The National Audit Office did a report on local government financing in November of last year. It provides and overview … MoreRead more…
The ‘deserts’ of debt advice
The union’s warning coincides with the beginning of this year’s Talk Money Week. Proposals from the Money and Pension Advice Service (MaPS) to slash key debt advice funding will add to what is…Read more…
Pushed over the brink
Our Party built the NHS – now it’s our task to help save it
The post Pushed over the brink appeared first on UNITElive.org.Read more…
‘We need our union to be stronger than ever’ Dave Prentis tells NEC
General secretary says UNISON members won’t ‘carry the can’ for another economic crisis
The article ‘We need our union to be stronger than ever’ Dave Prentis tells NEC first appeared on the UNISON…Read more…
Not just for Covid
Each year the demand for these meals has grown. We have seen at first hand the effect of poverty, and the difficulty and sadness of parents unable to feed their children adequately during the…Read more…
Report shines ‘searing light’ on Covid-19
As Unite had long suspected class and race are the biggest factors in determining those that have died or been taken ill by the Covid-19 pandemic – now an undeniable fact borne out the government’s…Read more…
Workers Memorial Day – Tuesday 28 April 2020 Theme: Coronavirus
For a number of years my trade union branch (UNISON Greater London Housing Associations) and West Ham Labour Party have supported Workers Memorial Day with a ceremony at the “Clasping Hands” statute in Stratford.
Workers Memorial Day is an internation…Read more…
‘Something has gone badly wrong’
Life expectancy in the UK has stalled for the first time in a century, spurred on by yawning health inequalities under a decade of austerity. While women have historically seen steady…Read more…
Sustained investment needed to fix years of Conservative cuts, says UNISON
Chancellor’s pledges nowhere near enough to tackle nine years of austerity
The article Sustained investment needed to fix years of Conservative cuts, says UNISON first appeared on the UNISON…Read more…
Payday ‘vultures’ on brink of collapse
Payday lender QuickQuid is the latest loan shark to shut down after a wave of compensation claims from victims of predatory practices. US-based Enova, which owns QuickQuid, announced on…Read more…
Where the blame lies
Syed Nahid Uddin a Unite delegate works for a council so knows first-hand what austerity has meant for local government. For Syed this isn’t a rhetorical argument this is real life day in and day…Read more…
Defend local services call
Unite delegate Jessie Jacobs, who is also running to be the UK’s first female directly elected metro mayor in the Tees Valley, gave an inspiring speech at the Labour Party Conference on defending…Read more…
‘Unite, fight and win’
Mary Callaghan, Unite delegate, moved a motion on Universal Credit. She said she was “proud and honoured to be moving this motion on behalf of all of those women at Labour Women’s Conference…Read more…
‘I’ve thought about killing myself’
When Unite Community member Pat’s* husband Peter* died, she refused to leave his side for 17 hours as she held his hand for the last time. As his full-time carer for over four years – she was…Read more…
When hungry children cry themselves to sleep
When a Unite Community holiday hunger project in Norwich also started a pop-up food bank this summer, branch secretary Brian Green said the desperation was unmistakeable. “They simply charged…Read more…
Universal Discredit
On one day in May, the free paper, Metro, gave readers a surprise. ‘Universal Credit Uncovered’ announced the headline in all caps, the ‘o’ in ‘Uncovered’ designed as detective’s spy glass. …Read more…
‘You have to fight back’
Susan Kemlo was still mourning her daughter, Victoria, when benefits assessment firm Capita decided to drag her through the courts over supposed “reputational damage” – sustained because a judge…Read more…
Austerity and access to justice
Unite delegate Ruth Hayes (pictured with raised hand) spoke out about the dreadful effects of austerity. Speaking from first hand experience, she said, “I worked in a Law Centre for 18…Read more…
Benefit assessors’ challenge withdrawn after tragic death
The climbdown by Capita, which tried to reverse the ‘reputational damage’ it claimed to have suffered after a benefits’ claimant died, should herald a new and more sympathetic way for assessing…Read more…
Why I’m voting yes
Unite members at homeless charity St Mungo’s are having to consider taking strike action. In the first of a series, we meet the members having to make this tough choice as they tell us their…Read more…