UNISON calls for action to end the homecare wages scandal
Tens of thousands of care workers across England and Wales are still being paid less than the minimum wage because councils are not insisting that homecare companies pay staff their travel time, a…Read more…
A mini Uber encounter
A couple of weeks back I stumbled across something quite interesting from a company called Westbourne Communications. It was a blog post detailing their advice to Uber in the “battle with Black Cab drivers” (this is their exact phrasing).
I thought th…Read more…
TRADE UNIONISTS FOR IN (TU4IN)
Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE …Read more…
World Water Day
Today is World Water Day. The 22nd March is designated as World Water Day by the UN to mark the importance of water and sanitation.
This year’s theme is ‘Better Water, Better Jobs’. 1.5 billion…Read more…
All parties in Northern Ireland must listen to UNISON members
Northern Ireland has been transformed in recent years – but for a part of the world that has faced such hardship, the impact of austerity is significant and painful.
The article All parties in…Read more…
Defend our spend
Unite convened a special conference this week in Preston, which saw the launch of the union’s ‘Defend our Spend’ campaign that aims to press the government to keep UK defence spending in Britain….Read more…
390,000 women a year are discriminated against in pregnancy yet only 1% take tribunal claim
Today the EHRC published its long awaited report and recommendations on pregnancy discrimination. This follows on from last year’s interim report which found that 54,000 women per year are forced out of their jobs due to pregnancy discrimination. The final report leads with the astounding headline…Read more…
Wanted: Mike Ashley – Is this high noon for Sports Direct?
A showdown is brewing between billionaire Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley, and MPs investigating mistreatment of workers in his sportswear empire. The BIS Select Committee have been trying to…Read more…
Select committee holds government to account over gender pay gap
Just last week, the Chancellor proudly announced in the Budget that the government was winning on the gender pay gap. He said (pretty much cutting and pasting from previous speeches): “Inequality is down; and the gender pay gap has never been smaller.” But today we are told by the Women and…Read more…
Climbdown
The Prime Minister was forced into a humiliating climb down yesterday (March 21) on plans announced in the Budget to reduce the deficit by cutting personal independence payments (PIP) for disabled…Read more…
Secure future for Co-op workers
A two-day strike by Co-op drivers over the transfer of their jobs to transport and distribution company Eddie Stobart Ltd (ESL) has been suspended at the last minute. Industrial action was…Read more…
For males only?
A cross-party committee of MPs released a damning report today (March 22) into the government’s inadequate response to a yawning 20 per cent gender pay gap that’s showed no signs of abating over the…Read more…
Gender pay gap persists
The gender pay gap in the UK remains stubbornly high – despite so many advances in equalities over the last half century, women still only earn 80p for every £1 a man earns. Even more galling…Read more…
Important notice – the Tax Refund Service
A reminder that the Tax Refund Service (Personal Taxation Services) is no longer a UNISON-endorsed service
The article Important notice – the Tax Refund Service first appeared on the UNISON site.Read more…
We need to stop treating care workers like disposable labour
I worked as a homecare worker for about 18 months.
I stopped because I couldn’t afford to do it anymore.
Homecare earned me only four or five pounds an hour – well below minimum wage – because my company wouldn’t pay me for the time it took to travel between service users.
On a typical day I’d visit people to care for them from 6:30am until lunchtime. On an average day I’d spend four and a half hours in people’s home and over two hours travelling between them – but I’d only be paid for the time spent in people’s homes.
Read the full blog from an anonymous homecare worker on Left Foot Forward.
RSPCA: Board overhaul call
A survey of Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (RSPCA) staff has revealed that 43 per cent believed that the governance was ‘ineffective and poor’ with only four per cent satisfied with the…Read more…
Get set for state pension changes
The state pension is changing from 6 April 2016 – members will be asking about the implications for their future
The article Get set for state pension changes first appeared on the UNISON site.Read more…
GMB – the weakest link on local government pay?
http://i.emlfiles1.com/cmpdoc/4/6/6/7/2/1/files/11686_pay-justice-2016-bulletin-issue-09.pdf?dm_i=2QI8,70HO,8OJEG,LZPL,1This is a link to the latest pay bulletin from UNISON’s local government section. It reports quite rightly that members of both UNISON and UNITE have rejected the employers’…Read more…
Alan Brown RIP
Sad to hear that long standing UNISON member, Alan Brown, (see picture 2nd from left 2011) has passed away. Alan was a Caretaking Chargehand in Old Ford Housing Association since being TUPE’d transferred in 2007 from Tower Hamlets Housing.
I have know…Read more…