Budget must safeguard services by boosting pay
Commenting on new TUC research suggesting public services face a workforce exodus, UNISON assistant general secretary Jon Richards said today (Tuesday):
“Decent public services are the bedrock of any society. But they can’t exist without people to run them.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to fathom that pay is key to keeping and attracting a motivated workforce.
“The government must invest in pay in the budget so schools, hospitals, town halls and care homes can better compete with wages in the private sector. That would help boost staffing levels for everyone’s benefit.”
Notes t...
Source: UNISON Health care news - March 14, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Anthony Barnes Tags: News Press release public sector pay Source Type: news
UNISON celebrates International Women ’s Day in Glasgow
On Wednesday 8 March, UNISON delegates from across the UK celebrated International Women’s Day in Glasgow.
The day-long event, organised by the Scottish region, included a walking tour of women’s organising and trade union history in Glasgow, a workshop on how to tackle sexual harassment at work and in the union movement and a panel discussion on the achievements of Scottish Black women.
Addressing attendees on the day, UNISON Scottish secretary Tracey Dalling said: “We come together to celebrate each other. We draw breath as we push on in achieving equality and equity not just for ourselves but for the women coming ...
Source: UNISON Health care news - March 14, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Janey Starling Tags: Article equalities international women's day low-paid women Scotland Source Type: news
Blog: Which version of the UK will Jeremy Hunt choose to back?
Last week, the news showed two versions of the UK. In one, school buildings are crumbling and ambulances have to queue outside overstretched A&E departments. Public service workers who we clapped through the pandemic are relying on food banks, and credit cards to afford their energy bills and childcare costs. Workers across the country are making the difficult choice to take industrial action for a decent wage.
In the other UK, though, profits are booming. The oil and gas giants made record returns, while our energy bills hit record highs. And as public service workers are told to accept pay restraint, Shell’s outgoi...
Source: UNISON Health care news - March 13, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Christina McAnea Tags: General Secretary's blog budget cost of living Source Type: news
The numbers behind NHS pay
UNISON is currently leading the union side of the talks with the Westminster government in an effort to resolve the long-running pay dispute.
But even though the government has finally agreed to talk to unions, there’s still a long way to go until the current dispute is resolved.
And while pay is seen as the defining feature of this industrial action, there’s frequently a lack of understanding of how pay affects staffing levels which ultimately affects patient care across the NHS.
Click on image below to find out why we are where we are – (right side to move forward, left side to move back)
The article The num...
Source: UNISON Health care news - March 9, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Simon Jackson Tags: Article NHS NHS Strike Put NHS pay right Source Type: news
How the budget could fix public services
Jeremy Hunt. Image © Richard Townshend
The budget takes place next Wednesday and is the Westminster government’s opportunity to take big decisions that would benefit people’s lives, such as investing in public services, improving wages, making the tax system fairer and tackling out-of-control energy bills.
But new UNISON research shows that an overwhelming 94.5% of public service workers are not optimistic that it will do any of those things.
This is against a backdrop of almost nine in every 10 public service wor...
Source: UNISON Health care news - March 9, 2023 Category: UK Health Authors: Martin Cullen Tags: Article News budget Christina McAnea cost of living cost of living survey Source Type: news
