UNISON leading the way

“UNISON is again leading the way on employment rights,” general secretary Dave Pentis told the UNISON national executive council when it met in London today, on the same day that the union’s legal representatives appeared at the Supreme Court over careworkers’ right to be paid the minimum wage for sleep-in shifts.

On top of that, Mr Prentis told the meeting, UNISON is taking more industrial action than any other union.

Despite the 2017 Trade Union Act, designed to make it harder for workers to take action, he said, in more and more local disputes, mainly involving women, the union is reaching the 50% ballot turn-out target the law requires for action to take place.

In particular, he cited the recent successful action by NHS workers in Northern Ireland demanding pay parity with colleagues in the rest of the UK.

The dispute won the reinstatement of Agenda for Change terms, and was instrumental in restoring the Northern Ireland Assembly and executive at Stormont as ministers needed to be in place to agree the deal.

“It was a tremendous dispute and a tremendous achievement,” said Mr Prentis.

Speaking on the eve of the union’s women’s conference, he listed a string of disputes across the union and across the country and pointed out that “very low-paid women are turning round and saying: ‘We’re not accepting it’.”

And that is why UNISON is being successful. “We as a union should be encouraging members who want to take action and helping them do it.”

The meeting also had initial discussions on plans for this year’s COP26 international climate emergency summit in Glasgow.

It also condemned US president Donald Trump’s Middle East ‘plan’ and reiterated UNISON’s long-standing support for the Palestinian people’s rights, and condemned the latest deportations of people who have lived in the UK since they were small children.

Press release: Windrush deportations must stop

The NEC also agreed 12 motions to submit to this summer’s national delegate conference:

• combating the rise of discrimination through activist training;
• growing activism in the union;
• Palestine – the right to defend human and workers’ rights;
• solidarity with Zimbabwean workers;
• campaigning for public services after the 2019 general election;
• green UNISON and the climate emergency;
• organising for health and safety;
• insecure work and digitalisation in the workplace;
• protecting migrant workers’ rights;
• mobilising members in defence of the NHS;
• Pay Up Now – time to reverse a decade of damage;
• the risk of post-Brexit UK trade deals.

In addition, it agreed to propose rule changes to conference, covering;

• Rule C2 – categories of membership;
• Rule C7 – suspension.

The meeting also:

• received written updates on bargaining in the union’s service groups and current industrial action ballots;
• received an update on the NEC conference plan;
• approved the management accounts for the 12 months to 31 December 2019;
• received a progress report from branch resources review working group.

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Protect our food

UNISON has teamed up with a bereaved father to make sure that the UK doesn’t lose its food safety standards to deregulation.

Campaigner Steve Nash, UNISON national officer Paul Bell and lawyer Sean Humber delivered a 219,000-strong petition to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) headquarters in London.

It calls on new FSA chief executive Emma Miles to scrap plans that would permit slaughterhouses carry out their own safety inspections.

“What the FSA is trying to do is move to a risk-based approach to inspection with slaughterhouses,” said Mr Bell.

What that means is that instead of independent meat hygiene inspectors being on the ground every day watching what’s happening, the agency “wants to have businesses inspected less frequently.

“Then, depending on what comes out of that, they may not be inspected again for the next three years. It’s a cost-cutting move but could have a devastating impact on public health”.

The FSA was set up in 2000 after BSE or “mad cow disease”, to control bad practice within the food industry and put public health first. Checking the quality and labelling of meat, and preventing contaminated meat from making it to the public, is one of its most crucial responsibilities.

But the move to deregulate inspection would remove that core responsibility.

Steve Nash understands the devastating consequences of contaminated meat being consumed by the public.

His daughter Joanna ate meat at a fast food restaurant which contained the deadly bacteria e coli. She suffered multiple organ failure and died within nine days.

“To get over 200,000 people’s support for this is terrific,” he said as the petition was handed in. “It’s not a very sexy subject, or something that people ever really have to think about, so I’m really pleased”.

UNISON members in the FSA and working as environmental health officers in local government would be affected by the proposed changes.

There used to be 1,500 meat inspectors. Now there are only 400, plus contractors. The political climate of cost-cutting and austerity has led to meat inspection being done on the cheap, and now the industry is on the brink of complete deregulation,” warns UNISON

“You can’t do this on the cheap,” warned Mr Bell.

“Meat inspectors spend years doing qualifications and training. The industry is just looking at cost cutting un. In the post-Brexit world, we need to collectively think as a society – not just in government departmental silos – about joined up regulation efforts.

“It’s about keeping the public safe.”

Learn more about UNISON’s Protect Our Food campaign.

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Windrush deportations must stop now, says UNISON

Windrush deportations must stop now, says UNISON

Commenting on the departure of the government’s deportation flight to Jamaica UNISON assistant general secretary Roger McKenzie today (Wednesday)said:

“It’s deeply worrying that people who’ve lived in the UK since childhood are being deported to countries they don’t know.

“This shows the government’s learned nothing from the Windrush scandal and is intent on ploughing ahead with its shabby hostile environment agenda.

“Deportation flights must stop now and a proper investigation launched into this cruel and disproportionate punishment.”

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:
Garfield Myrie T: 0207 121 5546 M: 07432 741565 E: g.myrie@unison.co.uk
Anthony Barnes T: 0207 121 5255  M: 07834 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk

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Women members set to sort it out

UNISON’s women’s conference meets in Bournemouth tomorrow, where a packed agenda awaits.

With the UK having just started its first full year under a Boris Johnson government, one of the dominant themes at conference will be continuing austerity – because, aside from the announcement of a rise in the national minimum wage to come in the spring, election campaign promises to end austerity have yet to be realised.

Conference will be debating a wide range of austerity-related issues, from the growing crisis in social care – with its effect on the largely female care workforce and on women who are expected to be carers in the family – to the impact on women of welfare cuts and changes to benefits.

A substantial motion from the national women’s committee calls for better funding for social care services, including better pay and service conditions for the predominantly female social care workforce.

Observing that gaps in the social care sector are frequently filled by unpaid and informal carers – again, largely women – an amendment from the northern region points out that “the lack of children and young people’s provisions like Sure Start compounds this problem.”

On welfare and benefits, a motion from the national women’s committee points out that, since “women head up 90% of one-parent families and are most likely to be in lower-paid jobs, where universal credit is required to supplement income,” the two-child benefit cap “has a disproportionate impact on women.”

Women and leave

There are a raft of motions addressing issues around women and leave. One raises the issue of how, if a woman gives birth prematurely or to a baby with complex medical needs, she is still only entitled to the same amount of maternity leave as if the pregnancy went to term or the baby was born with no significant health problems.

The motion, from Scotland region, calls for a campaign for additional paid leave in such circumstances – and for the union to collect examples of best practice on how employers can support women in such circumstances.

In another motion, EDF Energy (Doxford) raises the issue of women needing to take unpaid leave to care for dependants.

Menopause and harassment

The menopause features on the agenda in a number of motions, ranging from the general health implications for all women to raising awareness of the issue, from welcoming UNISON’s guidance on menopause and the workplace to the particular difficulties facing Black menopausal women.

Read more about the menopause – and access UNISON resources – www.unison.org.uk/menopause

Delegates will also be discussing Brexit, the NHS (and Brexit and the NHS) and domestic abuse.

On sexual harassment, the national committee has brought together a major motion highlighting the ongoing problem of such harassment in the workplace.

It notes that the union has also launched the #UsToo campaign, to make workplaces harassment free zones. The campaign emphasises “the inadequacy of the current laws and asks for a change.”

And UNISON will be launching new guidance on sexual harassment in the workplace during conference.

It’s set to be a busy few days.

Find out more about women in UNISON at www.unison.org.uk/women

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Fair pay rise for council staff would be affordable, says UNISON

The pay claim for council workers is affordable and will provide benefits for the wider economy across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, according to a new analysis published today (Wednesday) by UNISON.

UNISON, Unite and GMB are calling for wages to rise to £10 per hour for the lowest paid local government workers, with a 10% rise for other members of staff for 2020/21.

New research by Landman Economics, commissioned by UNISON, shows the actual net cost of the claim is less than half (49%) the overall projected cost of £1.6bn.

If council workers got a decent pay rise, central government would save hundreds of millions of pounds, says UNISON. Council employees include refuse collectors, library staff, teaching assistants and care workers who help communities to function.

This is because employees would be earning more so wouldn’t need to claim additional benefits and would pay extra tax and national insurance. People would also spend the extra money in their pockets giving a boost to local economies, says UNISON.

Years of pay freezes or minimal rises mean that many people have lost more than a fifth of their pay in the past decade, says the union.

UNISON is calling on the Treasury to fund a fair pay rise for staff as a matter of urgency. The union’s analysis found the true net cost of funding the council pay rise would be £789m.

UNISON head of local government Jon Richards said: “Council budgets are under unbelievable strain after years of cuts. It’s high time ministers found the money to ensure the people providing local services at the heart of every community are treated fairly.

“They must give councils the money to pay the people who keep our streets safe, educate our children, maintain our parks and care for the vulnerable. Otherwise experienced staff will continue to leave for better paid jobs elsewhere and then it’s local communities that will be the losers.”

Notes to editors:
– A full copy of the report by Landman Economics can be found here.
– From 2010 to 2020, local government workers have been subject to a combination of pay freezes and minimal increases. Under a two-year deal awarded agreed in 2018, the majority of employees were given 2% annual rises.
– 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 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen T: 0207 121 5463 M: 07778 158175 E: l.chinchen@unison.co.uk

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Dealing with the aftermath of Ciara and Dennis

Storm Ciara is still making its effects felt – and will be followed by Storm Dennis, due to hit the country at the end of this week.

As of yesterday, there were185 flood alerts and 77 flood warnings in place across the UK. And the outlook could be still be grim: high winds are forecast for the South West, Midlands, North West, Scotland and Northern Ireland, while heavy snow is also expected.

Many UNISON members are out dealing with the effects of the wind, rain and snow as part of their jobs. Others are dealing with the effects of the storms at home.

To help those who have seen storm damage to their property, UNISON’s insurance partner UIA is on hand.

So far, the insurer has received more than 80 claims relating to Storm Ciara; most for minor or moderate damage to property.

UIA’s response to Storm Ciara and the possible effects of Storm Dennis include:

• helping members get quick settlements, which can be as simple as claimants sending a photo of the damage to their property along with a quote from their local tradesperson – allowing UIA to settle within the limits of their policy and the members to start the work needed to make any small repairs;
• if members need a more substantial service, UIA will source tradespeople and manage the process on the member’s behalf.

During the past 18 months, UIA has invested in its claims team, including training and development, and improved systems and processes.

UIA home insurance and UNISON

Are you a UNISON member and UIA customer whose property has been damaged? How to make a claim

Benefits for UNISON members

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Heart Unions week: so many reasons to love UNISON

There are a lot of reasons to love trade unions. Heart Unions week, which runs from 10-16 February, is a great chance to shout about them.

Here’s our favourite seven reasons why UNISON is so great and below we’ve got a whole other 10 reasons in a video for you to share. Even Keir Starmer gets in on the act (scroll to the end).

1. You can trust UNISON to give you solid, reliable advice on your rights at work – whether it’s about pay, discrimination or you’re at risk of losing your job.
2. UNISON runs (and wins) national campaigns to transform working conditions for some of the most hardworking people in the UK.
3. UNISON’s award-winning legal team, who won one of the most significant employment law changes in history when they got the government to scrap employment tribunal fees.
4. UNISON runs a free immigration advice helpline with Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) – so all members have free legal access to specialist advice on immigration.
5. UNISON members get access to an exclusive range of member benefits, ranging from mortgage advice to breakdown cover.
6. UNISON is the union for NHS workers, and has won huge changes in healthcare; most recently bringing outsourced workers at Imperial College Healthcare back under NHS management.
7. We’re officially the most trusted union amongst Labour Party members.

Share the top 10 video below to spread the word on how great your union is:

And find out here why Keir Starmer, the Labour leadership candidate UNISON is backing, loves unions.

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