Scotland’s largest trade union will lobby the Scottish Parliament on budget day (1pm, Wednesday 24 February 2016) to call for a fair funding settlement for local services.Local government has taken the brunt of cuts in Scotland. Scottish Government funding is down by 0.8%. Yet funding for local government is down by 4.5%. This is a £500m cut from local services this year. The cumulative costRead more…
#TUBill will limit the amount of paid time off for public sector reps
A new report from the TUC on the benefits of paid time off for union reps provides evidence that the Government’s attack on facility time in the public sector is wrong-headed. The proposals in the. This is the culmination of a campaign waged by the political right against workplace representation…Read more…
Trade unions and Falkirk Council fail to agree on new terms and conditions package
Date: Wednesday 10 February 2016
Talks between Falkirk Council and Joint Trade Unions broke down today (9 February) after trade unions could not accept the new package of terms and conditions being proposed by Falkirk Council.
Talks broke down after the Joint Trade Union informed Falkirk Council that following a ballot they felt they could not agree the package put forward.
Falkirk CouncilRead more…
Cutting libraries will increase poverty and inequality, says UNISON Scotland
Date: Saturday 6 February 2016
On National Libraries Day (6 February 2016), UNISON is warning that more local government cuts will have a drastic impact on libraries across Scotland, decreasing opportunities for all, and increasing poverty and inequality.
Library services have been undergoing massive change, yet staff numbers have been going down, buildings are closing, opening hours areRead more…
EU Parliament votes for public service protections and labour rights in TiSA report
On Wednesday the European Parliament passed with an overwhelming majority a report on the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) that called for broad exemptions for public services and respect for labour standards. TiSA is a trade deal on services the EU is negotiating along with 22 other countries….Read more…
Further cuts to local services not sustainable, says UNISON Scotland
Date: Tuesday 2 February 2016
UNISON Scotland is calling for the Scottish Parliament to use its powers to put more money into local services. By 2020 expenditure on public services will be 12.5% lower in real terms. That is on top of the £2.5bn cuts since 2010.
This next round of cuts will mean at least another 15,000 job cuts for local councils. Of the 50,000 jobs that have been lost inRead more…
New financial powers could save Scottish councils £50m, says UNISON
Wed 27 Jan 2016
Public services union UNISON has today (Wed 27 January 2016) urged the Scottish Government to push ahead with proposed new financial powers for Scottish councils to relax the rules for borrowing, lending and the repayment of loans. These proposed changes to Scottish councils’ financial powers should now be used for greater flexibility to deal with the funding crisis in ScottishRead more…
Building a world-class bus system for Britain
Buses are a life-line for millions, providing access to employment, education and training, public services and leisure activities. But instead of a world-class bus service, bus deregulation has delivered higher fares and worsening services resulting in a drop in usage. The government’s austerity…Read more…
Sturgeon must act to protect local government services, says UNISON
Date: Tuesday 12 January 2016
UNISON local branches across Scotland are calling on Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, to meet UNISON members to hear about the damage Government policies are having on local government and to discuss the future of local services.UNISON is the biggest trade union in local government and branch secretaries from across Scotland have written to the FirstRead more…
Bursary or bust
In the autumn statement, George Osborne announced the scrapping of the NHS bursary for new student nurses, midwives and allied health professions in England from 2017. Under the current NHS bursary system, no fees are charged and students are entitled …Read more…
Stand up for school librarians, says UNISON Scotland
Date: Monday 21 December 2015UNISON Scotland has called on councils and Scottish Government to do more to protect school librarians. UNISON says the evidence is that local councils are seeing school library services as a soft target to meet budget cuts and are cutting school library services across Scotland. UNISON has made a submission in support of School Libraries Petition PE 1581 to theRead more…
A Happy New Year for the NHS?
There’s no doubt about it, the last 12 months have been a bumpy ride for our National Health Service. Will 2016 be any better? A year that started off with the government negotiating its way out of a bout of unprecedented industrial action involving NHS workers in England from nurses and midwives…Read more…
UNISON Scotland reaction to ministerial statement on draft 2016/17 budget
Date: Wednesday 16 December 2015
Mike Kirby, UNISON Scottish Regional Secretary said,
‘UNISON Scotland recognises that Tory austerity limits the options available in the Spending Review. However, it is unacceptable that yet again local government is bearing the brunt of cuts. We are now in the 8th year of the council tax freeze that limits how councils can choose to respond to austerity. ThisRead more…
Government lands NHS students with massive new debts
England is short of 2,600 midwives and has been thousands short for at least a generation. The national midwife shortage has proved a really hard nut to crack. The NHS continues to need every midwife it can get. Successive governments have tried to dri…Read more…
Make or break time for the voluntary sector: NCIA goes out with a challenge
When do you know it’s time to call it a day? For the past decade the National Coalition of Independent Action (NCIA) has been sounding an alarm bell: voluntary groups are failing in their democratic job as an independent force for positive change, and must fight back. Now, after 10 years, we have…Read more…
Has the #SpendingReview fully funded the NHS?
There are two competing but related health service ‘narratives’ being promoted in the immediate aftermath of the spending review. The first is that George Osborne has listened and delivered the “biggest ever commitment to the NHS since its creation”. The second is that Simon Stevens, head of NHS…Read more…
Adult skills and apprenticeships in the #SpendingReview
In one respect the Chancellor’s announcements on skills and apprenticeships in the Spending Review has been viewed as another u-turn with the welcome news that there will not be the degree of cuts to FE colleges and the adult skills budget that was widely anticipated. In addition the Apprenticeship…Read more…
Local government funding slashed by half in #SpendingReview
George Osborne made the announcements that business rates will be localised and local councils will be able to add 2 per cent to council tax to fund social care with some fanfare. Both of those are questionable decisions to say the least – more of which later. But in a matter of a couple…Read more…
Justice Committee calls on government to scrap criminal courts charge, in new report
The House of Commons Justice Committee has today released a report which calls for the repeal of the criminal courts charge, introduced in April 2015, just prior to the general election. The report considers the effects of the introduction of the charg…Read more…
Public sector workers in the firing line (again)
George Osborne has certainly got his work cut out with the Spending Review next week. On the one hand, the Chancellor has pledged to find a further £20bn of departmental cuts in order to meet his spending targets. On the other, he has a fresh commitment to find £4bn for cyber-security and military…Read more…