Save our nurseries: when the kids went to Westminster

Ryan, Daniel, Jacob, Sophia and Zach were probably some of the youngest campaigners at the Houses of Parliament last week. They were there (with their mums) to talk to MPs about keeping their nurseries open.

The group of children, parents, UNISON organisers and staff from the nursery began the day at 5am, with a six-hour coach journey from Salford to London. When they arrived they were focused, placards in hand and ready for action

Zoe Ireland and her daughter Alice queue up to enter the Houses of Parliament

They were there because five council-run nurseries in Salford could be closed down. Two months ago the parents had received a letter saying the council would be consulting on the future of the nurseries, even though all five are rated outstanding by Ofsted.

So, why is the council considering closing the nurseries? Along with fees paid by parents, nurseries are funded by councils, using a grant from central government. Up until recently councils have been able to decide how much funding they give to each nursery provider, but the government recently changed the rules to mean that councils no longer have that discretion.

The problem is, nurseries that are maintained by local councils tend to cost more to run than private nurseries. There are good reasons for this – they are usually in places with high deprivation, where parents are less likely to be able to afford to pay, and because as public sector organisations the staff have better conditions such as pensions, sick pay, and annual leave pay, which all adds up.

After the shocking announcement on the nurseries future, parents and UNISON members moved quickly, setting up a campaigning group that organised meetings and a march through Salford. They managed to get the council, who have been sympathetic to the cause, to commit to funding the nurseries until 2019, but still want the reassurance that their beloved nurseries won’t close at all.

Zoe Ireland is a mother of two girls, one of whom used to attend a Salford nursery and another who still does. She says the staff in Salford go above and beyond what is expected, which she found especially helpful when she was a first-time mum. “They don’t just tick the boxes, they do all the other bits that you don’t see on paper. I could ask them anything and they’d give me an answer quicker than a health visitor. From nappy rash, to teething, sleepless nights, tantrums, the lot, they would help me.”

For Zoe’s daughter Alice, 7, the best thing about the nursery was “the way they treated us, they were nice”.

Kelly Bentham with her children Jacob, Sophia and Zach

Kelly Bentham is the mother of Sophia, who attends one of the nurseries, and Jacob and Zach, who both used to. She is passionate that the nurseries stay open, “They’re outstanding for a reason, and they need to keep within the council sector so they are kept as outstanding. My children have absolutely flourished; I can’t fault them.”

Once the group had arrived at Parliament and filed through security, they were joined in a grand room by several MPs, including Rebecca Long-Bailey, the MP for Salford and Eccles, who has been supporting the campaign to keep the nurseries open. Also in attendance were UNISON’s former President and now MP Eleanor Smith, Tracy Brabin MP who is Shadow Minister for Early Years (and previously of Coronation Street fame), Andrew Gwynne who is Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, and Paul Dennet, the Mayor of Salford.

Val Worrall is a member of staff at Broughton nursery. She kicked off the meeting by talking about the nursery she’s proud to work at. She told everyone about the important partnerships the nurseries have with the parents, children and other professionals in the community, and spoke about how dedicated her colleagues are. “Some of the staff I work with are third generation – they’re looking after children whose parents and grandparents they’ve looked after before.”

Holly Swindles with her son Jake

One of the parents to address the room was Holly Swindles, who held a wriggling ten-month old called Jake as she spoke. Holly explained that if Jake’s nursery closed she would have to consider giving up her career, a sentiment echoed by other mothers. The next nearest nursery to her home costs £18 extra per day, and wasn’t even rated outstanding. She pointed out that the government shouldn’t be de-incentivising work.

Holly explains that she had Jake on the waiting list for his nursery before he was even born, it’s reputation was that good. She was delighted that Jake got a place, but devastated when three days after he joined she received the letter about the potential closure, especially as Jake already loved the place. “They are like a family there, he absolutely loves them. He dives over to his key worker in the morning, he just wants me to clear off so he can have a good time.”

Maybo Chiu and her son Daniel

One of the things the nurseries in Salford excel at is looking after children with additional needs. Maybo Chiu’s son Daniel has recently been diagnosed with autism. He attends Little Hulton nursery, which is part of a Sure Start centre. “The nursery staff there have just been amazing with him. They’ve got the patience and the experience to deal with children with additional needs. Part of his autism means he has severe speech and language delays and he’s also got developmental delays, so just having the nursery there for him to go to is a real lifeline for me, and for Daniel in terms of his development, to get him ready for reception.”

The difference this has made to Maybo is clear; when she addresses the meeting her voice begins to crack as she talks about how grateful she is to the nursery staff, and it’s clear they’ve had a big impact on her life. Daniel, on the other hand, took the meeting in his stride.

Daniel surveys the meeting at Parliament

It emerged at the meeting that this is not only a problem in Salford. Nurseries are also under threat in Cambridge, Birmingham and Bradford, amongst other places.

UNISON believes that the government funding for the early years is inadequate to provide the high-quality services our children deserve.

The restrictions that the Department for Education has placed on local authorities through the new early years funding regulations are unfair on maintained nurseries and restrict the ability of authorities to fund high-quality nurseries.

Ben Thomas, UNISON’s national officer for education, said: “Nurseries like the outstanding nurseries in Salford with well qualified, high quality staff are what the government should be aspiring to for all nurseries, not destroying them with a penny pinching levelling down of funding rates.

“Maintained nurseries are providing the highest quality provision in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the country. They must be protected against cuts to their funding.”

After the meeting, at which MPs committed to supporting the cause in Salford, as well as supporting Sure Start centres and investing in early years, the campaigners headed over to the Department for Education. They had been hoping to talk to one of the ministers responsible for education, but as none had been willing to meet them they protested outside instead.

Campaigners outside the Department for Education

Steve North, branch secretary for Salford City UNISON, was disappointed that the minister for education did not meet with the group, but said they now have a meeting set up for May. “We’re really pleased with how the day went. It was fantastic to get so much support from our union, as well as Shadow Cabinet members like Andrew Gwynne and Tracy Brabin – and our own Salford MPs Rebecca Long Bailey and Barbara Keeley.

“We will keep fighting until our Salford nurseries are safe, and we’ll support any other campaigns fighting to protect vital early years services.”

Even after a long and tiring day, the young campaigners enthusiastically joined the lobby to save the nurseries they have clearly benefitted from. The question is, will the future children of Salford get to benefit from them too?

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Blog: Listen to these moments of truth

Every day, we’re all reliant on public service workers. Whether it’s the school staff who educate our kids, the health inspectors who make sure our food is safe, the health workers who treat us when we’re sick or the police staff who help keep us safe – public service workers are everywhere, and our country couldn’t function without them.

Often unseen, often unheralded – it’s public servants like these who make our country tick.

And yet in recent years, they’ve found themselves under increasing pressure. Their jobs are at threat or lost as a result of government austerity. They’re constantly being asked to do more with less and deliver to an even higher standard. They’re under incredible pressure.

Most of us would, if asked, say that we value the incredible people who staff our public services. Few would deny the vital impact they have on all of our communities.

And yet when we speak to UNISON members about their work, all too often we hear the same words – “undervalued”, “angry”, “worthless” – used to describe how too many of them are made to feel.

Al of these and more are covered in a new series of videos – Moments of Truth – that UNISON is releasing today as part of our Public Service Champions campaign. The aim of the campaign is to give voice to those who work on our behalf each day, yet too often go unheard. After nearly 10 years of government cuts public services workers know how hard it can be to provide good quality, effective services. They see up close the impacts austerity has on our communities, on all of us.

Moments of Truth keeps people – service users and workers – at the heart of the campaign. Telling their stories, exposing the true impact on people’s lives.

So throughout the campaign, we’ll use the real experiences of public service workers and our members – experts you can trust but who the media and politicians often ignore. As the union for public service workers, we’ll always make sure their voices are heard and that public servants have the place at the table they need and deserve.

So join us in raising their voices and your voices. Share the videos on social media. Support our campaign to champion public services, and continue the fight for public services and everyone who works in them.

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The UK’s disappearing meat hygiene inspectors

Meat has been in the news a lot lately, and not in a good way. Meat suppliers Russell Hume have just had to lay off hundreds of staff after an unannounced visit to their premises from Food Standards Agency inspectors.

The inspectors found that meat was being incorrectly labelled and there were “serious non-compliance with food hygiene regulations”, at the company that supplied to Weatherspoons and Jamie Oliver restaurants, amongst others.

Russell Hume had to halt production, they lost several customers, and then they went into administration. So far 260 people have lost their jobs and it is expected that all the employees will eventually face unemployment.

But that is not the only meat-based scandal so far this year. A Food Standards Agency inspection of another meat supplier called Fairfax Meadow uncovered problems with how the company were applying use-by dates to some products and the company had to recall a load of their meat.

And let’s not forget the famous expose of 2 Sisters last September, when undercover journalists found some extremely dubious practises at the UK’s largest poultry supplier – from putting chicken meat that had been dropped on the floor back on to the conveyor belt, to altering the slaughter date of poultry, and sending chicken that had been returned by supermarkets back out as new meat to other sellers.

Eating unhygienic meat is extremely serious. It can lead to painful stomach problems, and in some cases death. That’s why meat hygiene inspectors have such an important job, and why UNISON is worried about their declining numbers.

Between March 2013 and April 2017, the number of meat inspectors employed by the independent Food Standards Agency (FSA) dropped by 30%, from 587 to 413.

Some of that drop is due to staff transferring from the FSA to Food Standards Scotland (FSS). The biggest factor impacting the decline, however, is because the Food Standards Agency is not recruiting new meat hygiene inspectors, and are encouraging the private sector to do it instead.

The problem with this is that the private inspectors are employed by a company whose primary goal is making profit, not the public interest. UNISON believes this could have a negative impact, as it makes it possible for inspectors to be pressured to make sure more meat passes the grade in order to maximise profits. There has already been a case of a contracted inspector being accused of falsifying records to cover up poor practices, which the Civil Service Commission had to investigate.

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Blog: Today we reaffirm our demand for safe and healthy work for all

Today, UNISON is once again joining people around the world to mark International Workers’ Memorial Day.

In doing so, we remember the dead and the injured, and recommit to continue the fight for the living, by reaffirming our demand for safe and healthy work for all.

No-one goes to work not expecting to return home that day, yet official figures show that at least 20,000 workers die each year from work-related injuries and illnesses. The National Hazards Campaign believes that these official statistics are wildly inaccurate so the true figure is likely closer to 50,000 worker deaths every year.

And this has even wider importance, because a safe workplace is also a safe school, a safe hospital, a safe community care package or a safe social housing complex.

UNISON’s position is clear. We will continue to challenge any threats to undermine the safety of our members at work and continue to expand and improve our campaigns on stress and mental health. But when it comes to health and safety, it is our safety activists who are key, because workplaces with active safety reps are twice as safe as those without.

Forcing employers to tackle in-work stress, preventing carbon monoxide poisoning, improving fire safety and stopping exposure to asbestos during the renovation of social housing – these are just some of the changes UNISON’s safety reps and branch safety officers have won. Today we remember those lost at work, but we also take this opportunity to remember those who stop injuries and save lives in our workplaces through their activism.

We will support them, and thank them, always.

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A win for employees at Nottingham City Council

The Court of Appeal has ruled that Nottingham City Council was wrong to deny hundreds of employees the right to incremental pay increases.

In 2011 the council decided to deny staff pay rises as they moved up salary scales linked to their jobs. The workers, backed by UNISON, have now successfully challenged that decision.

The case, which has been running since July 2013, saw the East Midlands council staff initially take their case to an employment tribunal in Nottingham.

UNISON claimed the council was guilty of the unlawful deduction of wages because staff had a contractual right to incremental wage progression, and therefore the pay freeze was a breach of contract.

The case was heard in 2015, but the workers’ claims were dismissed. UNISON, working with Thompsons Solicitors, successfully appealed the decision at an employment appeal tribunal. The council then appealed against the judgment and the case went to the Court of Appeal.

Christina Sanna, the branch secretary at UNISON’s Nottingham City branch, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with the Court of Appeal decision.

“This court case has been a long drawn-out process and very stressful for us here at the branch. It will finally mean our members get the pay they have worked hard for and deserve.”

UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The judges have found unanimously in favour of the council employees. Nottingham City Council was completely in the wrong to try to prevent its staff from getting the pay rises they were due.

“In any organisation where salary scales are linked to jobs, employees’ contracts of employment state that each year, as they gain more experience and move up a point, their wages should increase.

“While there’s much sympathy for cash-strapped councils struggling to provide services for local communities, because the government is slashing their funding, Nottingham shouldn’t have been making its employees pay the price. Now staff can look forward to receiving all the cash they are owed.”

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Youngsters show racism the red card

UNISON joined with Show Racism the Red Card to honour the winners of England’s largest equalities-themed competition for young people.

The Show Racism the Red Card School Competition sees young people throughout England create their own anti-racism messages in a variety of formats.

Youngsters aged from five to 16 submitted a range of entries for the competition, including poetry, short stories, artwork, films and music – all highlighting the anti-racism message.

There were two special memorial awards recognising the work of the late Graham Taylor, who was once England manager, and the MP Jo Cox, both of whom worked tirelessly for equality.

The 68 winners gathered at the Bet365 Stadium in Stoke to be presented with their prizes. They met representatives from Premier League club Stoke City and special guests from the world of football.

UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis and assistant general secretary Liz Snape (pictured above right) were among the union’s representatives at the event.

Established in 1996, Show Racism the Red Card is the UK’s anti-racism educational charity, which utilises the high-profile status of football and football players to help tackle racism in society.

UNISON is a key sponsor of the school competition, which has been running for 18 years and plays a major role in the charity’s work with young people.

Congratulating the winners, Mr Prentis said: “Highlighting the anti-racism message is extremely important and these young people have done so in a range of creative ways.

“UNISON is proud to support this fantastic competition that gives young people the opportunity to produce such inspirational work.”

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UNISON challenges police commissioner takeover of fire services

UNISON has criticised the decision to allow police and crime commissioners (PCCs) to take over the governance of fire and rescue services, which the union calls “a veiled attack” on members’ jobs and services.

The Home Office has given approval for the PCCs for West Mercia, Staffordshire and Cambridgeshire to take over their local fire and rescue services, after independent assessors scrutinised their proposals.

These proposals were founded on ‘back room efficiencies’, with the aim of cutting jobs by merging functions, as fire and rescue staff move into police headquarters.

UNISON understands that the jobs likely to be lost are in finance, HR, IT, supplies, communications, and learning and development – all from fire services. At least 68 jobs are at risk in Staffordshire alone.

The union has also drawn attention to the fact that the independent assessors, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, did not give these proposals clear approval.

In each case the institute found “no overwhelming case” for governance.

And in giving the go-ahead, the government has ignored the views of the fire authorities, local councils and the majority of fire and rescue staff, who are against the changes.

UNISON head of local government Heather Wakefield said: “The recent announcement for three police and crime commissioners to take over fire and rescue services is a veiled attack on our members jobs, and the vital work they do as support staff to ensure the smooth running of the fire services.

“UNISON is completely opposed to these takeovers, which compromise both public safety and the jobs of many hard working public servants.”

The union’s police and fire branches in the areas concerned have agreed to work together to campaign against the mergers.

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UNISON responds to Lord Darzi’s interim report on NHS funding

Responding to the interim report published today (Wednesday) by Lord Darzi and the IPPR, on the unprecedented challenges facing the NHS and social care, UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said:

“Without substantial extra funding every year, the NHS and social care system will be damaged beyond repair.

“The UK won’t have thriving health and social care services while the government persists in robbing the necessary resources.

“NHS and social care staff are struggling heroically to keep patients safe and properly looked after. But services and staff are facing unimaginable pressures daily.

“As the 70^th birthday of the NHS approaches, ministers must show they believe in its founding principles, fund it properly and end harmful competition.”

Media contacts: 
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7121 5463 M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

Sophie Goodchild T: 020 7121 5546 M: 07767 325595 E: press@unison.co.uk

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Nurse and midwife numbers dragged down by Brexit effect

Commenting on new figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) published today (Wednesday) on the numbers of nurses and midwives either leaving or joining its register to practice in the UK, UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said:

“Brexit has made many European nationals feel decidedly unwelcome. And with NHS staffing pressures showing no sign of easing, no-one could blame nurses and midwives for thinking they’ll be better off elsewhere.

“This European exodus continues apace, simply because the Prime Minister has yet to do enough to reassure EU nurses and midwives that they’ll have rights, jobs and a future once Brexit becomes a reality.

“The small rise in the number of home-grown nurses provides the faintest glimmer of hope, but it’s still way short of what’s needed to provide the care required. And with student numbers down, the future looks bleak.

“Without more staff and proper funding, experienced professionals from within the UK and across Europe will simply keep leaving, and it’ll become ever harder for those that are left to meet the growing demands being placed on the NHS.”

 

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Blog: The future of our country depends on it

Tomorrow UNISON will be in the House of Commons, making the case for proper nursery funding.

Over the years, UNISON has led the campaign against closures to nurseries, sure start centres and early-years services. Tomorrow that fight continues, with UNISON members in Salford bringing together three of their local MPs to lobby them on nursery cuts and closures.

UNISON stands by our members in Salford who are fighting to keep services going. We all know that early-years education has come under extreme pressure across the country as a result of austerity economics. Yet at the same time, these are vital services that have a profound impact on the lives of children and their families.

Our position is the same it has always been – no to closures. No to cuts. No to job losses.

This Tory government have sought to trash early-years support by failing to support them nationally or provide the necessary resources to local authorities. Now they need to hear the message loud and clear – it’s time to fund early-years properly. The future of our country depends on it.

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University of Bath agrees to reinstate living wage

UNISON has welcomed a commitment by the University of Bath to reinstate the living wage – currently £8.75 an hour – from next week, and seek accreditation as a living wage employer with the Living Wage Foundation.

But the union, which represents some 300 staff at the university, warned that while this is an urgently needed first step towards addressing low pay, more must be done to tackle the well publicised inequality at the university.

Commenting on the move, UNISON head of higher education Donna Rowe-Merriman said: “The scandal of low pay in the sector is something that vice chancellors across the UK can rectify by becoming living wage accredited employers. That alone will provide a pay rise for more than 10,000 people employed at UK universities.”

The University of Bath began paying the living wage in 2015, but stopped when the rate was increased to £8.45 an hour in November 2016.

The rate is set independently by the Living Wage Foundation every year, reflecting the cost of living.

The university will now start paying the 2017/18 rate of £8.75 an hour from 1 May, in a boost for the lowest paid staff in accommodation, hospitality and estates.

UNISON campaigning for the living wage

But negotiation and consultation is still going on over enhanced rates for weekend working – so staff who work weekends will not necessarily see their pay increase.

The three unions at Bath – UNISON, Unite and UCU – have all been campaigning for the living wage to be reinstated. In November last year, UNISON used local pay negotiations to ask the university to seek accreditation with the Living Wage Foundation.

The University Court voted overwhelmingly in support of the living wage in January this year, but the senior managers in the vice chancellor’s group refused to increase pay unless the lowest paid staff agreed to sacrifice their weekend working supplement.

University bosses scrapped this condition after UNISON moved to ballot affected members.

“We are pleased that university senior management has agreed to reinstate a living wage,” said branch secretary Christopher Roche this week.

“Staff and students were appalled when university bosses sought to force low paid staff to choose between their weekend protections and receiving a living wage.

“The prospect of a consultative ballot for industrial action seems to have persuaded university management to reconsider and agree to pay a living wage unconditionally.”

He added that the wage “is the absolute minimum any worker should expect, particularly in an organisation that chooses to pay its senior managers as much as those at the University of Bath.

“UNISON members stood their ground to demand a living wage and I hope they serve as an inspiration for other workers in the area.

“We look forward to collectively addressing the remaining problems at the university, including maintaining appropriate enhancements for staff required to work weekends, the lack of pay progression for staff on lower grades, their under representation in university governance and the widespread use of zero hours contracts.

“After a torrid 18 months of bad publicity, I hope the reinstatement of the living wage marks a turning point in the way our university is run.”

Earlier story: Living wage win (1 April 2015)

Find out more about the living wage and the Living Wage Foundation

 

 

 

 

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More join our fight against violence at work

Eighteen organisations have now signed up to UNISON’s campaign to eradicate violence and aggression against staff in the voluntary sector after the union pledged to tackle the problem in the sector.

Launched in March 2017, the campaign was created after a survey of members in the Community service group had revealed that 48% of workers in the group had experienced a violent or aggressive incident at work in the preceding two years.

That figure has been confirmed by subsequent surveys.

Respondents to the survey reported such incidents as:

• “Verbal abuse and threat of being hit with a chair when my back was turned”;
• “Service user punched me in the face”;
• “Client threatened to slit my throat”;
• “A knife was pulled on me by a service user”;
• “I was punched two times and kicked two times”;
• “I was hit by a service user when pregnant and have been scratched, punched and kicked by service users numerous times”.

UNISON wants the campaign to help end violence at work by first establishing that violence is unacceptable and not ‘just part of the job’.

The most recent signatories to the campaign are Leeds-based Touchstone Support and Cymryd Rhan in Powys.

National officer Gavin Edwards said: “It’s great news that Cymryd Rhan and Touchstone have signed up to UNISON’s Violence at Work Charter.  It’s sends a strong message to their own staff and to the wider community that they take this issue seriously.

“The charter sets a basic level of risk management and support for staff in the CVS sector, and is a key part of our campaign to stop violence being seen as ‘part of the job’.

“Charities and Housing Associations need to take proactive steps to protect their staff, and signing the Charter shows they are prepared to do this.”

All those who sign the campaign receive a certificate.

Read the UNISON Violence at Work Charter

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Court of Appeal pay victory for Nottingham City Council employees

Nottingham City Council was wrong to deny several hundred of its employees the right to incremental pay increases with effect from April 2011, says a judgment handed down at the Court of Appeal.

The local authority workers, backed by their union UNISON, successfully challenged the Council’s 2011 decision to stop them receiving pay rises as they moved up salary scales linked to their jobs.

The case, which has been running since July 2013, saw the East Midlands council staff initially take their case to an employment tribunal in Nottingham.

UNISON claimed the City Council was guilty of the unlawful deduction of wages because staff had a contractual right to incremental wage progression, and therefore the pay freeze was a breach of contract.

The case was heard in 2015, but the workers’ claims were dismissed. UNISON, working with Thompsons Solicitors, appealed the decision at an employment appeal tribunal. The Council then appealed against the judgment and the case went to the Court of Appeal.

UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The judges have found unanimously in favour of the council employees. Nottingham City Council was completely in the wrong to try to prevent its staff from getting the pay rises they were due.

“In any organisation, where salary scales are linked to jobs, employees’ contracts of employment state that each year, as they gain more experience and move up a point, their wages should increase.

“While there’s much sympathy for cash-strapped councils struggling to provide services for local communities, while the government is slashing their funding, Nottingham shouldn’t have been making its employees pay the price. Now staff can look forward to receiving all the cash they are owed.”

Thompsons employment rights solicitor Claire Horne said: “This represents a significant win for those employees who were at the receiving end of austerity measures for a number of years.”

Media contacts:
Liz Chinchen T: 0207 121 5463 M: 07778 158175 E: l.chinchen@unison.co.uk
Anna Mauremootoo T: 0207 121 5555 M: 07903 870786 E: a.mauremootoo@unison.co.uk

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Nursery funding campaign goes to Westminster

Nursery campaigners will travel to Westminster on Wednesday 25 April to press the case for prover government funding of this key early-years service for children and working parents.

Campaigners from Salford will be to the fore, having arranged the day with the city’s three MPs.

Salford UNISON branch secretary Steven North says the city “faces the closure of five nurseries, all of which are rated outstanding by Ofsted, but we know that there are many other areas around the country facing a similar threat because of changes to the funding arrangements.”

A coach full of campaigners from Salford, including parents, workers, councillors and Salford mayor Paul Dennett will travel to Westminster, on the day.

They have arranged a meeting with Rebecca Long-Bailey, MP for Salford and Eccles, Barbara Keeley, Worsely and Eccles South, and Graham Stringer, Broughton and Blackley.

The move to build a country-wide campaign has grown out of action to save five council nurseries in Salford, threatened with closure because of central government budget cuts.

Campaigning over the five nurseries in March included a successful march and rally in Salford, attracting more than 1,000 people and addressed by shadow education secretary – and UNISON member – Angela Raynor.

Watch a Granada TV report on the Salford march and rally

Salford council found enough funding to keep the nurseries open until the start of the 2019-20 school year in September next year, but their existence is still under threat after that.

This is a situation being experienced in councils up and down the country, which is why next Wednesday is being used to launch a national campaign calling on central government to properly fund the service.

It will feature a campaign meeting in Committee Room 12 at the Palace of Westminster and Mr North says: “It would be great to see as many MPs there as possible so they can hear more about cuts to nurseries and find out how they can help support vital early years provision.”

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Blog: A credit to their community

Today I’ve been in Northamptonshire meeting UNISON members affected by council mismanagement, poor leadership and chronic underfunding.

Northamptonshire County Council has become a watchword for local government failure, and a salutary warning to those who believe that privatisation is the answer for local services. This is a council that has pursued an extreme low council tax, high outsourcing policy that has pushed the authority to the very brink – leading to a government investigation that recommended abolishing the county council altogether. It’s also the first council in two decades to be subjected to a section 114 order, ordering it to curb additional spending.

Clearly, this is a council in crisis. And yet it is also a council with staff who are a credit to their community and the whole of local government. The UNISON members I met today were dedicated, thoughtful and passionate public servants. They deliver public services to a high standard in incredibly trying circumstances.

But don’t just take my word for it. An independent investigation – which was highly critical of council leadership – found that they employ “many good, hardworking, dedicated staff who are trying to deliver essential services to residents who need and value what is offered and available. The problems the staff faces are not their fault – in fact, Northamptonshire council’s staff are the solution to the problems faced. Their skills and experience will be vital if local services in Northamptonshire are going to be turned around.

These UNISON members are also incredibly well served by their brilliant UNISON branch. I know how hard branch secretary Penny and chair Andrew have worked to provide every possible support to members under real strain. And they’ve been ably supported by our great regional and national staff.

Today was an opportunity for me to meet with them, hear their concerns and to stand with them on behalf of UNISON’s 1.3 million members. UNISON members everywhere have been pushed to the brink in recent years, but those in Northamptonshire have gone through more than most.

As well as meeting members of the branch, I sat down with the leader of the council and several other key politicians to challenge the approach the council have taken in the past and to demand that the voices of UNISON members are heard now and in future. For too long the council made decisions and ignored the warnings of staff, with disastrous results. It’s time to turn the page on that. UNISON and our members need to be round the table and involved in the decisions about the future of public services in Northamptonshire. By ensuring that, we’ll achieve better outcomes for everyone – and that’s something, after so much hardship, that’s sorely needed.

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Labour’s housing plans give millions priced out of housing real hope, says UNISON

Thursday 19 April 2018
For immediate release

Commenting on Labour’s plans to build a million ‘genuinely affordable’ properties over 10 years, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said:

“It’s great to see Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party taking the housing crisis so seriously.

“A million genuinely affordable homes would be a good start to fixing our broken housing system, and action on homelessness and decent home standards is another example of common sense policy making.

“Too many of those working in our hospitals, schools and town halls are priced out of working in the communities they serve. Labour’s plan offers an opportunity to change that.

“Shadow ministers like John Healey and Melanie Onn have listened and taken action – and given millions facing unbearable financial pressure real hope.”

Media contacts:
Anna Mauremootoo T: 0207 121 5555 E: a.mauremootoo@unison.co.uk

Liz Chinchen T: 0207 121 5463 M: 07778 158175 E: l.chinchen@unison.co.uk

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Blog: The Windrush generation served us all and made our country a better place

This year our country celebrates two 70th anniversaries – the creation of the NHS and the arrival of SS Windrush at Tilbury Port. The two are intertwined and inseparable, with so many of the Windrush generation helping to build the health service that we all rely on.

I am proud that Unison backed the Windrush campaign when many, including the Prime Minister, seemed unaware of the lives blighted and families placed under intolerable pressure.

The Windrush generation served us all and made our country a better place. Many of them were members of Unison – working for the benefit of all of us in our town halls, schools, hospitals and countless other public services.

Yet that same generation now face cruel and inhumane treatment at the hands of the government, including in many cases – denial of access to the NHS and other public services they and their families helped to build.

The disgust so many of us felt hearing about the Albert Thompson case – the denial of life-saving treatment to someone who has lived here for 44 years – has only increased as further sickening examples come to light. Deportation and the threat of deportation loom large for too many people who have done nothing but build their lives here. Tens of thousands of Windrush children have been affected and subjected to perverse tests (including being asked for four pieces of documentation for every year of residency) that few of us could ever hope to pass.

As a result, honest, decent citizens are being driven to despair by a Kafkaesque immigration system that demands impossible evidence from those who rightly consider themselves to be British citizens.

It’s inconceivable that people who have lived, worked and contributed to society for decades should be threatened with deportation, when their children and grandchildren were all born here. Or people denied access to healthcare like Albert Thompson. As Nye Bevan said “no society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means”.

That’s why I recently wrote to Home Secretary Amber Rudd demanding that Albert Thompson receives the immediate treatment he needs and deserves, an end to the threat of deportations, respect for those who have given decades to our communities and confirmation of the legal status of the Windrush generation once and for all.

It is shameful that the government has allowed this to happen – that through legislation of its design, so many could face the crippling fear of deportation, or the unthinkable reality of being ripped from their homes, cast back to a country they left decades ago. This injustice is contrary to the country we should aspire to be.

Yet we should also be crystal clear at whose door the blame should lie. Theresa May – as Home Secretary – introduced the principle of “hostile environment”, meaning that immigration checks became a barrier to hospitals, housing and work for the Windrush generation. Worse still, it damages public services to be asked to act this way, simply in order to implement unfair rules.

That Theresa May and her successor Amber Rudd seem to have been genuinely unaware of this most grievous injustice again shows the callous disregard and ignorance which have become the hallmarks of this government.

It’s time the legal status of the Windrush generation was confirmed once and for all – but the stain their treatment leaves on the already ugly record of this government will take a very long time to fade.

This piece was first published at the Huffington Post

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Overworked healthcare assistants not given proper training or supervision

Healthcare assistants (HCAs) are being expected to do the work of nurses without adequate training or proper supervision, according to survey results published today (Wednesday) by UNISON.

Nearly two thirds (63%) say they are being left to care for patients without enough support from doctors and nurses. The impact is that almost two in five (39%) of HCAs say they do not feel confident that those they are caring for are safe.

The findings are based on a survey of nearly 2,000 HCAs across the UK with the majority working in hospitals, as well as in mental health, in the community and in GP practices.

More than half (51%) say they have not received adequate training for performing tasks such as dressing the wounds of patients, giving out medication and changing stoma bags.

The report also highlights how nursing and other staff shortages are to blame for nearly three quarters (74%) of HCAs having to take on extra work, according to UNISON.

Healthcare assistants say the situation has been worse this winter (2017/18) compared to the year before. Well over half (57%) say that they have picked up extra work due to nursing or clinical staff shortages. Also, two in five (41%) say they were asked to carry out tasks without adequate training more often than last winter, and over a third (37%) said they were asked to perform tasks without supervision more frequently than last year.

UNISON is calling on the government to address staffing issues so that HCAs feel properly supported and patients receive the care they deserve.

UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said: “Healthcare assistants are being left to fill staffing gaps and do vital tasks without recognition or reward. It’s bad for them and bad for patients.

“It is important these staff receive training for all the extra responsibilities they’re expected to take on.

“It’s clear the pressures on them to act as nurse substitutes have increased over the winter. The government needs to show they value healthcare assistants by investing in their training.”

Notes to editors:
– The summary findings for the 2018 healthcare assistant survey are available here
– Case studies are available (on request from the UNISON press office) to speak anonymously to the media:

Nicole, 33, from Greater Manchester said: “The trust I work for has got rid of the band 3 salary scale, so now band 2 workers are doing band 3 work for less money, which doesn’t seem very fair. On my first day I was shown how to do tasks like taking pulses and blood pressure by another HCA. They said they’d never been properly trained how to do it and weren’t really sure if they were doing it properly. HCAs are doing ECGs and taking bloods, that’s a lot of responsibility.”

Janet, 40, from Croydon said: “Trusts are trying to make use of HCAs, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it can put patients at risk. I work as a maternity support officer on a band 3. There is a divide at the trust I work for between the people that have worked there a long time and those of us that are newer to the job. People who have been in the job longer have received different training that doesn’t cover everything we’re expected to do these days. Since I started two years ago there’s more pressure on us, and we’re taking on more responsibilities.”

Graham, 51, from Bradford said: “There is a lot of pressure from understaffing. I work in a dementia ward and it can affect the level of care you give. The ratio of patients to staff is very high. Sometimes you wonder why patients are being admitted without due regard for the number of staff. We don’t even have time to do our core responsibilities properly, it’s very stressful.”

Media contacts:
Liz Chinchen T: 0203 740 5475 M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

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The NHS continues to be ‘alarmingly under-funded’, says health conference

Health members condemned the chronic under funding of the NHS under successive Tory governments, when they debated the issue on the last day of conference in Brighton today.

They agreed that the consequences were dire for both patients and NHS staff, who were unable to deliver the level of care they wanted to.

Adopting a motion on The funding crisis and its impact on the workforce, conference noted that successive Westminster governments have “failed miserably” to produce a funding settlement that works for the NHS – either directly for England or via the Barnett formula in the devolved nations.

Introducing the motion, George Barron, vice-chair of the health service group executive, accused “hapless” health secretary Jeremy Hunt of failing to see that the NHS was in crisis.

Mr Barron said evidence of the crisis could be seen in the numbers of people waiting in hospital corridors because there were no beds; ambulances delayed at hospitals because patients could not be admitted; people unable to get GP appointments; growing waiting times in A&E; and the fact that hospitals were not being properly cleaned because there were not enough domestics.

“It is not our members’ fault,” he said. “Every day, our members are working their damn socks off. To see [criticism] in the press day after day must depress many of them.

“NHS bodies keep saying they need more money. The Tory government gives them half of the amount.

“I think it’s a plan from the Tories to discredit the NHS, before moving towards privatisation, with multinational companies from America waiting to move in. It’s absolutely scandalous.”

In a debate on Tory cuts, Lynn Booth from the East Midlands moved a motion drawing attention to the findings of the Care Quality Commission Inspectorate report of autumn 2017, including:

• massive staff shortages, with vacancy rates in the NHS rising by 16% between 2015 and 2017;
• hospital bed shortages running to the thousands;
• more people not getting support for their social care needs and a 20% increase in people detained under the Mental Health Act.

“What this means for members is job losses, reorganisation changes, downbanding, an increase in workload, an increase in stress and anxiety, reduced work-life balance and low morale,” Ms Booth said.

She urged the union to continue to build high-profile campaigns, such as the One Team campaign and Safe Staffing Levels campaign.

“It’s important that our members feel that their union is supporting them every step of the way, and that the public is made aware of what is happening in the NHS.”

Conference also agreed to:

• continue to demand that the NHS receives the level of funding needed to deliver a comprehensive, safe and high-quality service;
• campaign for safe staffing levels to be enshrined in all countries of the UK;
• repeat UNISON’s warnings to providers that any attempts to use lack of funding as an excuse for privatisation or to alter the, pay terms and conditions of the workforce would be resisted;
• continue taking its campaigns into the TUC for wider support;
• assist branches and regions in their actions in defence of the NHS.

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UNISON vows to step up fight on wholly owned subsidiaries

Health members in Brighton today voiced their anger at the increasing practice of NHS trusts in England setting up wholly owned subsidiary companies to provide support services, and voted to fight their spread.

They warned that the “backdoor privatisation” of health services – put at risk the pay and conditions of thousands of NHS staff, particularly low-paid women, Black and disabled workers.

The importance of the issue was reflected in the fact that nine bodies contributed to the the composite motion being debated.

One delegate argued that wholly owned subsidiary companies represented “the biggest threat of privatisation seen in a generation.”

Trusts are exploiting a loophole in UK tax law to establish the new companies, arguing that the move will allow them to save money on VAT. While these companies are owned by the trusts, they are no longer part of the NHS and NHS staff are seeing their jobs outsourced to limited companies.

UNISON is particularly concerned that mosst NHS trusts that have set up  these companies have introduced non-Agenda for Change contracts for new starters, while denying them access to the NHS pension scheme.

Adrian O’Malley of the service group executive told delegates: “This is yet another attack on lowest-paid staff. Another way of privatising services. Another way to bring in a two-tier workforce.

“We have to send a message to any managers considering setting up these companies that we are 100% part of the NHS and will fight to remain so,” he said. “We have got to stop this blatant attack on our terms and conditions.”

UNISON campaign against wholly owned subsidiaries in the NHS

Mr O’Malley added that in his region of Yorkshire and Humberside, wholly owned subsidiaries weres “taking off with a vengeance”, with seven or eight trusts, including his own, considering setting them up.

But the union is combating these moves with the threat of taking industrial action, he added.

“While they are considering business cases, we are preparing our members for strike ballots. We have a right to strike to keep our NHS status.”

Jean Boswell, of Sheffield community health branch, told delegates: “We’re concerned about how fast this is moving.

“This is a direct attack on lowest-paid members of staff, moving them away from Agenda for Change and introducing a two-tier system.

“We do believe that this use of wholly owned subsidiaries is entirely cosmetic and won’t improve efficiency or productivity. But it will exploit future staff. And low-paid workers are first on the front line with diminishing terms and conditions.

“We know we have a fight on our hands, but working together we can resist.”

Delegates agreed to:

• continue to support regions and branches in campaigning against the establishment of wholly owned subsidiaries – and to prioritise this work in the coming year;
• encourage branches and regions to work together to resist the spread of these schemes;
• safeguard the interests of the union’s members threatened by the creation and existence of such companies;
• work with the Labour Party to reform the tax loophole;
• campaign for all members who work for such subsidiaries to be employed on NHS terms and conditions, including access to the pension scheme;
• continue to be vigilant against employers in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland exploiting the same loophole.

While UNISON will deal with the new companies if necessary, the conference said that “everyone working for the NHS should be employed by the NHS” and that the union would campaign for their return to direct NHS employment at the earliest opportunity.

Press release: Trust spending millions outsourcing staff (16 April 2018)

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Health conference vows to fight the disease of racism in the NHS

Racism continues to be a problem in the NHS, with Brexit fuelling the problem, health delegates heard today.

One Black member told the UNISON health conference in Brighton that racism was “the disease in the system”.

And another delegate, from Spain, spoke of the thousands of NHS workers who were already fleeing the UK because they no longer feel welcome.

Shortly after a debate which celebrated the NHS’s 70^th anniversary – and especially the diversity of its workforce – delegates were brought back to Earth with a bump by reminders of how that workforce is treated.

Conference highlighted the findings of the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard report, published this year, that Black staff remain “significantly more likely to experience discrimination at work from colleagues and their managers.”

The report also says that staff from these backgrounds had less faith in their trust offering equal career progression than white colleagues.

Karen Reissman of the health service group executive told delegates: “The NHS today would not be the same without migrant workers. But mainstream politicians talk of immigration as a problem rather than something to be celebrated. And Brexit is making it worse.”

Joan Pons Laplana, a Spanish nurse from East Coast health said: “This government is sending out a racist message to the rest of the world. And people don’t feel welcome coming here.

“Many of my European colleagues chose England to have their careers. Now 10,000 of them have already gone back to Europe. That makes me very sad, because it affects the care we give people.

“I wish we had more British nurses but we don’t. The future looks very bleak.”

Eddyna Danso, of Guys & St Thomas’s branch in London, joined the NHS in 1973, a time when racism was openly expressed, even on television.

“I thought we would have moved a long way from then,” she said. “But BME staff are still experiencing discrimination in the workplace.

“In the NHS we talk about the cancer in the system. All of us, Black and white, have to work at eradicating this disease. Racial discrimination destroys the human spirit.”

Meanwhile, the conference expressed its concern about the government’s plans to require hospital departments in England to check the paperwork of every patient before deciding whether they need to pay up front.

The move could damage the trust patients have with healthcare staff, including the union’s members. Conference declared that, “our members are here to make healthcare decisions, not act as immigration officials.”

Delegates agreed that the union must continue to raise awareness about the discrimination present within the NHS, and the actions health branches can take to campaign against it.

Guidance to branches includes the Challenging prejudice leaflet, and Challenging racism in the workplace toolkit and resources – for use in negotiation and bargaining around race equality in the workplace.

Conference called on the service group to:

• fight to highlight the positive contribution that staff from across the world make to the NHS;
• engage with health branches to contribute to the work of policy makers, ensuring trade union involvement in work to challenge racism;
• raise concerns about the impact of proposed new charging regulations of overseas patients, making sure branches are aware of UNISON’s position;
• highlight the damaging effect that discrimination at work has on Black staff.

Download: Challenging prejudice (leaflet)

Download: Challenging racism in the workplace guide for branches

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Health conference agrees to back pay proposal

UNISON’s health conference delegates today voted in support of the proposed three-year pay deal that is currently out to consultation with the union’s health members.

George Barron, vice-chair of the health service group executive, told conference: “What we have done is actually quite remarkable. We have come so far.”

During a lively debate, delegates discussed the proposed framework, which comes with an extra £4.2bn funding.

The motion in support for the NHS pay deal and Agenda for Change reform noted the work the union has done to “change the story on NHS pay” and offer members an alternative to the 1% maximum of the past eight years.

It notes that the deal meets other key objectives, including:

• the abolition of band 1;
• removing overlaps on pay bands;
• fewer pay points and quicker progression towards the agreed rate for the job.

Mr Barron said that the proposed deal would help members “who have been left struggling day in, day out, week in, week out” as the government stuck to its 1% pay cap.

“We’re dealing with the government, not Arthur Daley on the street corner. This is the best deal through negotiation. It’s a good deal. The right deal. Let’s make it and get it in members pay pockets by June or July.”

Sam Kimberley, of University Hospitals Birmingham, told her fellow delegates: “There’s no doubt that this offer is not enough. No one would accept that it’s all that we are worth.

“But it does break through the pay cap, which was set to go on and on. And the biggest thing: it delivers for the lowest paid.”

And in supporting the motion, she added: “We have many colleagues on bands 1, 2 and 3 who are amongst the most poorly paid. They will get a big improvement to their living standards.

Have your say on NHS pay

“I don’t stand to benefit much at all, because I am at the top of my band. But searching my conscience, do I vote for what is best for me, or do I vote for what is best for all members?

“It’s a starting point. I don’t think we could have got any better out of a Conservative government.”

Mark Burn of Greater Manchester mental health voted against what he called a “divisive” offer.

“Some people get a reasonably good deal. But 6.5% for people at the top of bands – we have lost more than that over the last eight years of austerity,” he said.

He also feared that “over-zealous managers” would work to keep people at the lowest band points.

But young delegates noticeably supported the motion.

One, from Cymru/Wales, said: “Without this pay deal we would have nowhere to go. This is about supporting the future for our members.”

Another praised the fact that the pay increase was being funded with targeted cash, which would avoid putting a financial burden on trust budgets:

“This is huge. The NHS is struggling to recruit and retain staff. The offer will go a long way to making  people think about a career in the NHS more positively. And it relieves some of the stress felt by all of us.”

Gordon McKay, UNISON senior vice president from the Ayrshire and Arran health branch, reminded conference that just nine months ago prime minister Theresa May had “made clear her contempt for NHS workers” in asserting that the 1% cap would remain in place until 2020, while the pay review body had seriously considered a 0% pay award last year.

“The union said: ‘No more. No more zero, no more 1%’. We said we have one priority, to smash the government’s pay cap, and this union did it,” he told delegates

“This is the biggest NHS pay rise in 15 years, which makes a real difference to people’s lives. Abolishing band one puts thousands in people’s pockets, mainly women, who have never had it easy.”

Mr McKay said that the decision to scrap band 1 in Scotland several months ago had already made that difference.

And George Barron added that Scotland was “living proof” of the benefits of scrapping band 1.

“This is not the end,” he said, “it’s the beginning.”

Branches are now urged to encourage full participation by health members in the consultative ballot.

If they accept the framework, conference agreed to continue to call for pay increases after thee three years, which will catch up with the value lost since the financial crisis.

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HE unions and employers to meet again in May to talk about pay

Higher education unions, including UNISON, and employers are due to meet again to discuss this year’s pay rise on 10 May.

At the last meeting on Friday 13 April, higher education employers offered to increase pay by 1.7%, or £325 a year (full-time equivalent), whichever is higher.

The joint trade unions replied that university workers need a larger increase.

UNISON head of higher education Donna Rowe-Merriman commented by pointing out that “universities could eradicate low pay in the sector if all employers agreed to become living wage accredited.

“In addition,” she said, “employers need to act now to ensure that salaries keep up with rising prices.”

Friday’s meeting also saw both discussions taking place on non-pay elements of the joint trade union claims, including the gender pay gap and casual employment contracts, and setting up a Scottish joint national council for higher education.

Previous story: University pay talks begin (27 March 2018)

Download: 2018 Joint higher education pay claim (submitted 21 March 2018)

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Employers in the care sector are hiding behind complex and incomplete pay slips to break wage laws

Employers in the care sector are using complex and incomplete pay slips to get away with paying staff less than the minimum wage, says UNISON today (Tuesday).

Under new legislation introduced this week, employers whose staff work variable shifts must list all the hours they’ve been paid for in every wage packet from April 2019. UNISON believes this doesn’t go far enough as it still doesn’t place a requirement on employers to include and pay for travel time, nor prove that the pay slip is compliant with national minimum wage laws.

A survey of care staff carried out last year by the union, revealed that more than six in ten (63%) admitted not being able to work out their wage from their pay slips.

Almost three quarters (73%) of those employed by private care companies said they weren’t paid for their travel time, a figure which drops to just under two-thirds (63%) for staff directly employed by local authorities.

However, UNISON believes the measures don’t address the widespread problem in the homecare sector where employers also often fail to include travel time on wage slips, even though it counts as working time that must be covered by the national minimum wage.

The new legislation allows employers to obscure the fact that they are not paying homecare staff for all their working hours and allows them to pay illegal wages. This is because the regulations do not require employers to separate out contact time from travel time.

UNISON national officer for the care sector Matthew Egan said: “At least 200,000 care workers in the UK are only being paid for the time they spend caring for people, and not for when they are travelling between appointments.

“This exploitation and underpayment is widespread, and complex, incomplete pay slips make this hard for care workers to challenge.

“The new wage slip law gave the government a golden opportunity to ensure all care workers are paid the legal minimum and allow them to challenge or report employers who fail to do so.

“But by not forcing employers to spell out how much time is spent both travelling and delivering care, ministers are allowing them to continue to cheat of the pay they’ve earned.

“Employers must also be required to tell workers how their wage has been calculated, and specifically prove that they are getting the legal minimum. In too many cases this doesn’t happen.

“The government must get tougher with care employers who deceive the system, and deny workers a proper wage. Such unenviable working conditions mean the care sector suffers from a huge turnover of staff, which has a huge impact on the kind of care that the most vulnerable in our communities receive.”

UNISON is calling on the government to introduce a duty on care employers to provide comprehensive, simple pay slips and clamp down on the widespread practice of unfathomable or non-existent wage records that mask illegal practices regarding pay.

Notes to editors:
– Last year, UNISON helped care employees request their minimum wage records on more than 100 occasions as allowed under the National Minimum Wage Act (1998).
– In the majority of cases, employers ignored the requests. One worker was only shown part of her wage records. Another was given just ten minutes to review three months of complex pay records.
– Under the Act, employers are required to keep records for three years and have fourteen days to respond to any request from an employee to see the relevant documents.
– UNISON has produced and given the government a set of draft regulations that if implemented, would force employers to provide pay slips that are much easier to understand.

Media contacts:
Fatima Ayad T: 0207 121 5255 M: 07508 080383 E: f.ayad@unison.co.uk

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‘The NHS has always been there’

The first person to be born in the NHS, nearly 70 years ago, addressed health delegates in Brighton this week, with a striking observation.

“I worry that, for the majority of people, the NHS has always been there,” said Aneira Thomas. “They don’t remember a time before it, or they were not born then.

“And perhaps the further from that historic day we get, the easier it is to take the NHS for granted, and for expectations to get too high.

“There are often negative views about A&E waiting times,” she added. “It appears that as a country we are less grateful that we have an A&E and ambulances to take us there – with no fee to pay.”

As UNISON and many others prepare to celebrate the NHS’s 70th anniversary this year, Ms Thomas spoke of the night in 1948 when her mother – who had been in labour for 18 hours and was about to give birth – was asked by doctors to ‘hold on’ for a few more minutes.

“They knew we were moments away from starting our National Health Service and wanted me to be born into it. So my brave mum took a deep breath and held on.”

Her parents recognised the significance of Bevan’s dream, and accordingly gave their new-born daughter a female version of the politician’s first name. It wasn’t long before she was also known as Nye.

A miner’s daughter, she said that when her father once broke his leg in the mine, the doctor held him down on the kitchen table and operated, without anaesthetic. The family later had to sell the family piano to pay him.

“This was the kind of suffering that motivated Nye Bevan. And he didn’t just have a vision about changing the future – he did it.”

Ms Thomas gave delegates an example of the virtue of the NHS: all of her grandparents died between the ages of 30 and 50; but her mother lived to 95, and Ms Thomas, nearing 70, is still alive to have met her 65 great-grandchildren.

She worked for 28 years as a nurse in a mental health hospital. “It was hard work but I loved it. I felt I was born to do it.” And many of her family have done the same.

And of course they’ve often benefited from NHS care themselves, not least Ms Thomas, who suffers from anaphylaxis (“without the NHS I would not be talking today”) and her son and daughter, both of whom were successfully treated after brain haemorrhages.

Ironically, her daughter Lindsey, a paramedic, experienced a delay in an ambulance reaching her. “Talk about cuts. It broke her heart as well as mine,” her mother told the delegates.

And while suggesting that “Bevan would be proud” of the way that the NHS has developed since its foundation, saving ever more lives, she also warned that “the moral values that were there at the start should stand today.”

The UNISON member said that the trade union movement is “as vital now as ever” in ensuring that.

As for today’s chronic underfunding of services and staff, she said: “We know this is the government that has caused that. And we know a change of government is needed to ensure the NHS is there for future generations.”

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Blog: I will always love our NHS

It was a huge honour as always to address UNISON Health conference this morning. As the biggest health union in the country, this is always a massive event for our union – but never more so than in the 70th year of our National Health Service.

For me, as General Secretary of UNISON, it is the greatest achievement of our movement – the greatest example of Socialism in action, and of the basic decency and fairness of our labour movement.

It has lasted 70 years, a testament to the work of those who work in it and fight to defend it. And on June 30th, our union will take to the streets with banners and balloons lifted high to celebrate the first seven decades of our NHS and to defend the NHS for future generations to come.

Because the values and principles espoused by Bevan all those decades ago, still ring true today, and it falls to us, to keep them alive.

I will always love our NHS. NHS workers saved my life – a debt I can never repay.

That is why I will always be a champion of NHS values and NHS people, who inspire me and drive me every day.

Our fight is not just to keep the NHS strong, but to build on what makes it great and make it greater still. We face so many challenges – lack of resources, growing waiting lists, reorganisation after reorganisation, privatisation, fragmentation and marketisation. All of these place more stress on the NHS’s most valuable resource – its staff.

We face the greatest fight in the history of our NHS, to save its future. We have to keep fighting for the funding our health service needs. We have to roll-back privatisation, end the austerity era and fight with all our might against the rise of subsidiary companies – the latest front used by those who seek to privatise our NHS.

As your General Secretary, I always will always fight for the NHS because NHS workers fought for me – they never gave up. As UNISON General Secretary, neither will I.

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Government must cease its threats to the Windrush generation

Commenting on the news today (Monday) that the Prime Minister is to meet Commonwealth leaders later this week to discuss the immigration problems of individuals who came to Britain as part of the Windrush generation, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said:

“The Windrush generation served us all and made our country a better place. But now we have to repay that service, by supporting so many of them in their hour of need.

“It’s inconceivable that people who have lived, worked and contributed to society for decades and decades should be threatened with deportation, when their children and grandchildren were all born here.

“Or people denied access to healthcare like Albert Thompson, who has been told he must pay £54,000 before he can be treated for prostate cancer, despite having lived here for 44 years.

“Nye Bevan said that no society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means. That’s why I’ve written to Amber Rudd demanding that Albert Thompson receives the immediate treatment he needs and deserves, an end to to the threat of deportations, respect for those who have given decades to our communities and confirmation of the legal status of the Windrush generation once and for all.”

Note to editors:
– This is the text of the letter sent to the Home Secretary:
I write to express my concern at recent reports of the case of Albert Thompson, and others like him. UNISON has consistently warned the Department of Health and NHS employers about concerns around the surcharge for migrant workers and upfront charging for healthcare. We were particularly concerned that confusion about people’s migration status might prove to be critical in the delivery of ‘urgent and necessary’ care. It appears these concerns were well founded.

UNISON also warned from the beginning that the UK’s settled BME communities would start facing increased scrutiny about their rights to access healthcare because of identity checks and upfront charging. We’ve now witnessed a series of reports of long-term UK residents from Commonwealth countries who’ve been left stranded by changing immigration rules, either facing deportation or a lack of access to vital NHS care.

It’s deeply unfair that members of the Windrush generation who have contributed so much to the UK – particularly the NHS – have been left stranded by rules that have changed around them. It cannot be right that they have been left to find legal evidence, often at great financial cost, of their right to live here. Albert Thompson is being denied vital life- saving treatment at a London hospital as a result of inflexible Home Office rules.

Instead of spending their time enforcing immigration legislation, healthcare staff want to deliver life-saving care to patients.

The Home Office has put NHS trusts and workers in a difficult position. I personally appeal to you to ensure that Mr Thompson receives immediate help, and look again at the case of long standing residents of the UK who are now facing anxiety about their access to public services or even the possibility of deportation.

Media contacts:
Clare Santry T: 0203 627 2446 M: 07944 191479 E: c.santry@unison.co.uk

Liz Chinchen T: 0203 740 5475 M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

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