‘ Only Enough is Enough ’ campaign launched to expose hospital understaffing
Hospitals will be held accountable for unsafe staff levels under a new ‘Only Enough is Enough’ campaign from UNISON launching this autumn, says the union today (Tuesday).
As a result of having too few employees, many NHS trusts are unable to provide safe staffing levels, says UNISON.
The union’s campaign aims to highlight hospitals that are failing to provide sufficient numbers of staff with the time they need to deliver quality patient care. The union wants trusts to work in partnership with NHS workers to solve their staffing problems.
The campaign will initially have six pilot areas – Birming...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - September 19, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Dan Ashley Tags: Article News Press release NHS staff safe staffing Source Type: news
Blog: In the campaign for equal pay, UNISON stands firmly on the frontline
The pursuit of equal pay is part of UNISON’s daily battle against deeply entrenched biases and systemic inequalities. We’re driven by our commitment to break free of stereotypes that undervalue workers. And we are unrivalled in our successes.
You only have to look at the Glasgow equal pay victory to understand our strength.
We’ve won the most equal pay cases, we’ve won the most money for members, and we don’t take a cut from the payouts.
It’s a fundamental issue of fairness that every worker deserves equal pay for work of equal value. However, despite years of progress, many workers – and particularl...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - September 19, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Christina McAnea Tags: General Secretary's blog Christina McAnea equal pay Source Type: news
Health members in Northern Ireland to strike for pay parity
UNISON health members in Northern Ireland will be taking strike action over two days this week, in protest at the continued lack of a pay offer for 2022/23.
The walk out, over the 48-hour period of Thursday 21 and Friday 22 September, will involve ambulance crews, nurses, health care assistants, pharmacists, radiographers, porters, admin and technical staff, cleaners and catering staff.
Payroll staff will strike for a shorter period, to ensure their co-workers receive their pay on time – a decision commended by their union colleagues.
The action is due to increasing frustration that NI health workers are falling behind t...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - September 19, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Demetrios Matheou Tags: Article News health health pay Northern Ireland Source Type: news
Pay claim submitted on behalf of Environment Agency staff
UNISON and the joint trade unions have submitted a pay claim for 2023/24 seeking an increase of at least 13.2% for Environment Agency (EA) staff.
The unions’ fully-evidenced claim reflects how union members who remain in dispute over the 2022/23 pay award of 2% plus £345 have made it clear that the previous year’s uplift was not acceptable during the height of the cost of living crisis, with inflation running in double digits and with the wages of the lowest paid falling below the National Living Wage in April.
The lack of a significant uplift has created a ‘grade drift’ across all roles in comparison to p...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - September 18, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Martin Cullen Tags: Article environment agency WET Source Type: news
UNISON takes COVID-19 inquiry call to TUC Congress
“In many ways, it took the pandemic to expose the true cost of austerity.”
So said UNISON president Libby Nolan as she moved the union’s motion on the COVID-19 public inquiry at the TUC Congress in Liverpool yesterday, saying that the most fitting memorial to all the working people who died during the pandemic would be for lessons to be learned and acted upon.
She pointed out that the hearings in the inquiry, which only started in June, had revealed that the “government has failed in their preparedness and response.”
Ms Nolan, a cardiac nurse from Swansea, described how, “as a nurse, I used bin bags to cover m...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - September 13, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Amanda Kendal Tags: Article News austerity covid inquiry Covid-19 PPE TUC Source Type: news
Labour commit to restore School Support Staff Negotiating Body in England
Earlier this week, the Labour Party pledged to restore the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) in England if they win the next general election.
Under a Labour government, the reconstituted SSSNB would become the negotiating body covering terms and conditions for teaching assistants, caretakers, office staff, technicians, catering staff, cleaners and all other support staff working in schools.
As the three recognised support staff trade unions UNISON, GMB and Unite would be responsible for negotiating on the SSSNB.
UNISON previously worked with the last Labour government to create and introduce the SSSNB before i...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - September 7, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Simon Jackson Tags: Article News education negotiation school support staff Source Type: news
Labour commit to restore School Support Staff Negotiating Body
Earlier this week, the Labour Party pledged to restore the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) if they win the next general election.
Under a Labour government, the reconstituted SSSNB would become the negotiating body covering terms and conditions for teaching assistants, caretakers, office staff, technicians, catering staff, cleaners and all other support staff working in schools.
As the three recognised support staff trade unions UNISON, GMB and Unite would be responsible for negotiating on the SSSNB.
UNISON previously worked with the last Labour government to create and introduce the SSSNB before it was scrap...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - September 7, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Simon Jackson Tags: Article News education negotiation school support staff Source Type: news
UNISON vice president leads organising team in care pay wins
UNISON vice president Julia Mwaluke has been a support worker in Salford for the past 12 years, where she’s also been key in organising to win the Living Wage Foundation’s living wage for care workers in the area since 2020.
That saw her and the Salford City UNISON care worker organising committee recognised by the foundation in its annual awards last year, picking up a prize for campaign of the year (pictured above).
And earlier this year, she and the team won a massive victory when Salford Council committed to pay all care workers the foundation’s living wage, following a major campaign that included r...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - September 7, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Janey Starling Tags: Article News care workers Foundation Living Wage Source Type: news
Share your solidarity with Wirral clinical support workers on strike
Healthcare support workers in UNISON are fighting for the respect, recognition and reward they deserve – and they’re prepared to take strike action to get what they’re rightfully owed.
Over 400 clinical support workers at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (WUTH) will take 48 hours of strike action from 7am on Thursday 31 August.
They’re joining together to get their employer to pay them appropriately for the Band 3 clinical work they routinely do, and to put right the years they’ve been underpaid by awarding backpay to 1 April 2018 as an absolute minimum.
This is a key moment ...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - August 24, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Lucy Shaddock Tags: Article pay fair for patient care Source Type: news
Blog: Commemorating the abolition of the slave trade
In 1807, the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was signed into law. For UNISON, the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, marked on 23 August each year, is a significant occasion to remember and reflect upon the enormous impact of the slave trade on Black communities around the world.
With our unwavering commitment to social justice and equality, UNISON recognises the importance of this day for our members and staff.
We honour the memory of those who fought against the abhorrent system of slavery, and remember all the courageous figures – activists, leaders and others – who ...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - August 23, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Christina McAnea Tags: Article General Secretary General Secretary's blog News Source Type: news
Over 100 Camden traffic wardens take indefinite strike action
Over 100 London traffic wardens have been on an indefinite strike since 24 July, after a meagre pay offer of 4.5% from NSL, a company subcontracted by Camden Council.
UNISON members unanimously voted for strike action, with more workers joining the picket as the weeks roll on.
The wardens, who are mainly low-paid Black staff, work outdoors for 42.5 hours a week, in all weather, and were classified as key workers during the pandemic. They regularly receive racist abuse for carrying out their work.
They are paid £12.70 an hour, and have called for an increase to £15.90 an hour. Signs on the picket line (pictured below) re...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - August 22, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Janey Starling Tags: Article News Camden strike traffic wardens Source Type: news
Over 100 Camden traffic wardens on indefinite strike
Over 100 London traffic wardens have been on an indefinite strike since 24 July, after a meagre pay offer of 4.5% from NSL, a company subcontracted by Camden Council.
UNISON members unanimously voted for strike action, with more workers joining the picket as the weeks roll on.
The wardens, who are mainly low-paid Black staff, work outdoors for 42.5 hours a week, in all weather, and were classified as key workers during the pandemic. They regularly receive racist abuse for carrying out their work.
They are paid £12.70 an hour, and have called for an increase to £15.90 an hour. Signs on the picket line (pictured below) re...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - August 22, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Janey Starling Tags: Article News Camden strike traffic wardens Source Type: news
Police staff in England and Wales offered 7% pay increase, says UNISON
Police staff in most forces in England and Wales – including those in witness support, data teams and cleaning roles – have been offered a 7% pay rise, says UNISON today (Thursday).
If accepted, the increase proposed by the police staff employers* would take effect from 1 September 2023.
It means the hourly rate for the lowest paid police staff would rise from £10.62 to £11.46 an hour. That’s an increase of £1,446 a year and would see the lowest annual salaries rise from £20,655 to £22,101.
In addition, the police staff employers are offering a 7% rise on payments to employees who are ask...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - August 10, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Demetrios Matheou Tags: News Press release police staff police staff pay Source Type: news
First guidance published to support NHS workers after a colleague suicide
Researchers from the universities of Surrey, Keele and Birmingham have today (Tuesday) published the first guidance to support NHS workers after a colleague dies by suicide.
The recommendations are based on a two-year study identifying the impact on NHS staff who have been in this distressing situation, and the support they may need.
The guidance has been developed specifically for the NHS and for health service staff who are affected by a colleague’s suicide, and for those who will be supporting them.
The guidance is underpinned by research and data analysis that includes a comprehensive review of current evidence...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - July 25, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Anthony Barnes Tags: News Press release NHS staff Source Type: news
Clarion Housing Group must raise pay and stop pension cuts to avoid strike action, says UNISON
Caretakers, sheltered housing wardens and other staff at Clarion Housing Group – the largest housing association in the country – have rejected a 5% pay offer, says UNISON today (Thursday).
The union says this is essentially a wage cut that falls well short of inflation and that employees deserve more.
Clarion also plans to cut the pensions of nearly 300 staff. The housing association has said it intends to close all its final salary schemes, which means employees will be significantly worse off, adds UNISON.
The union says Clarion is threatening to sack staff and re-employ them...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - July 20, 2023 Category: Food Science Authors: Fatima Ayad Tags: News Press release Source Type: news
