Paul Mason We’re at a critical point in the Greek crisis, which is really the 2010-11 Euro crisis being unfrozen after five years of make believe solutions. Money is leaving the banking system at…Read more…
On unity and the left in UNISON in the run up to the General Secretary election
As much as delegates at UNISON Conferences may express disappointment at perceived shortcomings of the Union leadership, delegates on the left can be equally critical (if not despairing) of the “left” in the Union (and – in particular – for the difficulty we have in being united). There is a…Read more…
#uNDC15 “Composite D Pensions”
“Chair, Conference, John Gray, National Executive Member, moving Composite D on Pensions on behalf of the NEC
Conference, A decent and safe pension in retirement is vital to ensure people are able to live with dignity into their old age.
This moti…Read more…
Where next for the UNISON NEC?
As delegates stream away from the Conference Centre after the close of Conference on a Friday afternoon, the National Executive Council are – in the years when there has been an NEC election – led away to a darkened room.
This is not for a lie down, but to hold the inaugural meeting of the new…Read more…
Breaking: Tata Steel strike suspended
A planned strike by workers at Tata Steel, including 6,000 from Unite has been suspended after a new offer was made over pensions today (June 19). Members of Unite, Community, the GMB and…Read more…
Organizing the unorganized
No one has any time. We all have too much to do. This is true for businessmen; it’s true for students; it’s true for activists like myself. Is your email inbox overflowing? Do you have…Read more…
Joined-up energy strategy vital
The closure of the E.ON gas-fired power station at Killingholme in north Lincolnshire in September is a ‘wake up’ call for the government to talk to industry leaders and trade unions about a…Read more…
Homes for people not profit
#unDC15 There is a massive housing crisis across the UK as a result of Government policies. Too little social housing is being built and apart from Scotland, those that are built are being sold off. In many places rents are unaffordable and the bedroom tax has created more poverty and homelessness.
Delegates backed a call for government and Labour councils to stop implementing the bedroom tax;Read more…
Conference Stands With Rab
#uNDC15 Conference rose to applaud sacked SECC UNISON rep Robert O’Donnell as he was invited to address Conference. Another emotional standing ovation followed.
Conference then unanimously passed a motion calling for Glasgow City Council leadership to urgently meet with UNISON Glasgow City Branch officials to pro-actively discuss the situation at the SECC with a view to granting SECC fullRead more…
Only the beginning
“Conditionality” in the benefits system – the idea that claimants must meet certain conditions in order to receive their benefits, or face the consequences—has been taken to absurd levels by the…Read more…
Thanks for donating to Kobane health services
#uNDC15 Thanks to Scotland delegates who have raised £391 towards rebuilding health services in KobaneRead more…
Public sector net debt reaches £1½ trillion, nearly £200bn more than planned, and stuck for years at over 75% of GDP
In May 2015 public sector net debt (excluding public sector banks) rose above £1,500 billion or £1½ trillion for the first time. Over the past four years, government borrowing has moved further and further above the original plans (see). Spending cuts have harmed the economy more than expected,…Read more…
Cridland’s comprehensive demolition job on Tory education policy
And another thing… A weekly blog by ATL general secretary Mary Bousted John Cridland, director general of the CBI, cannot remotely be named or shamed as a member of the education ‘blob’. And yet his…Read more…
Social care staff need UNISON – and some good news from Scotland
#uNDC15 Conference showed just why social work and social care workers need UNISON as it backed a range
Kate Ramsden:
Social Workers’ contempt conviction overturned
of measures demanding safe staffing levels. The union will call on all the UK governments to review staff numbers and introduce regulations to force employers to report staff levels and vacancies annually.
It also raisedRead more…
Thanks to the Conference stewards
#uNDC15 Thanks to the stewards who have been scanning us in and out all week, and a special thanks to the self proclaimed ‘Golden Girls’, Scotland’s own Barbara Fulton and Margaret Ferris.Read more…
All Gas and Knighthoods
ANTI-FRACKING protest on Lancashire’s Fylde coast. Offshore fracking may have caused minor earthquake. GMB union called conference in Blackpool to reassure people about benefits of…Read more…
Confront the Tory lie on services
#uNDC15 UNISON will up its fight for to keep public services public – publicly owned, democratically accountable and delivered by the public sector, busting the austerity myth and continuing to challenge outsourcing and privatisation.
Jane Carolan, NEC, explained that UNISON had put forward a vision of public services in its manifesto, asking politicians of all parties to support the policies. "Read more…
Devolution protocol needs updated to reflect the world we live in
#uNDC15 The fast moving debate around devolution across the UK was high on the Conference agenda this year, with two motions and a lunchtime fringe.
Over 200 delegates packed the joint region fringe meeting on the topic on Wednesday, which looked at the different models for public services in the devolved administrations and the proposed city partnerships in England, and the implications forRead more…
Keep up support and solidarity with Palestine
#uNDC15 UNISON reaffirmed its support for the Palestinian people and for a free Palestinian state and will step up our contribution to the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).
This comes on the back of Israel’s terrible assault on Gaza last summer and delegates condemned the lack of meaningful response by the British Government, the EU and the UN to the targeting of civiliansRead more…
Fighting for justice for Bhopal
#uNDC15 UNISON vowed to put pressure on UK, Indian and US governments to get justice for Bhopal, and to get the Indian Government to ensure adequate healthcare, employment opportunities and pensions for those affected.
It’s thirty years on from Bhopal, the Union Carbide industrial disaster, that caused 25,000 deaths and left 120,000 chronically ill. Thirty years on and it continues to maimRead more…