What if you had to give two weeks’ warning to the police and your employer every time you wanted to post something important on Twitter or Facebook? The Trade Union bill currently before Parliament suggests unions do just that when they take action. Ridiculous? Yes. But also very scary, as unions may be just the […]
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We all know about the need to join a union when starting work but what about when you’re just starting training for your dream job? That’s the question UNISON will be putting to thousands of students across the country as they begin courses to become nurses, ODPs and paramedics. In this new video student members tell […]
Dave Prentis, UNISON’s General Secretary has condemned the government’s insensitive attitude towards the refugee crisis in Europe and called on members to contact their MPs* to put more pressure on ministers to ensure that the UK does everything possible to help the thousands of families fleeing the violence in the Middle East and Africa. Speaking […]
UNISON members working for the NPS (National Probation Service) and CRCs (Community Rehabilitation Companies) will be going out on second strike over pay for three hours on Monday 14 September. The strike will be followed by 2 ½ weeks of action short of strike with members working strictly to their contracted hours. The first UNISON […]
In a nutshell, the government’s Trade Union Bill would mean: employers were able to use agency temps to replace striking workers restrictions on pickets and protests that threaten freedom of speech attacks on union reps in the public sector more unnecessary red tape, tying up unions. Taken together, these will undermine our basic right to […]
Five reasons to reject the 0% “offer” Pay restraint hasn’t applied equally to all. The gap between high and low pay is rising. The number of staff earning more than £100,000 has increased with some college principals earning footballer wages while the pay bill is shrinking. Work on the Living Wage has been sabotaged by employers […]
The government’s latest attempt to prevent workers from campaigning for better pay and working conditions is set out in the recently published Trade Union Bill. Here are some of the things it will do: Impose such high turn out levels for strike ballots that if they were applied to elections would see most MPs not being […]
Reacting to the damning CQC report on Care UK at Mills Meadow UNISON has called on the company to pay its staff in Suffolk a decent wage to improve staff recruitment and retention. UNISON Area Organiser Jennie Anderson said “We continually raise concerns about staffing levels with Care UK. It was inevitable that this would […]
Attacks on unions are attacks on working people too, says UNISON Commenting on government proposals to prevent people who work in the public sector from paying their union membership fees directly from their wages, UNISON Eastern Regional Secretary Glyn Hawker said: “This latest malicious manoeuvre from ministers shows how far they are prepared to go […]
UNISON is the largest union for school support staff and local UNISON branches have been very busy this year, working hard to support members on a wide range of issues in the hundreds of schools, most of which are no longer local authority controlled. UNISON has been supporting members involved in TUPE transfers, reorganisations as […]
A recent report has concluded that the cost of unsocial hours allowances is not a barrier to the introduction of a seven-day NHS, despite claims to the contrary by Jeremy Hunt (Secretary of State for Health) and the NHS Employers. The report from the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) and the Office of Manpower Economics […]
Bedfordshire Police branch has condemned the decision to close the control room at Kempston next March. The closure will mean that all 999 and 101 calls made in Bedfordshire will be handled by staff in either Welwyn Garden City or Huntingdon. The branch is arguing that people in Bedfordshire will be best served by local staff and […]
Commenting on the confirmation today (Thursday) that MPs are to receive a 10 per cent pay rise, UNISON regional secretary Glyn Hawker said: “Pay austerity might be over for MPs, but it goes on and on for everyone else in the public sector. “If pay restraint is at an end for politicians – who are […]
UNISON Bedfordshire Police branch has condemned the decision to close the control room at Kempston. Under plans to amalgamate police control rooms across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire from March 2017, emergency 999 calls and non-emergency 101 calls from residents in Bedfordshire will be dealt with by operators in either Welwyn Garden City or Huntingdon. Sarah […]