You’ll have no doubt heard by now that there’s election on the horizon. An election you can take part in. An election where your voice really matters. From August 14 you…Read more…
Violence against women is a gendered issue
#uNDC15 UNISON will campaign to educate and improve understanding of violence against women as a gendered issue, providing guidance, sharing good practice and ensuring branches can represent all parties fairly and impartially.
Helen Duddy, Lanarkshire Health, said "It is devastating to hear in news reports almost daily about women being assaulted, beaten, raped and murdered. On average twoRead more…
Boss’s salary would pay the wages of 454 reporters – journalists begin 12-day pay strike
Journalists in south London today begin a 12-day strike over pay and conditions. Some of the NUJ members employed on the Newsquest titles are not paid the London Living Wage, despite the company’s…Read more…
Unison Local Government Conference Glasgow 14-15 June 2015
(permission given to use photo for branch social media) UNISON local government members have rallied in support of a sacked Glasgow gardener. Robert O’Donnell was employed for 12 years at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow, where UNISON’s local government ……Read more…
Guatemala: one of the terrible ten worst countries for workers’ rights
Murder, armed attacks and a lack of due process is the reality for Guatemalan unionists and their leaders. Throughout the last 12 months, leaders of the country’s various transport, municipal…Read more…
“Lambs to the slaughter” – shocking report reveals 90% of social workers don’t have time to prepare court cases
UNISON calls for social work training to include modules about presenting in court and writing court reportsRead more…
Oil and gas cuts put North Sea lives at risk, union warns
Unite says attacks on jobs and working conditions could have devastating consequences for offshore workersRead more…
Lecturers on strike in Lewisham and Sheffield
Lecturers at two colleges are today taking strike action over jobs. UCU members at Lewisham Southwark College take the first of three days of action as they step up their campaign against more than…Read more…
Union calls for radical overhaul of how students apply to university
UCU report says students should apply to university after they receive their exam resultsRead more…
Why hasn’t Caledonia Investments disclosed its Tory donations?
A couple of weeks back I blogged that Caledonia Investments had made two separate donations of £2000 to the Conservative Party – received in December 2014 and mid March 2015.
To be crystal clear, according to the Electoral Commission the first donation was received on 12 December 2014, the second…Read more…
HUGE protest for Marraige Equality in Northern Ireland!
A change is coming and it is beautiful! Thousands march to demand same sex marriage in Northern Ireland.Read more…
Public sector jobs – the regional dimension
Earlier today the Office for National Statistics published the quarterly Public Sector Employment figures. I suppose the headline was the fact that the number working in public sector jobs has fallen another 43,000 over the past year, but I was just as…Read more…
Media Baron Denis O’Brien Tries To Gag The Irish Media
On June 12th Uplift members delivered the open letter to Communicorp Head Office the company owned by Denis O’Brien.Read more…
Defending community hospitals
Unite Community members from across Devon will be starting a summer long campaign tomorrow (June 18), to highlight cuts to community hospital beds with a protest outside County Hall in Exeter. …Read more…
Squeezing every last drop
As the UK oil and gas industry meets in Aberdeen today (June 17) for its industry conference, Unite has delivered a stark warning to the industry that squeezing every last drop out of the workforce…Read more…
UNISON sets out a strategy to reverse the decline in public sector pay
#uNDC15 As our pay has declined, the rich simply get richer and richer. So UNISON will look to build support for progressive taxation systems, getting the message across that increasing pay will promote a healthier economy, and campaigning to change the neo-liberal policies that have been evident in not only Tory Governments but Labour ones too – policies that see the suppression of pay, theRead more…
National bargaining essential for members pay, terms and conditions
#uLDC15 Delegates backed a call from Northern Region for a range of supports to enable branches to campaign for in-house services and to keep the National Joint Council as the negotiating body for local government members’ pay, terms and conditions.
#uLGC15 Although Scottish delegates were not able to vote, East Dumbartonshire’s Tommy Robertson supported the motion but asked delegates “not toRead more…
School support staff don’t have enough hours in the day
#ulgc15 Scotland’s Carol Ball, Vice Chair of the Local Government Service Group Executive, called for support staff in schools to be properly recognised for their contribution to the wider education team, as delegates backed a campaign to reduce school support staff workloads alongside a campaign for increased funding and decent pay.
Carol said that a UNISON survey has shown that 80% of schoolRead more…
Unions are an integral part of Scotland’s Fair Work Convention
#uNDC15 Conference delegates backed a range of measures to combat the rise of vulnerable employment and casualisation across the UK and to restore decent jobs, decent pay and decent standards in the public, voluntary and private sector.
Scotland’s amendment highlighted the Working Together Review in Scotland which has led to the establishment of the Fair Work Convention – a stakeholder bodyRead more…
Give our members confidence that they can make a difference
#uNDC15 As conference condemned the growing inequality in this country and backed a national and international political campaign to rebalance the economy to deliver a fair distribution of wealth, Aberdeenshire’s Kate Ramsden issued a challenge to all delegates, calling on them to get the message out to our members that austerity is not just bad for our members and the services we provide, but isRead more…