Taking UNISON’s demands to the Treasury

Dave Prentis stopped by Rishi Sunak’s office today to present UNISON’s demands for investment in public services.

The government announced last week that the autumn budget is cancelled, but the union is making it clear that the money needs to be in place to fund pay rises for our members who have kept the country going through the pandemic, and to protect the jobs and services that our communities rely upon.

The general secretary said: “This is so important I wanted to deliver it to the Treasury in person.

“I have asked Rishi Sunak for a meeting so that I can explain why it’s so important that, when we eventually get back to normal, we cannot return to undervaluing public services and our members who provide them.

“The huge popularity of our Not Going Back to Normal campaign shows that the public are on our side. The government has to listen.”

UNISON’s demands are set out in the union’s submission to the government’s comprehensive spending review, which sets the overall levels of spending for the next three years.

That submission calls for:

• funding to support the current NHS £2k pay claim;
• social care workers to receive at least the real living wage in all parts of the UK;
• resources to close the local government funding gap and proper levels of funding for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The outcome from the spending review was due to have been announced with the budget. The union is urging the government not to delay making funding available for our members and the services they provide.

The article Taking UNISON’s demands to the Treasury first appeared on the UNISON National site.

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