How UNISON has helped beat the January blues

New Year gongs

Film and TV stars and sports people may customarily grab the New Year headlines, but they weren’t the only recipients of New Year’s Honours.

And there was a particular New Year fizz in the news that two UNISON members, who work tirelessly to protect the country from floods, received MBEs.

Carol Holt and Peter Spencer both work for the Environment Agency in the North West, Carol as deputy director for flood incident management, and Peter as a flood hydrologist, advising the agency on forecasting floods and modelling their impact.

Andrew Dobbie, UNISON national officer for the union’s water, environment and transport service group, said their awards were “richly deserved recognition for their many years of public service, keeping our people safe from floods.”

Ever green in retirement

It’s typical of UNISON to think of its members and the greater good of the nation – if not the whole world – in the same breath. And a cunning new campaign ­does exactly that, by combining pensions and the environment.

The union launched a campaign to encourage local government pension funds to divest from carbon – in other words, to pull their hard-earned money out of green-unfriendly  businesses.

UNISON’s step-by-step guide is designed to help members of local government pension schemes push for changes in the investment of their funds. The aim is to explore alternative investment opportunities, allowing schemes to sell their shares and bonds in fossil fuels and go carbon-free.

Figures published last year revealed that £16 billion was invested in the fossil fuel industry by local government pension funds.

Chair of UNISON’s policy committee James Anthony said: “Pensions are meant to safeguard our future, but that future is threatened by the burning of carbon in fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.

“This campaign empowers people to hold their pension funds to account.”

And with five million members of local government pension schemes, and over 13,000 different employers paying into them, UNISON believes its campaign will resonate with a wide audience and influence the pensions agenda.

Winter heroes

Thousands of words were written in January about the “winter crisis” in the NHS, with the huge delays at A&E departments and corridors clogged with hundreds, if not thousands of patients waiting for a bed, or a chair, and a doctor with time to see them.

UNISON has contributed to that debate. But amid our hard-nosed view of the reasons for and statistics of the crisis, there was also the glimmer of hope and inspiration that came from our members on the frontline.

Paramedic Jason Anderson has worked for the London Ambulance Service for 17 years. While lending his experienced, insider-view of the crisis (“Although winter was and still is the busiest period, an increase in call rates throughout the year has become the norm”) his professionalism, caring attitude and commitment shine through every word of his interview.

Jason epitomised the value of UNISON members to the health service – why patients value them, and why they need everyone’s support while the government gets its act together.

“Maybe once every other day, you walk away from a patient with a smile on your face, because you’ve done something that’s made them better,” he says. “You feel you’ve made a difference. That’s why the staff keep doing what we do.”

“A force for good”

OK, so there weren’t any lightsabers scything the air of the higher education service group conference in Chester, but there was plenty of belief in the power of good intentions.

“Unions have brought about many of the positive changes in higher education,” Denise Ward told activists. “We are a force for good.”

The conference agreed that UNISON would work with other unions for an end to poverty pay in the county’s universities.

Delegates voted for a pay campaign that would include a pay rise of £1,500 a year or 7.5% – whichever is higher; for all employers to pay the real living wage and work towards a minimum rate of £10 an hour in the sector; eradicating the gender pay gap by 2020; and an end to zero-hour contracts.

Ms Ward, who chairs the service group executive, said that the aim was for university pay that “catches up and keeps up.”

And calling on activists to build the membership, she said: “We are at our best when we work together.”

Our Nelson Mandela Award winner

Councillor Yvonne Mosquito became the third recipient of the UNISON Nelson Mandela Award, in recognition of over 37 years of dedicated campaigning and organising in her local community in Birmingham.

Yvonne’s community work began as a teenager when she became a supplementary school teacher assistant, and has continued through years as an elected member of Birmingham City Council and numerous other, high-level public posts in the West Midlands.

She received her award from the union’s president, Margaret McKee, during the Black members’ conference in Liverpool, which Dave Prentis cites as the biggest conference of Black trade unionists in Europe.

In one of his January blogs, the UNISON general secretary writes: “I am so proud of UNISON’s history tackling inequality and racism. A union that did not prioritise these would not be the UNISON I know.”

So that’s just a few of our personal highlights from the first month of the year. Bring on February!

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End-of-year accounts for 2017 – branch audits

Branch treasurers have received notification of the procedures to apply on the closedown of the online branch accounts package (OLBA) for 2017.

The branch authorisation sheet which includes the branch auditors’ statement must be signed by the branch auditor and should be sent to:

IMPS Team,

UNISON,

Arena Point,

1 Hunts Bank,

Manchester,

M3 1UN.

It must arrive by Thursday 15 March 2018.

As last year, it is a requirement that photocopies of statements for all balances held in bank, building society, deposit accounts, prepaid cards and/or any other short-term investment accounts at 31 December 2017 be sent along with the authorisation sheet.

Branch auditors act as representatives of your branch’s membership as a whole.

It is essential that auditors are given enough time to complete the audit in time for the branch to meet the 15 March deadline.

They need to make sure that the treasurer knows when they will need to start their audit work and agree a timetable. It is desirable for the audited accounts to have been presented to the branch’s AGM before the deadline date.

Auditors who are UNISON members should ensure that the RMS membership system records their auditor status. If it does not, they should approach their regional RMS team to to update it.

Auditors who are not members – eg, external accountants – should request access to the branch’s OLBA records by email to olba@unison.co.uk.

The branch auditor’s checklist should be used to judge whether you have covered the main aspects of the branch audit.

If further detail is required, please see the OnLine Branch Accounting Audit Programme. This sets out the programme of work a branch auditor should aim to complete.

Depending on how the branch organises its finances, the whole of the programme may not apply – eg many branches operate without petty cash.

The auditor and branch treasurer have the capacity to make changes to the branch accounts up until they take the Generate Authorisation Sheet option in the closedown process.

Branch auditor’s checklist 

OLBA audit programme January 2017

Should you wish to discuss any matters raised please do not hesitate to contact John Nagle, head of audit, on on 020 7121 5367 or Barry Lyons on 020 7121 5404.

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The holocaust is a constant reminder of the dangers of allowing hate, discrimination and division to develop and go unchallenged

Today marks Holocaust Memorial Day, when we remember the millions of victims of an anti-semitic and racist ideology that systematically targeted and murdered over six million Jews. We remember everyone who was killed in Nazi Persecution and in subsequent genocides.

Our union is determined that the sheer horror of the holocaust is memorialised, but that this memorial does not reduce those killed to a statistic. Amongst those targeted and killed were Jews, Roma Gypsies and Slavs. They were Black, LGBT and disabled. They were trade unionists and political opponents of Nazism.

Yet they were all more than these narrow descriptions by which they were defined, condemned and sentenced to death. They were loved ones. They were friends, colleagues and neighbours.

This year the theme of Holocaust Memorial Day is “The Power of Words” – and it is through our words as well as our deeds that we remember those killed in the unique horror of the Holocaust.

Yet though words are vital in remembrance, and have the capacity to inspire great acts, Europe’s terrible history reminds us that words also have the power to inspire hatred too.

That is why our union will always stand against discrimination and those who seek to spread it. We will stand firm against those who use racist, sexist, homophobic, biphobic transphobic or disablist language. And we will never accept the use of vile anti-semitic language or tropes within our union, the political world or wider society.

The holocaust is a constant reminder of the dangers of allowing hate, discrimination and division to develop and go unchallenged. We must be constantly vigilant against the rising forces of hate which seek to divide our communities for their own gain.

Today memorialises all those who were targeted during the Holocaust, and marks our respect for those who experienced and survived the horrific atrocities committed during this and subsequent genocides.

On this day, we remember the precious lives lost and the deep grief felt by those who survived, honouring their memories by challenging hate and commit ourselves to ensure that “never again” is not just words, however powerful, it is a commitment we reaffirm today and every day.

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Blog: Today I saw our union at its best

One of the great pleasures of being UNISON General Secretary is getting to spend the day with great branches and brilliant activists.

Today I’ve been with Cheshire West and Chester Local Government branch as their employer became the latest signatory to our Ethical Care Charter. I was fortunate enough to get to spend time with Teresa and Geoff – the hard working and committed branch secretary and branch chair – who are pushing forward UNISON’s agenda, not just on social care but on pay and protection of our members.

That’s particularly challenging given their local council – run by Labour – has a majority of just one. But Teresa and Geoff are the kind of brilliant people who make our union strong. Engaging, pragmatic and working tirelessly to make sure Unison’s voice is heard – and why our union is respected and listened to.

Today I saw our union at its best. Teresa and Geoff are making a massive difference, even when times are tough. Thank you to them for the warm welcome today and for everything they, like all our activists, do for our union.

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Carillion – a growing pension scandal?

UNISON has already raised concerns over the collapse of contractor Carillion and the potential impact on job losses and services. But what will happen to the company’s pension arrangements and what was going on in the trading of Carillion shares?

The government has assured everyone working on these contracts that their wages will be paid and it is hoped their pension will be covered too.

The company had scheme members in thirteen local government pension funds: Croydon, Durham, Ealing, Greater Manchester, Harrow, Hounslow, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, South Yorkshire, Teesside, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands and West Yorkshire.

Under agreements with these funds Carillion should have agreed cover for contributions and pension deficit payments in case the employer went into liquidation. Similar arrangements should be in place for members in the NHS pension scheme.

Staff who did not join the LGPS or NHS scheme would have been enrolled into the company’s defined contribution (DC) scheme under the management of Blackrock, the largest asset manager in the world.

Blackrock will continue to manage the investment funds for the members of the scheme, but there of course will be no employer contributions. The investment funds are safe and members should be contacted by the provider to inform them of the status of their fund.

Conflict of interest

Investigations by UNISON has shown that Blackrock, with over US$6 trillion of clients’ savings to invest, was betting on the stock market against Carillion, whilst at the same time running their DC pension scheme. This could be seen as a significant conflict of interest.

UNISON’s national officer for pension investments and governance Colin Meech asks: “Did the board of Carillion pay enough attention to whether their pension schemes were adequately managed and resourced?

“And did the trustees of the pension schemes, led by the Chair of the Trust, do enough to ensure they were fulfilling their statutory duty to run them in members’ best interests?”

UNISON believes it is imperative that all institutions involved in the governance chain are held to account.

Added Colin: “An urgent question is whether BlackRock is clear whether any Carillion employees’ pension fund money was used in bets against Carillion’s share price. Can asset managers act in the best interests of company pensioners that the same asset manager, (even if it is a different part of the company), is driving down the company share price?

“The government need to prevent these conflicts of interest in the first place. It should be obligatory for all pension vehicles to disclose all their holdings, including who they have lent our shares to. Then workers will know who is doing what with their retirement money.

“At the moment, most savers don’t have a clue what the City does with their money.”

UNISON will continue to monitor the situation.

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The government must turn back the tide on NHS nursing shortages, says UNISON

Responding to the publication today (Friday) of the House of Commons Health Committee’s nursing workforce report, UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said:

“This report is the latest alarm bell on the NHS staffing crisis. The government must heed these warnings if it wants to turn back the tide on NHS nursing shortages.

“The reasons for the drop in the number of nurses are, amongst other things, the result of excessive workloads, ongoing pay restraint, a lack of on-the-job training, and uncertainty surrounding Brexit.

“Disturbingly, the report highlights that nurses feel undervalued – a damning indictment of the government neglecting a workforce held in high esteem by the public.

“The foolishness of abolishing the NHS bursary for healthcare students is laid bare in the report. The government needs to reverse this ill-thought-out decision, as well as provide proper funding for nursing apprenticeships, so that young people are encouraged to join the nursing profession.”

Notes to editors:
– The House of Commons Health Committee’s Second Report of Session 2017-19, Nursing workforce (HC353) will be published on their website at 00.01hrs on Friday 26 January.
– UNISON’s written submission to the Health Committee was included as evidence for the report.

Media contacts:
Clare Santry T: 0207 121 5546 M: 07944 191479 E: c.santry@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen T: 0207 121 5463 M: 07778 158175E: l.chinchen@unison.co.uk
 

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Holocaust Memorial Day and the story of disabled people

Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January commemorates all those affected by Hitler’s campaign of genocide against the Jews and other minority groups including Roma Gypsies, eastern Europeans, lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people, trade unionists, socialists, communists and disabled people.

It is estimated that close to 250,000 disabled people were murdered by the Nazi regime. The Nazis used the discredited theory of eugenics to argue that mentally and physically disabled people were inferior to the Aryan race.

This formed the basis of the ‘T4 programme’, a state sponsored genocide of disabled people with doctors authorised to sign off patients for the death camps.

A “survival of the fittest” ideology saw disabled people as worthless and a financial burden, justifying the murder of adults and children by lethal injection and starvation.

Six “killing centres” were established to speed up the process. At the Brandenburg centre thousands of disabled people were murdered in a gas chamber described as a shower room, a cruel deception also used at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Other disabled people were forcibly sterilized so their “tainted” genes would not affect the “pure” Aryan race. It has been estimated that between 1933 and 1939, 360,000 people were forcibily sterilised to prevent “hereditary diseased offspring”.

Holocaust Memorial Day helps us to remember these atrocities, particularly in the face of the continued denial of the Holocaust by far right organisations and academics.

Furthermore, despite the creation of the United Nations (UN) Genocide Convention, agreed after the Holocaust to criminalise genocide, further genocides have continued worldwide, including in Rwanda and Bosnia.

“We must be vigilant against the false theories used by the Nazis to justify genocide,” said UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis, “and aware of the disastrous consequences that can result from dehumanising a particular group and infringing their rights.”

Added Mr Prentis: “We must never forget that the Holocaust was a state programme designed to destroy particular groups, including disabled people, and we must remember all those affected.

“UNISON branches can join in this work by commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day, fighting for equality for disabled people in the workplace and in society and by working with their regional International Committee on solidarity actions.”

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Care sector ‘is vital for our society and our economy’

“The care sector is vital for our society and our economy,” general secretary Dave Prentis declared as he opened UNISON’s first social care seminar in London last week.

“Our government and our country must show they care about those who care for our loved ones,” he added.

Care is one of the largest industries in the UK – and it faces a mass of problems affecting both carers themselves and those who need care.

The seminar, at UNISON Centre in London, followed a decision by the union’s national delegate conference and examined a range of issues affecting both home care and care homes.

Care workers, union activists and organisers met in groups to hear about and discuss four areas of concern:

• making sure employers comply with the minimum wage;
• UNISON learning in social care;
• organising in private care providers;
• the impact of Brexit on social care workers.

The seminar heard that stress levels are high among care workers, with 25% reporting that they struggle with finances – but they love the work they do.

After discussing the issues, those taking part in the seminar agreed a number of priorities for UNISON:

• mobilising the workforce;
• raising awareness of careworkers’ rights and responsibilities;
• tackling a culture that sees care as a problem, or simply as a market transaction;
• making sure care workers’ voices are heard;
• protecting whistleblowers;
• making sure care workers are being paid at least minimum wage, including travelling time and sleepovers;
• working with local authorities and the Care Quality Commission to improve commissioning.

UNISON vice president Gordon McKay said the day featured “horrific true stories of one-minute care visits, intentional employer double booking of care visits for the same time and staff being illegally paid under £5 an hour,” but also “the UNISON success stories of 10% pay increases, secure employment and first class care delivery fought for and won.

“Those who rely on home care deserve better and the staff who care for our vulnerable need a trade union to be their voice.”

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Former president tells delegates UNISON can help them achieve

“I can feel the love – and it’s energising me.” For former president Eleanor Smith, now the MP for Wolverhampton South West, it had all the emotion of a homecoming.

Addressing UNISON’s Black members’ conference in Liverpool this afternoon, she started by stressing her thanks to and love of UNISON.

Without the union’s help and support, “I would not be here today.”

And her message to delegates was that UNISON is there for them too and can help them to achieve what they want.

In keeping with a spirit of remembering history that permeated conference, Ms Smith sketched out her own story, beginning with her parents’ decision to leave Barbados for the UK – inspired by a presentation given in the West Indies by Enoch Powell, whose seat in the Commons she now occupies.

Settling was not easy, with the family meeting a degree of hostility that they had not expected.

Ms Smith stresses how important her parents’ generation believed education to be. She worked hard to became a nurse and joined Cohse, one of UNISON’s predecessor unions.

But as had happened to many a Black nurse before her, when she became pregnant, she faced a pay and grading review that sought to move her down grades. In UNISON by then, with the union on her side, she fought back. Her appeal worked. And she was encouraged to become a rep.

“Under the umbrella of the union, you can make a difference,” stressed Ms Smith.

The union also helped her become involved in wider politics.

“It’s not easy,” she told them. But “the union helped me to be able to achieve what I have.”

No matter the challenges you face, don’t let it stop you from doing what you want to do,” Ms Smith urged them.

“I kept on, kept on, kept on – because I believed I could make a difference, like I made a difference in my branch and in the union.”

Now in Parliament, she said that she was determined to “be the voice of the voiceless – to help the people in my community that are homeless … young people; to help them seek and aspire to be what they want to be.”

And Labour’s 2017 manifesto had given people hope that there could be an alternative to life under austerity. “There is another way” … and, “once you give people hope, they can move mountains”.

Praising Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for understanding working people, she encouraged delegates to both spread the word and to themselves become politically active in their own communities – getting involved with their local Labour Party to build that hope for change and then change itself.

Ms Smith said that she hoped that her own story – still in the making – had inspired the audience. “You can achieve anything you want to … but you can’t do it on your own, you need others. But don’t think that you’re going to be on your own … we’re fortunate we have UNISON.”

And she concluded with a final ‘thank you,’ before leaving the rostrum to a standing ovation.

Find out more about UNISON and the Labour Party

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Remembering Irene Stacey – a stalwart of our union, and a friend

Irene Stacey, a long-standing member of our NEC representing low-paid members in London, died earlier today after a long illness.

Irene was a stalwart of our union. Someone universally admired and respected by members, activists and staff alike. Formerly the branch secretary of UNISON’s local government branch in Newham, Irene served with the dedication and passion for which she was famous.

Her enthusiasm for our union was infectious. A passionate recruiter of new members, Irene was rewarded by the TUC for her efforts, and never stopped encouraging people to join UNISON – even when she was being treated in hospital. Yet if she was passionate about getting new members into the union, she was equally as strident when it came to standing up for them. To Irene, our members were amazing people who needed all the support they could get, and who deserved the best – and she saw it as her role to ensure that was the case.

The Labour Party was another organisation through which Irene fought diligently for better public services, better rights at work and better pay for all those who work for our communities. Irene sat on our Labour Link committee, always keeping conversations grounded in the realities of our members experiences, and represented UNISON at many Labour conferences, including in 2017. Irene was undergoing treatment at that time, but she would not let that stop her from playing a full role in the delegation.

Yet her dedication to the Labour Party never stopped her from holding the party to account. I will never forget Irene, about to be awarded a gold badge by the TUC for her recruitment work by Gordon Brown, taking the opportunity to upbraid the then Prime Minister over widow’s pensions.

That was typical of Irene. Throughout her time in UNISON – and through her illness – Irene’s bravery was clear to everyone who knew her, and an inspiration to all of us who worked and campaigned alongside her. She will be a huge loss to our NEC, her branch and our union.

Our thoughts today are with her beloved daughters Jo and Mandy, and her wider family.

RIP Irene – our friend.

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President urges activists to strengthen the union

“Our strength as a union comes from you, our members and our activists” and we need to “build up our density and strengthen our power.

That was the rallying call to delegates at UNISON’s Black members’ conference from president Margaret McKee, speaking in Liverpool this morning.

Building the union was essential, she said, because of “the challenges we face from the Westminster government … a government determined to undermine working people”.

Ms McKee said that, “10 years after the financial crisis … it is public services workers that are still paying the price, in our pay packets.”

Referring to the union’s Pay Up Now! campaign being debated in Westminster in December, she told them that “more money will be spent on exiting the EU than on the health service. That’s a disgrace.”

All UNISON members had “shared values,” observed Ms McKee.

Let us “make sure this is a world where all people … are treated with dignity and respect.”

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Birmingham activist wins UNISON’s Nelson Mandela Award

Councillor Yvonne Mosquito today became the third recipient of the UNISON Nelson Mandela Award in recognition of over 37 years of dedicated campaigning and organising in her local community in Birmingham.

Receiving her award from the union’s president, Margaret McKee, at Black members’ conference in Liverpool, Ms Mosquito was particularly keen to thank Birmingham branch for nominating her.

Her community work began at the age of 17 when she became a supplementary school teacher assistant.

She was elected as a councillor to Birmingham City Council in 1996 and has served as executive member of the Birmingham City Council cabinet, chair of the Labour Group, deputy chief whip, vice chair of West Midlands Police Authority and as West Midlands Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner.

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Prentis backs Labour leaders stand on bringing services back in house

“Venture capitalists were feasting on the bones of austerity” and that is why UNISON stands “shoulder to shoulder with Jeremy Corbyn’s commitment to bring [public service] contracts back in house where they belong,” Dave Prentis told delegates to the union’s Black members’ conference in Liverpool this afternoon.

At the end of the week that saw private construction and services company Carillion collapse, putting in question a wide range of public services and public service jobs, the UNISON general secretary observed that the services “should never have been privatised – we’ve always warned of this”.

In a wide-ranging speech, he also lauded Black history in the UK – a history that, just this past year, saw former UNISON president Eleanor Smith elected as an MP in what was once the Parliamentary seat of Enoch Powell.

He reminded delegates that 2018 sees the union mark 25 years since it was formed from Cohse, Nalgo and Nupe – and he urged all present to be fully involved in the celebrations.

But it was about more than just celebrating the union’s first quarter of a century – “we owe it to everyone to be even better” in the future, Mr Prentis declared.

Delegates await the opening of conference

Reminding conference that, this time last year, delegates were meeting as Donald Trump was inaugurated as president of the USA, he said that it was heartening that “the racism of Trump and his supporters has been opposed every step of the way”.

To loud cheers, he declared that, “if Donald Trump ever dares to visit our country … be in no doubt, UNISON will be leading those protests”.

Noting that racism is neither history nor something that is limited to the US or elsewhere in the world, he stressed that “we cannot let it slide off our agenda.”

Whatever Brexit the UK experiences, he pledged too that UNISON will not allow migrant and Black workers to suffer and that it is crucial to spread the message that “there is a place for you in our union”.

Earlier, as business got underway, delegates were welcomed to the city by Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, the mayor of Liverpool, who earned a loud cheer straight away by holding up his own UNISON membership card.

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Blog: Solidarity with Birmingham home care workers

No-one goes on strike lightly. Care workers certainly don’t. They know the benefit they bring, every hour of every day, to those they care for.

Yet in Birmingham, home care workers are striking this Saturday, because they’ve been pushed to breaking point. Government cuts to local authority budgets have led to Birmingham City Council slashing the home care/enablement budget by 40%.

This is on top of seven years of austerity – where the social care workforce has fallen from 7,000 to just 2,000 – a further, damaging, deep cut to care.

That’s why homecare workers balloted to strike, with 99% voting in favour on a ballot that more than exceeded the draconian limits imposed by the Trade Union Act. They’re taking action from 11.30am to 2pm on Saturday – in order to minimise the impact on service users whilst standing up for their rights.

Their demands are clear – no compulsory redundancies, a joint management and union working party going forward to develop the service and the withdrawal of a rota proposal that involves triple split shifts.

So far, thanks to the campaigning energy and dedication of UNISON home care members, the first two demands have been met, but the council are still holding out on that vital third change. These proposals mean workers will be expected to work 7-10am 12-2pm and then 4-10pm. The reality is many won’t be able to get home between shifts – making their jobs and lives unworkable. Home care workers work every day of the year – they deserve the home life that many of us might take for granted.

On Saturday, striking carers will be rallying at Victoria Square in Birmingham at noon. Our whole union stands with them in their fight for justice – and for a fair deal from their local council.

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Blog: Proud of UNISON’s history tackling inequality and racism

It was a great pleasure to address UNISON Black Members Conference in Liverpool this afternoon. This is a year of historic milestones, so it was great to address the biggest conference of Black Trade Unionists in Europe in this important year – 25 years of UNISON, 150 years of the TUC and 30 years of celebrating Black History in the UK.

I’m proud that children today don’t just learn about Florence Nightingale, they also learn about Mary Seacole. And when they learn about Nelson, it’s more likely they’re talking about Mandela – the UNISON member – than the Admiral with the column.

But this weekend’s conference isn’t about history, it’s about the present and future of our movement. That’s why I’m delighted that UNISON’s own Eleanor Smith MP – the first Black member of Parliament in the West Midlands – will be here tomorrow. Eleanor was elected as the MP for Enoch Powell’s old seat, a fitting rebuke to the attacks Black people faced from that vile racist, and she’s already making a name for herself in Parliament for her passionate defence of public services, including the NHS – where she still works shifts as a nurse.

Eleanor’s election represents a huge personal victory, but is also representative of a real shift in our country, one which our union has played an important role – and will continue to play an important role.

I am so proud of UNISON’s history tackling inequality and racism. A union that did not prioritise these would not be the UNISON I know. We want this to be a time for action and not just reflection. Not just a time to learn from the past, but time to shape a new future. We cannot let the fight against racism slide off our agenda.

And you have a clear commitment from me – wherever there is racism in our communities or workplaces we will drive it out and we won’t stop until it is defeated once and for all.

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Inside the NHS’s winter crisis

Among the procedural messages that paramedic Jason Anderson and his ambulance colleagues receive on their onboard computers as they drive through London, one particular request from hospitals is becoming more and more frequent: Extreme pressure here. Please avoid and use alternative hospital if patient criteria permit.

“This morning I’ve received three or four messages like that,” he says. “It means that if we show up to overstretched hospitals there is a high possibility of extended waits. Therefore we constantly try to ensure we take our patients to the most appropriate emergency department”.

That’s just one, very tangible illustration of the pressures within hospitals that have made the headlines over the past two weeks, with under-resourced staff struggling to cope with increased demand, and patients suffering as a result.

The so-called ‘winter crisis’, exacerbated only in part by the increase in flu sufferers, has seen thousands of patients waiting for hours in hospital corridors, or in ambulances themselves, before being seen by doctors.

The situation is so bad that consultants from A&E units in England and Wales wrote to the prime minister last week expressing their “very serious concerns for the safety of our patients… despite the best efforts of staff”.

They even spoke of patients “dying prematurely” as a result. Spelling out the reasons why, they wrote: “The fact remains.. that the NHS is severely and chronically under-funded. We have insufficient hospitals and community beds and staff of all disciplines, especially at the front door, to cope with our ageing population’s health needs.”

Jason, who has been with the London Ambulance Service for 17 years, couldn’t agree more.

“The news stories are pretty accurate, but this is just an escalation of what’s already been going on in recent years,” he says. “The winter pressures have been highlighted a number of times. But there are periods of pressure all year round that are not reported in the news.

“Although winter was and still is the busiest period, an increase in call rates throughout the year has become the norm.”

As for the winter, the UNISON station rep has his own statistic to add to the debate, namely the call rate for London ambulance crews on New Years’ Eve, which has increased by around 50% in the past decade.

“Every year for at least the past six or seven years it has got busier. Each winter we step up our efforts to deal with it, then get used to the new level of demand, but then it gets worse again and we take it up two more steps.

“We’re dealing with it, working with it, but where do we go from here if the government cuts continue?”

Jason describes how the current problems within the hospital doors impact greatly on ambulance crews, particularly because their involvement with a patient doesn’t end the moment they arrive at an emergency department.

“We make an initial hand-over to a nurse, but until the patient is offered a bed or a chair we have to remain with them, as a duty of care,” he explains.

“If they can walk, we take them to the waiting room, which can be pretty full, but we ensure we find them a seat. If the patient is immobile – they can’t walk or stand – then we wait with them on our trolley bed in the corridor, for however long it takes for a bed to become available.”

He describes those corridors as often overflowing with people: patients, paramedics and the patients’ friends and family – not just the one or two that have come with the ambulance each time, but others who arrive during everyone’s interminable wait.

“We’re used to it. But it can appear chaotic to the public, who think ‘my God, what’s going on here?’ If you keep yourself well and don’t have to go to hospital you won’t necessarily be aware of how bad the situation has become. We do get a lot of patients or their relatives who come in and say, ‘I read about this but can’t believe what I’m seeing.’

“Often the relatives want to know what’s going on, and can become frustrated, with emotions running high at times. We try to put everyone, the patients and their relatives, at ease.

“As ambulance staff, we want to help people and can sympathise with them when they have to experience a long wait. But once we’ve administered our immediate care and brought them to an emergency department, the patient requires hospital intervention – so our hands are tied.

“But we still have to stay with them, until we can hand them over. So we get frustrated too. The longer we’re in a hospital, that’s one less ambulance on the road.”

In some respects, ambulance crews offer the perfect overview of a patient’s A&E experience: they collect a patient from their home, having to administer initial care and witnessing their distress; they bring them to a hospital, which at times can be crowded, and have to wait with them for what can be hours.

Jason paints a picture of a patient who is elderly and frail. “They may have been helpless on the floor in their house, for some time. When they arrive at the emergency department they could be faced with another wait, in a corridor. Then they’re waiting for an x-ray, for example. You find out that they don’t have a carer, or the amount of care time they’ve been allocated has been reduced – all those aspects of social care that are being affected by cuts. Their experience is quite distressing when you add it together.”

In turn, this can become a relentless and heavy burden on the staff themselves. “During your shift and when you leave work you feel their weight on your shoulders,” Jason says. Not surprisingly, some ambulance staff have to take sickness leave because of stress.

Like many UNISON members, Jason has a clear-eyed view of what’s needed to stop the rot. “The government needs to stop the cuts, to improve funding, provide better community services, to put more emphasis on the staff – with more nurses, more doctors, better pay for everyone in the hope that we can retain staff.”

With so much pressure, and so many obstacles, does he still find the job satisfying?

“Maybe once every other day, you walk away from a patient with a smile on your face, because you’ve done something that’s made them better. You feel you’ve made a difference,” he says. “That’s why the staff keep doing what we do.”

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NAO report is a scathing indictment of PFI, says UNISON

The National Audit Office (NAO) report on the public finance initiative provides a scathing indictment of PFI and PF2, and confirms many of the fears UNISON has been raising for more than 20 years, the union said today (Thursday).

The NAO says there are currently 700 PFI and PF2 deals in operation, and if no

new deals are entered into, they’ll end up costing the taxpayer £199bn by the time they end in the 2040s.

Commenting on the report, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The NAO report is a scathing indictment of all that is wrong with PFI.

“After nearly a generation of PFI deals, there’s very little, if any, evidence to prove that anyone – apart from the companies profiting from the huge contracts – has benefitted.

“PFI hasn’t made schools or hospitals run any more efficiently, and the deals that may have seemed to some like a good idea at the time will also have ended up costing significantly more.

“Many local communities might have seen shiny new schools and hospitals constructed, but the spiraling costs have cost taxpayers a fortune. Millions of pounds of public money has been wasted that could have been spent improving public services.”

Media contacts:
Clare Santry T: 0207 121 5546 M: 07944 191479 E: press@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen T: 0207 121 5463 M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

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The year ahead: this is what we’ll be doing

January 2018: the start of a new year. And it’s a year that will bring challenges for our public services, for UNISON members and for UNISON itself.

That much is clear from the news in just the first few weeks of the year.

So we’ve spoken to some members of the union’s national executive council – ordinary members of the union who have been elected by their fellow members to oversee UNISON and its activities.

We asked members who chair particular strategic committees of the NEC what they expect from the year ahead, and what plans the union has for 2018.

Maureen Le Marinel is employed by Lancashire Constabulary. As well as being the branch secretary for Lancashire police branch, she chairs the NEC services to members committee which manages all the service and benefits available to union members under the UNISON Living banner and legal services.

Maureen says the priority for her committee is making sure that the services offered, and the partners that provide them, “are working in the best interests of members, providing exceptional products and services, that are relevant to 2018 and the next five years.”

Expanding on that, she adds: “There are a lot of services out there and I think our members want something slightly different to the standard home insurance, car insurance and things like that.”

Another task for this year will be reviewing all the union’s contracts with service providers, “to make sure they are fit for purpose and are giving best value to our members”.

And that also applies to the legal services supplied to members through Thompson’s are relevant and that members feel they are getting the right advice.

Find out more about membership services at benefits.unison.co.uk

And then there is the task of making sure that the union also focuses on taking forward cases which are strategically important to all members, as well as individuals.

And here she cites the union’s victory in making sure people don’t have to pay fees to take their case to an employment tribunal if they suffer an injustice at work.

UNISON took that case all the way to the Supreme Court, and Maureen calls the win “exceptional”.

“Our legal department should be extremely proud of themselves, and our members should be proud of our legal department,” she says.

And she hopes for more of the same this year, promising: “We will do whatever we can to deliver for our members, as they face the challenges ahead.”

UNISON’s success in getting tribunal fees abolished was something that other NEC members we spoke to picked up on as well.

Chris Tansley, a Nottingham social worker who is chair of the NEC development and organisation committee, spoke of it as a prime example of spending on a UK-wide basis which helps branches and members across the country.

And vice president Josie Bird, a local government worker from Newcastle who chairs the finance and resource management committee, points to it as “a big win for us which has a financial impact – it means we can reclaim costs because we won, plus fees we covered for members”.

But both Chris and Josie point to challenges for the union as a whole in 2018.

Around 80% of UNISON members pay their subs by having them deducted directly from their wages: much as people do with a range of other expenses.

But the government’s latest Trade Union Act is demanding that the union negotiate new agreements with employers where this happens, which has to include paying them a fee.

And this has to happen by March.

“This is a huge job for the union,” notes Chris, pointing out that there are thousands of employers involved. Some charge the union a fee now, says Josie, but many don’t. So the change will have a huge impact on the union’s finances, which of course pay for the support offered to members.

But with strong recruitment figures in 2017, Chris insists: “We will face these challenges in the way we always have as a trade union: organising, organising and organising.”

And, adds Josie, “if we’re going to manage to organise our members, grow our membership, continue to be a strong union – we have to continue strengthening ourselves because nobody’s going to give it to us on a silver platter.”

Of course, it’s not just UNISON as an organisation that is feeling the effects of austerity and belt-tightening.

Our members providing key public services every day have seen their wages, and funding for those services, under attack over the past 10 years since the financial crash started with the collapse of banks in 2007 and 2008.

And that is something very much to the fore for West Midlands nurse James Anthony, who chairs the NEC policy development and campaigns committee.

“We’ll be making the case why ordinary people need public services and need the support they provide,” he says.

“The key work will be around pay and public services, but there is wider campaigning too on issues that affect our members, such as in-work benefits – just look at the introduction of universal credit and the delays in people being able to claim benefit, and receive it.

“In many ways, meeting the challenges of 2018 will involve doing what we normally do,” he adds: “Standing up for our members, amplifying their voice, because it’s our members who know what’s happening in their workplaces and their communities.”

Find out more about UNISON’s key campaigns at www.unison.org.uk/our-campaigns/

 

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Christmas deaths in Eastern England reveal true extent of winter crisis

The true extent of the winter crisis affecting the NHS has become clear, says UNISON today (Wednesday), as it was revealed that 20 deaths might have been avoided in the East of England over Christmas. During this time there were lengthy delays in ambulances responding to 999 calls.

UNISON is calling for an independent inquiry into why the East of England ambulance service remained at crisis point for days over the festive break before admitting it could no longer cope, and asking for assistance.

In a question asked in Parliament today, Norwich South MP Clive Lewis said that the regional ambulance service was under extreme pressure between Christmas and New Year. 

He claimed that even though senior managers at the ambulance trust knew the service was at crisis point on 19 December, they didn’t ask for assistance until 31 December – nearly two weeks later. 

Responding to the claims, UNISON East of England regional secretary Chris Jenkinson said: “The government can no longer deny the true extent of the winter crisis. Between Christmas and New Year, the ambulance service in the East of England was receiving so many 999 calls that it was quite simply unable to cope. 

“Twenty grieving families will now, quite rightly, be demanding answers. They’ll want to know whether their loved ones might still be alive had it not been for the huge delays in ambulances arriving. 

“And ambulance crews across the region, whose job it is to save lives, will want reassurances that the service they work for is still able to keep the public safe.

“There must be an independent inquiry to establish what went wrong, and whether these tragic deaths could have been avoided. Jeremy Hunt can no longer claim the government has given the NHS enough to see it safely through the winter. It clearly hasn’t.

“Even if ambulance managers had appealed to neighbouring ambulance services, it’s unlikely they would have been able to help. The only alternative would have been army ambulances on the streets of Norfolk, Essex and Suffolk. That would have left the public in no doubt as to the depth of the winter crisis affecting the NHS.” 

Media contacts:
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7121 5463 M: 07778 158175 E: l.chinchen@unison.co.uk
Fatima Ayad T: 0207 121 5255 M: 07908 377215 E: f.ayad@unison.co.uk

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UNISON comments on rising number of nurses leaving the NHS

Commenting on the BBC story that a rising number of nurses are leaving the health service, UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said today (Wednesday):

“The pressure on the NHS is at an all time high. It’s highly damaging that so many nurses are leaving the NHS so soon after qualifying. But new recruits are quickly realising that the demands placed on them are unrealistic and overwhelming. 

“More experienced nurses are also leaving due to heavy workloads and the ongoing pay restraint, which has left them feeling unvalued and taken for granted for too long.

“The government needs to ensure nursing is an attractive career option by supporting new recruits, and rewarding those currently doing the job.” 

Media contacts
Fatima Ayad T: 0207 121 5255 M:07908 377215 E: f.ayad@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7121 5463 M: 07778 158175 E: l.chinchen@unison.co.uk

— 

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The NHS crisis in five charts

Unless you’ve been truly hibernating so far this year, you will have heard that thousands of NHS operations have been cancelled. But what is the NHS winter crisis? Here are five charts that can shed some light.

The number of cancelled operations is on the rise

Hospitals across the country are having to cancel elective operations. These are the operations that are planned in advance, and they are  cancelled because of an increase in emergencies which take up staff time and hospital space.

The data on cancelled operations is published quarterly, so we don’t know the number of cancellations for this month, but we can look at the data historically.

As we can see, quarter four (January to March) has a high rate of cancellations each year. That’s to be expected, because there is a surge in people needing medical care during winter. But we can also see that the rate has been steadily rising.

The impact of flu

One of the reasons for the increase in A&E patients is flu. Though it’s important to note that the increase in flu levels aren’t the reason for the crisis, they just accentuate it.

The number of hospital beds is going down

One of the reasons these operations are being cancelled is that there aren’t enough beds. But why aren’t there enough?

Over the last 30 years, the number of hospital beds in England has more than halved. Since 2012 there has been a drop of 12%, from an average of 144,455 beds available overnight to 127,614.

There are different numbers of beds available for different purposes too. While the number of maternity beds has dropped by 3% since 2011, the number of beds for patients with mental illness has dropped by 22%, and the number for those with learning disabilities has dropped by 55%.

This trend is partly due to medical advances and policies that aim to support people outside of hospital, but considering the current shortage in beds, the reduction in beds does not seem justified.

UK beds compared to other European countries

So, how does the UK compare to other countries? The OECD keeps track of how many hospital beds each country has for every 1,000 people. You can compare them all on their website but let’s compare the UK to a couple of our neighbours.

As you can see, we don’t fare too well compared to our German or Polish cousins.

The link to social care

The NHS bed crisis is also related to social care – as many issues in the NHS are. Lots of patients need a social care plan for when they leave hospital. If that isn’t in place, they can’t be discharged.

Different regions have different rates of delays in discharge; you can see how bad the delays are in your area on the map below, which shows the rates of delays, per 100,000 people.

It only shows data from England as the systems differ in the Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, where devolved governments are responsible for health and social care systems.

As we can see, the North East had the lowest proportion with only 2.1 delayed transfers of care from hospital per 100,000 people, because of social care, or social care and the NHS jointly.

The West Midlands had the highest proportion, with 10 delayed transfers of care from hospital per 100,000 population being attributable to adult social care or jointly to social care and the NHS.

Not the full story

This isn’t the whole story when it comes to the NHS though. It’s important to look at everything the NHS achieves, too.

Every 36 hours the NHS treats one million patients (according to data from the NHS Confederation).

Over 80% of those who use the NHS say they have a good experience (according to the British Social Attitudes survey, reported by the King’s Fund), and more than 63% of the public strongly support the NHS.

This rate of public support and productivity has been hard won by NHS staff, says UNISON head of health Sara Gorton.

It is also the result of financial investments made in the decade between 2000 and 2010. “The last 10 years of under-funding, with no let-up promised anytime soon, is extremely damaging,” says Ms Gorton.

“In the autumn budget, the Chancellor agreed to give the NHS only half of what independent enquiries had said was needed to maintain the high standards we have come to expect.”

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Take action against Phillip Hammond’s comments on disability

Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond told MPs before Christmas that the UK has poor productivity levels because of disabled people.

This is what he said:

“It is almost certainly the case that by increasing participation in the workforce, including higher participation by marginal groups and very high levels of engagement in the workforce by, for example, disabled people – something we should be extremely proud of – may have had an impact on overall productivity measurements.”

UNISON is now supporting a campaign to get Hammond to retract his comments.

You can help by asking your MP to sign the Early Day Motion put forward by MP Caroline Lucas (it only takes a few seconds!).

Write to your MP now

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Blog: Carillion’s collapse has shown the true face of privatisation

January is a stressful time for many of us, with bills to pay and our finances stretched. So spare a thought this morning for those employed by Carillion. This is a terrible time for all those employed under the company’s contracts – including thousands right across the public sector.

They will want assurances from the government that public servants working in vital roles will be protected, and they need to know who will pay their wages and what’s going to happen to their pensions.

The government needs to move quickly to bring these contracts back in-house – to safeguard services and protect thousands of jobs in schools, local authorities and libraries.

As things stand, Carillion holds key contracts across the health service. With the current winter pressures, staff shortages and underfunding, further uncertainty puts the NHS in an even more precarious position, piling more pressure onto an overstretched system.

It’s disgraceful that Carillion was lining the pockets of its shareholders, even though the company’s future was increasingly uncertain. And now the taxpayer is going to be stuck picking up the bill for another failed privatisation experiment.

This is just another example of the failures of outsourcing – a race to the bottom that prioritises greed over service and puts jobs, wages and services in jeopardy by encouraging ever lower bids, regardless of the inevitable costs involved when things go wrong.

Indeed, the government continued to give Carillion bumper contracts, even after alarm bells started ringing over the future of the company. Hapless Transport Secretary Chris Grayling handed over £2bn in contracts just last year – even after concerns had been raised about the long-term viability of Carillion.

Sadly, this just confirms that for many of those in government, privatisation, outsourcing and the PFI agenda are not about ‘value for money’ or ‘quality of service’, they’re tools in an ideologically motivated attack on publicly owned, publicly run, public services.

What we’re increasingly seeing is a situation where the government and big business play roulette with public services – with the only possible outcomes a big financial gain for the privateers and a massive loss for everyone else.

It’s now high time to stop the games and experiments with people’s jobs and people’s lives, to protect services and ensure their future within the public sector. It’s time too to put to an end, once and for all, the facile notion that it’s possible to provide better public services and pay decent wages while raking it in for shareholders. That’s simply not true, as Carillion’s collapse has shown.

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Feel undervalued? Tell us more

Support staff throughout public services are losing their jobs, having their pay cut and being made to feel undervalued, all in the name of ‘efficiency’.

Whether its teaching assistants, cleaners, caterers, technicians, secretaries, or any other type of support staff, they are all vital to keeping our public services running, which is why UNISON is running a survey to find out more about their experiences.

Take the survey now

As part of UNISON’s Public Services Champions campaign we are highlighting the vital role that support staff play. We want to promote the importance of team working and show that public services not only depend on support staff, but that these workers are becoming more professionalised.

We want to explain to employers, decision-makers, opinion- formers, politicians, the media and the general public that support staff are undervalued, underpaid and often demoralised.

There’s very little research on support staff. So, we are teaming up with independent researchers at the Smith Institute to do our own.

The members’ survey is part of that research. If you consider yourself as support staff please complete our survey.

It’s completely confidential, will take less than 10 minutes and gives you a chance to have your say. To campaign effectively and strengthen our arguments we need evidence based on your experience. This survey helps us do that.

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Carillion’s collapse is terrible for staff and the taxpayer, says UNISON

Responding to today’s (Monday) news that Carillion has gone into administration, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “This is a terrible time for the thousands of people employed under Carillion contracts right across the public sector.

“Staff need assurances about whether they have a job, who will pay their wages, and what’s going to happen to their pensions.

“The government needs to move quickly to bring these contracts back in-house – to safeguard our services and to protect the many staff in schools, hospitals, local authorities and libraries.

“It’s disgraceful that Carillion was lining the pockets of its shareholders, even though the company’s future was increasingly uncertain.

“Crucial public services have been put at risk, and the taxpayer is going to be stuck picking up the bill for yet another failed privatisation experiment.

“Carillion holds key contracts across the health service – with the current winter pressures, staff shortages and underfunding, further uncertainty puts the NHS in a precarious position.”

UNISON media contacts:
Clare Santry T: 0207 121 5546 M: 07944 191479 E: press@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7121 5463 M: 07778 158175 E: l.chinchen@unison.co.uk

 

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Proposed pension changes will hit lowest paid university staff

Cleaners, caterers, librarians, administrators, exams officers and other low-paid staff at the University of Southampton will lose thousands of pounds in their retirement if proposed pension changes are pushed through, unions have warned today (Monday).

UNISON and Unite say there is no need to close the final salary pension scheme at the end of July, as top managers at the university are proposing. A consultation over the changes opened on Friday, and closes mid-March.

Southampton University wants to replace the defined benefit scheme with a defined contribution one. This would see the 2,000 support staff currently contributing to the pension scheme putting in much more, yet getting out significantly less – even if they were to pay in the maximum amount.

Both unions, which represent about 700 support staff across the university, are meeting today (Monday) to work out their next steps.

UNISON and Unite have put forward an alternative paper, setting out why they believe the university’s proposals are flawed. They are offering to discuss their compromise suggestion, which would involve a move to a career average scheme.

UNISON and Unite say the plan to slash the retirement incomes for low-paid staff should be viewed against the controversial pay package of a reported £433,000 for the university’s vice-chancellor Sir Christopher Snowden.

Unite regional co-ordinating officer Ian Woodland said: “We’ll engage constructively with the consultation process, but there’s no need for this well-funded final salary pension scheme to close.

“The final salary scheme must continue for existing and new members of staff after the beginning of August.

“The university concedes that the proposals will lead to a massive reduction in the pension that its support staff could expect to earn during their future employment. For a typical employee in mid-career, the reduction could reduce their future service pension by two-thirds.”

UNISON University of Southampton steward Adrian Dolby said: “This is terrible news for support staff, many of whom are on very low wages. In recent years they’ve seen the value of their pay fall, now the university wants to cut their income in retirement too.

“Morale is low across the university. Staff are overworked and feel undervalued, while uncertainty over restructuring plans is adding to their stress levels. Now they hear their pension is under attack. This could be the final straw.

“The scheme being proposed is vastly inferior to the current one. If we can’t persuade the university to back down, staff will be significantly poorer in their old age. This is quite simply unacceptable.”

Notes to editors:
– The consultation on the proposed changes to the University of Southampton Pension & Assurance Scheme for Non-Academic Staff (PASNAS) started on Friday 12 January and runs until Tuesday 13 March 2018.
– Similar changes are being proposed to the pension scheme for the university’s teaching staff.
– The university is planning to introduce the defined contribution scheme on 1 August. Benefits that scheme members have accrued in the final salary scheme up until 31 July are protected.

Media contacts:
Shaun Noble, Unite T: 020 3371 2060 M: 07768 693940 E: shaun.noble@unitetheunion.org
Liz Chinchen, UNISON T: 020 7121 5463 M: 07778 158175 E: l.chinchen@unison.co.uk

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‘Free protesters and trade unionists,’ UNISON urges Iran

Dave Prentis has called on the Iranian government to release protesters and trade unionists following recent unrest in the country.

The call came in a letter from the UNISON general secretary to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, expressing the union’s “deep concern over the Iranian government’s suppression of recent protests.”

More than 1,000 people have been arrested following the protests, and three have died in prison.

Noting that the Iranian people had “legitimate concerns” over issues such as high unemployment, the non-payment of wages, falling incomes and increasing costs for basic essentials, the union called for the immediate release of the protesters and “a full, impartial investigation” into the deaths in custody.

The letter also noted that workers’ rights continue to be denied by the government in Tehran.

“We are particularly concerned about the ban on independent trade unions and the imprisonment of many union leaders. including Reza Shahabi, treasurer of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company,” Mr Prentis wrote.

“UNISON urges the Iranian government to lift its ban on independent trade unions and release and drop the charges against all those who have been penalised for carrying out legitimate union activities.”

Mr Shahabi was jailed in 2010 on charges of “propaganda against the regime and conspiracy against national security”.

He was released on medical leave in late 2014, following campaigns around the world, but was ordered back to prison in November 2016 and again in August last year.

Download the full text of Dave Prentis’s letter to President Hassan Rouhani

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