NHS can’t be a post-Brexit bargaining chip for trade deals, says UNISON

Reacting to US President Donald Trump’s comment that the NHS could be part of a post-Brexit trade deal, UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said:

“The government shouldn’t stoop to allowing the NHS to be used as a bargaining chip.

“We’re close to securing legislation rolling back the hated marketisation of the health service and mustn’t squander a chance to protect it from privatisation and competition.

“Brexit campaigners said leaving the EU would allow billions to be piled into the NHS, not tear it apart.”

Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union, with more than 1.3 million members providing public services – in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in both the public and private sectors.

Media contacts:
Anthony Barnes T: 0207 121 5255 M: 07834 864794E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen T: 0207 121 5463 M: 07778 158175 E: l.chinchen@unison.co.uk

 

 

 

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Blog: This kind of sustained growth sets us apart

Earlier this year, we set ourselves a target – to keep on growing our union. We’re not resting on our laurels, we owe it to every UNISON member and every potential UNISON member to keep on growing and building our collective strength.

Over the past month, activists and staff alike have been working on our second growth campaign – Go For Growth – and once again we’ve shown that when we work together, we can achieve great things.

We recruited 15,268 new joiners in May – up 17% on May 2018. And more importantly, UNISON already has almost 6000 more members today than we did at the start of the year – we’re on track to grow in 2019 as we did in 2018.

Despite two bank holidays and a school half term, May showed that we can raise our recruitment by making the union visible – with online, TV and newspaper advertising – but most importantly of all, by getting out into workplaces and talking to our current members and recruiting new ones.

The breadth and scope of branch activity has been great to see – with everything from recruit-a-friend incentives and prize draws to organising and recruitment events. We’ll now be examining all of that work, and making sure what we’ve learned drives the work we do in future. We’ll be talking with regions to set regular co-ordinated Go for Growth campaign dates, and there is now a work programme looking in detail at how we can improve retention.

At a time when trade unions across the world are struggling to retain members, this kind of sustained growth sets us apart – and is a testament to our union’s strength. Together, we have so much to be proud of – and as our union grows, those successes will only multiply.

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NEC 2019-2021: election results

The results of the 2019 NEC election are now available.

Download the summary list of newly elected members 

These members will take office following the end of the national delegate conference 2019. The term of office will run until the end of national delegate conference 2021.

A full copy of the scrutineer’s report is available to members of UNISON on request. To obtain a copy, telephone UNISONdirect on 0800 0 857 857. Lines are open 6 am to midnight, Monday to Friday and 9am to 4pm on Saturdays.

Any query regarding this information or this election should be directed to the member liaison unit at the UNISON Centre. Telephone 020 7121 5312 or 020 7121 5176. Fax 020 7121 5196. Email elections@unison.co.uk.

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May is bloomin’ magic as our wins grow

It was bloomin’ lovely for UNISON in May, with fresh growth and a bevy of brilliant wins across the union.

With the union’s Go for Growth recruitment and retention campaign just finished, breath was baited. Would the figures add up?

May’s traditionally a tough month for union recruitment – in May 2018, our membership dropped by around 5,000.

This time around, though, we recruited over 15,000 new members – a 17% increase on last May, meaning we grew by just over 3,000 members for the month and that we’ve grown by over 5,500 this year so far.

Of those new members, nearly 2,500 are young members. Woohoo!

But the story of the month wasn’t only about growing – it provided loads of illustrations of what UNISON can do when we stand together.

On May 1 itself, council staff in Sandwell secured a pay rise for themselves in a dispute over grading.

Thee 34 workers (pictured above) had voted by 100% to begin a work to rule, but they called off the action after the council agreed to regrade them.

That’s what having loads of members in a workplace and sticking together does.

After two days of strike action, catering workers at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals won the same pay rise from their private employer, Sodexo, as had been agreed for all NHS workers last year.

Still in the first week of the month, support staff at Bangor University were also celebrating after a UNISON-organised campaign convinced management to halt plans to downgrade their pensions.

Cleaners at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow (pictured above with general secretary Dave Prentis) voted in numbers to strike against plans to outsource their jobs. They built a turnout of 84%, with 99% then backing plans for a strike.

It’s not just about pay and conditions either. The cleaning service has a fine record on infection prevention, but research shows that privatised cleaning services fare worse.

Then, in the middle of the month, Birmingham care workers won a massive victory after a struggle of almost two years.

Trying to make savings, the council had planned to slash hours and, with them, the pay of the workers (pictured below at UNISON Centre).

Over 200 low-paid care workers, 96% of them women, would have lost up to £11,000 a year as a result of the cuts.

It had taken 82 days of strike action for the council to finally reverse its damaging plans.

Recruitment was boosted too – the branch now has 95% density and eight new stewards have been recruited.

Winning all over the shop was the name of the game – UNISON also welcomed the news that the probation service (well, at least part of it) is to be returned to public ownership and control: the union has been at the forefront of campaigning to highlight the problems and the cost of Chris ‘Failing’ Grayling’s botched sell-off.

The whole service needs to come back in house – and our campaigning continues.

And if you want to know just how much money Mr Grayling has wasted, we’re keeping a tab.

Of course, loads of other things were going on during May. We waved farewell to Theresa May as prime minister – or at least we learned when we will be able to wave goodbye to her premiership, after she’s spent some quality time with The Donald.

The council and EU elections, bookending the month, revealed a divided country. But growing and building as a union means that UNISON is better positioned to help fight for our members and the vital services that they provide.

 

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System of second class NHS workers must end

Private companies employing tens of thousands of staff in the NHS across England are coming under pressure to give their employees a wage rise as UNISON’s campaign for fair pay in the health service escalates.

Workers at contracting giants – including Compass Medirest, Serco, Mitie and ISS – are today (Tuesday) calling on company chief executives and NHS bosses to end pay inequality in the health service by giving them the same hourly rates as colleagues employed directly by the NHS.

Last year, the lowest-paid workers in the NHS were given a £2,000 wage rise as part of a three-year deal negotiated by health unions. But tens of thousands of health staff employed on private contracts did not receive this.

Among the workers losing out are:

• domestics employed by Compass Medirest at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge
• security, cleaning and catering staff at Worcester Royal Hospital employed by ISS
• staff on the Serco facilities management contract at Barts Health NHS Trust in London
• cleaners, caters and porters, who are about to ballot for industrial action over the issue, employed by Mitie at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust.

UNISON warns this is creating a two-tier workforce within the NHS, with the growing pay divide making it more likely staff will either seek new jobs where they are directly employed by health trusts, or will quit the NHS altogether.

UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said: “In every area of the country there are staff working for private contractors doing the same jobs as colleagues directly employed by the NHS. They experience the same pressures and provide the same level of exceptional service.

“It makes no sense for many of these workers to be on the minimum wage while colleagues still working for the NHS take home much more. Outsourced staff struggling to make ends meet are understandably considering other jobs that won’t leave them so strapped for cash. This is already having an impact on patient care and the smooth running of the NHS.

“Reluctant employers across the country are facing pressure to pay up, as Sodexo has done recently in Doncaster and OCS has in Liverpool. Staff know fair pay is possible if the contractor and the NHS trust have the will to make it happen. But the government can help too by providing the necessary funds so thousands of outsourced staff can get a long overdue pay rise.

“All hospital workers are part of the NHS team and should be paid fairly for the vital jobs they do. After months and months of ignoring staff, it’s time for all of these contractors to pay up.”

Notes to editors:

• The NHS pay framework agreement was reached last June following months of negotiation between unions, employers and ministers. The three-year deal meant pay increases for over a million workers on NHS contracts and was backdated to April 2018. However, tens of thousands of health staff employed on private contracts have not received a penny. Some haven’t had a pay rise in years.
• UNISON is campaigning across the country to ensure outsourced health workers don’t lose out when it comes to their pay. Recent notable successes where NHS rates have been secured include catering workers employed by Sodexo at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospital and cleaners, porters, catering and security staff employed by OCS at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
• UNISON is the UK’s largest union, with more than 1.3 million members providing public services – in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in both the public and private sectors.

Media contacts:
Kieran Pearson T: 0207 121 5555 M: 07432 741595 E: k.pearson@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen T: 0207 121 5463 M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

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Blog: Taking on Trump and his hateful ideology

Today, Donald Trump arrived in the UK. Unlike his last visit to these shores, he’s now being given the honour of a full state visit – with all of the trappings that entails. The pomp and ceremony of a visit to Buckingham Palace, gun salutes and parades aplenty – the US President will get the biggest welcome that the British state can offer.

And yet, if this government had any backbone at all, they’d be standing up to Trump and his hateful ideology, not rolling out the red carpet for him.

This is a man who has ridden a wave of bigotry into the White House. Who has split his time in power between denigrating his opponents and oppressing the vulnerable. Migrant children separated from their parents. Women denied the right to make choices about their own bodies. A rising tide of racism and xenophobia. This is Donald Trump’s America – and he and his cronies have already begun to transport that hateful politics to our society too.

Boris Johnson. Nigel Farage.

Both try to pretend that they are friends of working people – yet given half a chance they would sell our NHS, our services and our country down the river to Trump and his friends. Their hatred of scrutiny, their opulent lifestyles and their repeated attacks on our diverse society mark them out as fellow travelers of Trump.

Our union will continue to fight them and their poisonous ideologies – as we continue to fight Trump and his influence in the UK and around the world. His values – their values – are the antithesis of our own. They are opposed to everything we stand for – and the feeling is more than mutual.

That’s why I’m proud that UNISON is supporting tomorrow’s demonstrations against Trump. If you’re able to attend and add your voice to the chorus telling him he’s not welcome, please do. And both while he’s here – and after he’s gone – we’ll continue to fight for a better world. One where the hatred he thrives off has no place.

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People Plan encouraging but significant funding is needed for real change

Commenting on the release today (Monday) of the Interim NHS People Plan, UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said:

“Working for the NHS can be challenging so it’s good to see those at the top are finally focusing on the needs of their employees. A supportive workplace is vital to retain experienced, hardworking staff.

“However voices from across the health service must be listened to if this plan is to work. Ensuring staff know they’re valued and have the opportunity to advance their skills and careers is one of the key ways to motivate employees. It also encourages them to remain part of the NHS.

“But these urgently needed changes won’t happen overnight. Employers must work with unions to better understand the challenges staff face at work and how to resolve them. In particular, to deliver better-funded apprenticeships to help those who can’t afford university training.

“Flexible working would be a real boost to the lives of staff trying to balance home and work commitments. But delivering real change needs significant funding and a government committed to improving the NHS for all those that use it and work in it.”

Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union, with more than 1.3 million members providing public services – in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in both the public and private sectors.

Media contacts:
Liz Chinchen T: 0207 121 5463 M: 07778 158175 E: l.chinchen@unison.co.uk
Siobhan Cooley T: 0207 121 5555 M:07816538199 E: s.cooley@unison.co.uk

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