Council funding boost will do nothing to fix deep-rooted problems in social care
Commenting on the government’s announcement that councils in England will receive £40m extra to enhance social care with the aim of freeing up hospital beds today (Monday), UNISON head of social care Gavin Edwards said:
“This is a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of the problem.
“It will do next to nothing to fix the deep-rooted problems in social care. Anyone trying to arrange a care package knows all too well that the system is broken.
“Instead of endless short-term measures to patch up a sector in crisis, the government must commit to complete reform.
“What’s needed is a national care service that’...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - December 4, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Fatima Ayad Tags: News Press release Gavin Edwards social care Source Type: news
Boosting sick pay during the pandemic would have helped prevent virus spread
Commenting on evidence from former health and care secretary Matt Hancock to the Covid inquiry about sick pay rates during the pandemic, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:
“It’s a shame Matt Hancock wasn’t as enthusiastic about boosting sick pay when he was in government.
“Pitifully low rates meant care staff went into work when they had Covid, simply because they couldn’t afford to stop home and isolate. Increasing sick pay would undoubtedly have helped prevent virus spread.
“Matt Hancock claimed the infection control fund would ensure no care worker lost out fi...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - December 1, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Dan Ashley Tags: News Press release care homes covid inquiry hancock sick pay Source Type: news
Young members gather at conference in Newcastle
Young members from across the UK gathered in Newcastle over the weekend for the third annual UNISON young members’ conference.
The conference was the first to take place after the age-limit for young members was increased to 30 and under (from 26) via a rule amendment at this year’s national delegate conference.
At the time, UNISON’s young members officer Josephine Grahl said: “The increase in age reflects the changes in the workforce that have happened since UNISON’s first young members’ groups were established in 1996″.
And she added that these included: “The increase in school leaving age, the ex...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - November 28, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Simon Jackson Tags: Article News 2023 National Young Members Conference maternity pay national young members forum Source Type: news
NHS data: help stop the sell-off
NHS England is set to hand over its patient data and share of a £480m contract to US company Palantir in a plan to create a new database.
This marks the biggest IT contract the NHS has ever awarded.
Palantir is a spy technology firm that works with intelligence and military agencies in the UK and US, including the CIA.
UNISON is working alongside the campaigning organisation Foxglove to help challenge this. An emergency petition to health secretary Victoria Atkins has been set up, which UNISON members are invited to sign and share.
Sign the petition here
The petition calls on Ms Atkins to cancel the contract and design a...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - November 20, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Janey Starling Tags: Article News health NHS privatisation Source Type: news
Education support staff in Northern Ireland need urgent action on pay
Thousands of school staff will hold a day-long strike across Northern Ireland tomorrow (Thursday) over pay, says UNISON today.
Workers including cleaners, catering staff, caretakers, classroom assistants, administrators and technicians will join picket lines at hundreds of schools across the country.
They are taking action over the Education Authority’s failure to update the grading structure, which UNISON says must be changed to recognise the roles and responsibilities of staff so they’re paid fairly.
The union is calling for an overhaul as swiftly as possible. That would ensure the ongoing rollout of the 2023/24...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - November 15, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Anthony Barnes Tags: News Press release Northern Ireland school strike Source Type: news
UNISON president welcomes the union ’ s Year of LGBT+ Workers
UNISON president Libby Nolan addressed the union’s LGBT+ conference in Liverpool last weekend for the launch of the Year of LGBT+ Workers in 2024 and pledged: “I look forward to working with you to make this the best year possible.”
“This is a Tory administration that has come to the end of the road,” she told delegates. “It’s just a crying shame that we may have to put up with another year of it.
“Because make no mistake, this is a dying government … yet determined to continue running our country into the ground.
“We have seen the Tories’ relentless attacks on trans, non-binary and gender diverse peo...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - November 14, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Amanda Kendal Tags: Article News 2023 LGBT conference 2023 National LGBT Conference trans rights Source Type: news
Survey reveals impact on families of low maternity pay
The cost of living crisis is affecting women and babies living on low levels of maternity pay and benefits, and affecting their health and wellbeing, warns national charity, Maternity Action, in its new report, A Perfect Storm, launched today.
A survey of 1,394 mothers who had taken maternity leave at some point between January 2021 and December 2022 reported that, while on leave:
half (49%) were buying less healthy food and one quarter had gone without food to feed their children
71% worried ‘a lot’ about money during pregnancy or maternity leave, an increase from 64% in an equivalent 2022 survey
...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - November 14, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Janey Starling Tags: Article News cost of living low-paid women pregnancy pregnancy and maternity rights Source Type: news
Financial wellbeing week – spaces still available
UNISON’s financial wellbeing week is offering four days packed with webinars and workshops from 27-30 November.
The week aims to help UNISON members to develop skills in financial planning, how to manage money and how to battle debt pressures.
There are still places at two events:
‘Making the most of your membership’, for members and non-members. (Monday 27 November, 12-1pm)
‘Credit, borrowing and debt’, for UNISON members only (Wednesday 29 November, 12-1pm)
See below for details of each session and when it will be running. All sessions will be delivered online via MS Teams or Zoom.
Sign up by completing the f...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - November 8, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Simon Jackson Tags: Article News financial wellbeing learning Source Type: news
Thames Water announces it is to consult on axing 300 jobs
Thames Water, the UK’s largest water company, has announced the start of a consultation to remove over 300 roles in order to “reduce costs further and become more efficient”. This could mean over 140 redundancies, and many roles axed through the removal of vacancies.
As the largest union in the employer, UNISON is raising serious concerns about the proposals – for example, whether sufficient analysis has been done on the impact of the job cuts on workloads and whether there have been more vacancies removed over the past month than have been quoted.
The consultation also comes as the company is still working through...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - November 6, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Simon Jackson Tags: Article News redundancy water Source Type: news
Donate to aid efforts in Gaza and Israel
UNISON is horrified by the devastating violence seen in Israel and Gaza in recent weeks.
General secretary Christina McAnea says: “I know that many UNISON activists are eager to respond to the crisis, so we are encouraging all our branches to support the critical work of Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and the Red Cross.
“UNISON condemns the brutal and heinous attack by Hamas against innocent civilians in Israel, and the indiscriminate bombing and collective punishment of the people of Gaza. We are calling for a ceasefire, the immediate and safe release of hostages and for an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza....
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - November 6, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Simon Jackson Tags: Article News Christina McAnea general secretary international international aid NEC Source Type: news
Wirral hospitals strike paused as workers win back pay after lengthy campaign
A strike planned for next week by more than 500 clinical support workers (CSWs) at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has been called off after the employer agreed to UNISON’s demand for five years of back pay, says the union today (Friday).
The development follows a UNISON campaign over several months, during which workers were on strike for 13 days ahead of the latest offer.
The staff are employed at Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge hospitals.
Clinical support workers on band 2 of the NHS’s Agenda for Change pay scale should only provide personal care such as bathing and feeding.
However, UNI...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - November 3, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Anthony Barnes Tags: News Press release HCArebanding Source Type: news
New Environment Agency offer means strike suspension and pay talks
The four-day strike that had been due to take place from Friday 3 November involving hundreds of Environment Agency workers represented by UNISON has been suspended to allow pay talks to happen.
Staff working to protect communities from the aftermath of Storm Babet and the onslaught of Storm Ciarán were reluctantly due to walk out from 7am on Friday until 7am on Monday as part of their long-standing dispute over pay, says UNISON.
The decision to call off the strike was taken after the Environment Agency confirmed ministers had given it permission to negotiate a new offer* to give employees a long-overdue wa...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - November 2, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Dan Ashley Tags: News Press release environment agency pay talks Source Type: news
Poole education members strike over low pay
UNISON members at The Victoria Education Centre in Poole are taking strike action today, after their employer failed to deliver a pay rise for staff.
The special education school is run by disability charity Livability, but it has not made a pay offer that addresses historic low wages by comparison to other school settings across Dorset and nationally.
A membership recruitment campaign began in 2021 and saw a recognition agreement signed with the employer in March 2022.
Regional organiser Mike Cracknell said: “The strength of feeling was so high that a formal industrial action ballot generated a whopping 81% response rat...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - November 2, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Amanda Kendal Tags: Article News education Industrial action Liveability low pay strike Source Type: news
Overseas nurses gather for ‘empowering’ day
Members of the overseas nurses’ network gathered at UNISON centre last week for their annual seminar. The network aims to connect overseas nurses for mutual support, to offer expertise to UNISON and to provide a safe space for individuals to share their experiences.
This year, the seminar allowed the nurses to engage with and question leaders in nursing organisations about their priorities for overseas nurses.
In other sessions, the event also gave attendees the opportunity to explore the ongoing impacts of the ‘hostile environment’ policies, discuss the work surrounding the Migrant Worker’s Charter and contribute ...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - October 31, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Simon Jackson Tags: Article health nurses overseas nurses Source Type: news
‘Pay gaps exist because no one is looking,’ disabled members hear
Delegates at this year’s disabled members conference yesterday debated a range of issues that affect their members.
The motion ‘mind the pay gap’ noted that, even for those disabled people in work, the disability pay gap is growing and now stands at a shocking 17.2% or £3,700 less a year than non-disabled workers.
Looking also at the pay gaps across other equality strands, the motion notes that since gender pay gap reporting has been required, for organisations with more than 250 employees, there has been an improvement – from 18.4% in 2017 down to 14.9% in 2022.
And it states: “It is becoming clear that, until ...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - October 31, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Demetrios Matheou Tags: Article News disabled members LGBT Source Type: news
