it will provide a really important contribution to the wider social care debate and specifically to the development of a national care service.
“Change is required more desperately than ever. But it must be the right change, because it’s too important t...
Source: UNISON Health care news - June 12, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Simon Jackson Tags: Article News adult social care national care service Source Type: news
Failure to widen financial help for a greener future will mean climate goals are missed, says UNISON
Government help to drive energy efficiency is inadequate, putting greener homes beyond the reach of all but the wealthy, says UNISON in a new report published today (Monday).
Unless substantial progress is made on making sure sustainable homes and vehicles are within reach of those on lower and middle incomes, the UK won’t meet its 2050 net-zero target, the union says.
Without a rethink on financial help and incentives to turbocharge the “painfully slow” progress, the government risks creating an elitist energy economy, according to UNISON’s Gridlock report.
The research, being launched at the union’s annual ...
Source: UNISON Health care news - June 11, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Fatima Ayad Tags: News Press release Christina McAnea Energy Source Type: news
UNISON writes to civil service boss for clarity over pay offer
UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea has written to cabinet secretary Simon Case, the head of the home civil service, to raise the question of pay.
The union has members working for the civil service itself and for various agencies and regulatory bodies, including Ofsted, the Environment Agency and the Probation Service.
The letter makes reference to a recent offer of an unconsolidated payment of £1,500 in recognition of how the cost of living crisis is affecting employees.
This, says UNISON, is welcome, but it seeks clarity on a number of points, including:
that the offer is in respect of the 2022/23 pay year;
how ...
Source: UNISON Health care news - June 9, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Amanda Kendal Tags: Article News Christina McAnea civil service environment agency LGPS Ofsted Source Type: news
Roadmap launched for a national care service to transform lives, says UNISON
This report is an important contribution to the debate on our social care system.
“Labour is committed to ensuring better terms and conditions, proper training, and fair pay for care workers, with national standards guaranteeing good quality care, as the first steps to building a national care service.”
Notes to editors:
– The link to the report is here – https://www.unison.org.uk/content/uploads/2023/06/Fabians-Support-Guaranteed-Report-D3.pdf It is being launched at 10am today (Thursday) by Andy Harrop and Christina McAnea at Church House.
– UNISON is opposed to the Scottish government’s Nation...
Source: UNISON Health care news - June 7, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Fatima Ayad Tags: News Press release Christina McAnea national care service social care Source Type: news
Blog: Proud to welcome in Pride
Today, we welcome in Pride season when UNISON activists will again join Prides across every region and nation to celebrate our LGBT+ members and the wider community.
UNISON’s LGBT+ members bring so much to our union, and make it a diverse, wonderful organisation to join and to work for.
A year on from the last time I wrote about Pride month, it’s sad that such little progress has been made in our society and even worse, that in some ways, the UK government is taking huge leaps backwards.
One in five LGBT+ people have experienced a hate crime or incident because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity in the ...
Source: UNISON Health care news - June 1, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Christina McAnea Tags: Article Blogs General Secretary's blog LGBT Pride Pride month Source Type: news
How to build a better bank contract – June 2023
The 2023 pay round has highlighted some campaigning, organising and bargaining opportunities around bank contracts. This guidance is aimed at UNISON branches and organisers to help them have informed conversations with members who work on an NHS-operated bank as their primary contract (rather than those employed via NHS Professionals or a private agency). It covers ideas to improve these terms and how to build a 5-step plan to win.
Some NHS employers make substantive staff work on a bank contract when doing overtime or additional hours. Further advice to challenge this practice will be developed in line with UNISON’s 202...
Source: UNISON Health care news - May 31, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Hassan Govia Tags: Article Source Type: news
EA workers renew strike mandate
UNISON has announced that Environment Agency members have secured a mandate for strike action over the next six months after the recent industrial action ballot.
The new mandate marks a continuation of the dispute, begun last year, where EA members voted for strike action over pay for the first time in the agency’s history.
Donna Rowe-Merriman, national secretary for the sector, said: “Workers have endured over a decade of pay erosion where the value of their pay has reduced by over 20%, and have said enough is enough.
“The result demonstrates that EA members have not been disheartened by lack of action from the gove...
Source: UNISON Health care news - May 31, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Simon Jackson Tags: Article News environment agency Environment agency strike Source Type: news
The numbers behind council and school pay
UNISON has been campaigning for a decent pay rise for council and school workers, calling for a pay increase of inflation plus 2% – based on the Treasury’s annual forecast for RPI for 2023, this amounted to 12.7% at the time of the pay claim.
However, the local government employers have responded with an offer of a flat rate increase of £1,925 (with less for part-time and term-time workers).
So, what does that mean for council and schools workers?
Tap through the stats below to find out.
The article The numbers behind council and school pay first appeared on the UNISON National site. (Source: UNISON Health care news)
Source: UNISON Health care news - May 31, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Simon Jackson Tags: Article Source Type: news
Care workers in Wales win 15% increase and Foundation Living Wage
After months of campaigning, support workers in Wales have secured a 15% pay increase and the Foundation Living Wage.
In April 2022, the Welsh Government made £48m available to social care providers to fund an uplift to the Foundation Living Wage for registered care workers in Wales, which is now £10.90.
However, months went by and carers working for Integra Community Living Options did not see any extra money in their pay packets. Union members approached the Cardiff County UNISON Branch about the issue, who enlisted the support of the region and the union’s strategic organising unit (SOU), and set about campaigning.
...
Source: UNISON Health care news - May 31, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Janey Starling Tags: News care Cymru Wales cymru/wales low-paid social care Source Type: news
South Gloucestershire workers continue strike dispute
Social workers and occupational therapists (OTs) working for South Gloucestershire council are to strike twice this week.
Staff will walk out for two days of action, today (Tuesday) and again on Thursday (1 June) after voting overwhelmingly for industrial action in a dispute over pay.
UNISON has been in dispute with the local authority since last summer. The new dates follow three days of strike action in April.
The dispute started after a decision by the council to award staff in children’s services an additional temporary £3,000 payment on top of their basic annual salary. This uplift was not offered to those doing th...
Source: UNISON Health care news - May 30, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Simon Jackson Tags: Article Occupational therapists social work unison south west Source Type: news
