All the union news that's fit to blog...
#STUC16 The STUC backed the TIE (Time for Inclusive Education) campaign which is committed to inclusive education which aims to tackle homophobia and create a safer learning environment for all regardless of sexual orientation, gender or identity.
UNISON Scotland has already donated £1000 such is the importance we attach to this campaign, and UNISON’s Willie Docherty spoke in support.
To theRead more…
#STUC2016 UNISON’s Pat Rowland urged delegates to get involved in the campaign against ‘dodgy trade deals’ like TTIP that could stop governments bringing privatised services back in-house.
And she called on trade unionists to join the Scotland Against TTIP coalition day of action on Saturday 23 April at the Buchanan Street steps in Glasgow.
The STUC backed a UNISON motion to campaign forRead more…
#STUC16 The STUC gave unanimous backing to an emergency motion supporting the Glasgow UNISON #Justice4Jannies campaign as they began their three-day strike for parity of conditions with other like-workers.
The jannies packed the gallery as delegates stood to applaud them. The full text of the motion is…
“That this Congress congratulates UNISON members who are janitors in Glasgow’s primary,Read more…
#STUC16 The STUC has renewed its call for Trident replacement to be abandoned and will revisit setting up Trade Union CND, focussing on job diversification for workers employed on Trident.
It rejected a GMB motion calling for Trident replacement as the ‘only game in town’ to defend jobs.
In a rousing speech, supporting a Clydebank TUC motion, UNISON’s Jane Carolan told delegates: “UNISON hasRead more…
#STUC16 TUC president Liz Snape called for the STUC and TUC to continue to work together ‘to protect our future and fight for our people’ as she addressed Congress this morning.
Liz, who is also a UNISON depute general secretary, said: “Congress, be in no doubt our fortunes and our future will rise or fall as one. And it falls to us – to our generation – to protect our future and fight for ourRead more…
#STUC16 The STUC is to launch a campaign promoting the employment rights the EU has delivered for working people and will oppose attempts to ‘water down the benefits of a Social Europe.’
It also rejected calls to campaign to leave the EU.
Backing the USDAW motion, UNISON NEC member Gordon McKay explained why the union’s leadership had decided to campaign in the referendum to stay in the EURead more…
#STUC16 The STUC will campaign for the new Scottish Government to provide colleges with sufficient funding to return to meeting the full range of educational needs in their local communities.
It will also call for the protection of, or improvement in, the terms and conditions of college staff.
UNISON’s James Corry, backing the Fife TUC motion, asked Congress to celebrate the recent lecturers’Read more…
#STUC16 Disabled young people are massively under-represented in apprenticeships and Congress delegates backed a wide-ranging campaign to address the difficulties they face, to support their educational attainment and to make sure more can access apprenticeships.
Supporting the motion UNISON’s Morag Houston told delegates that times are hard for all our young people – but they are doubly hardRead more…
#STUC16 The STUC condemned cuts to education which so often follow on from council cuts, especially attacks on support staff numbers which damage the learning experiences of our most vulnerable young people and called for action to protect education funding.
Supporting the SSTA motion, UNISON’s Susan Kennedy pointed out that the Scottish Government continues with their commitment to providingRead more…
#STUC16 The STUC will press the Scottish Government to adequately fund the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and to properly staff their control rooms, currently being cut from eight to three.
UNISON Police Staff’s George McIrvine spoke in support of the FBU motions and drew parallels with the move to a single police force in Scotland.
He pointed out that, like Police Scotland, the primaryRead more…
#STUC16 The STUC will press the incoming Scottish Government to back Shelter Scotland’s campaign for a radical programme to build more affordable and social rent homes. It will also campaign for such a building programme to create directly employed construction jobs and apprenticeships.
Supporting, UNISON’s Mark Ferguson told delegates that it is a national scandal that estimates show thereRead more…
#STUC16 The STUC will call for an independent enquiry into PFI/PPP funding models for public sector building work, as well as into the Edinburgh schools contracts which has led to such disruption for pupils, families and staff.
Seconding an emergency motion from the EIS, UNISON’s Susan Kennedy told delegates that the issues raised around PPP by what has happened in Edinburgh go well beyond aRead more…
#STUC16 Scott Donohoe, UNISON Scotland health and safety chair, has been presented with this year’s STUC Frank Maguire Award for Health and Safety.
Scott has been health and safety officer for Glasgow City UNISON for 14 years and is seconded from his employer, Glasgow City Council and is passionate about health and safety, an interest that has seen him play a leading role in his union’s workRead more…
#STUC16 Young members were joined by other STUC delegates and TUC president Liz Snape in demonstrating for ‘Better than Zero’ workers’ conditions outside Café Nero in Dundee this morning.
Like some other businesses, Café Nero have made staff pay for the discriminatory so-called national living wage by a penny-pinching claw back of conditions like paid breaks and snacks. Under 25s don’tRead more…
#STUC16 The STUC has backed a UNISON and GMB 10 point plan for decent public services which are key to ‘reducing poverty and economic inequality.’
UNISON’s Stephen Smellie told delegates there was a broad political consensus in Scotland against austerity but words were not enough.
“We must insist that Scottish politicians can’t hide behind the ‘it’s all the fault of the Tories and we can’t doRead more…
#STUC16 UNISON’s Carol Ball threw the spotlight on procurement as Congress set out an ambitious plan to end the stagnation of manufacturing in Scotland through a long-term industrial strategy.
Joining the criticisms of the Scottish Government’s ‘A Manufacturing Future for Scotland’ plan, Carol told delegates that this really is a missed opportunity for a much needed comprehensive manufacturingRead more…
#STUC16 The STUC is calling for equal pay to be a manifesto commitment for all parties ahead of the Scottish election and for the establishment of an “Equal Pay Employer Scheme” to provide accreditation for equal pay employers. See all reports on the website
Supporting the University and College Union motion, UNISON’s Davena Rankin, who is also the Chair of the STUC Women’s Committee, toldRead more…
#STUC16 STUC Congress slammed the UK Government’s “so-called” national living wage and pledged to press for a real Living Wage for all workers, including those under 25.
See all reports on the website
UNISON’s Helen Duddy, supporting the motion slammed the current situation which means that those aged 16-25, who are doing the exact same job and hours as their fellow co-workers, can be paidRead more…
#STUC16 The STUC will press the Scottish Government to work with trade unions to tackle the rise in zero hours contracts and casualised labour which undermine workers’ rights and their ability to organise. See all reports on the website
UNISON young member, Bernadette Lafferty brought a young workers’ perspective to the debate, telling delegates that she herself had personal experience ofRead more…
#stuc16 The STUC has condemned the ‘climate of fear’ in workplaces, which discourages workers from disclosing mental health issues or seeking reasonable adjustments at work. See all reports on the website
“We need better provision to tackle mental health problems in the workplace”, said John Nisbet, chair of UNISON Scotland’s Disabled Members’ Committee, backing the STUC Disabled Members’Read more…