Doctor Who fans are being called to show their backing for a BBC under attack as the show celebrates its 52nd birthday.Read more…
11 ways Cameron’s cuts are hurting the NHS – #FullyFundOurNHS
David Cameron claims to have protected NHS spending. But this has failed to keep pace with growing demand, or even with inflation. Funding per head of population has actually fallen 0.6% in real terms since 2010. Public funding of health as a proportio…Read more…
UNISON calls on Police Scotland to implement all recommendations in HMICS Call Handling Final Report
Tue 10 November 2015
UNISON has welcomed the HMICS Independent Assurance Review: Police Scotland – Call Handling Final Report published today (10 Nov) and calls on Police Scotland to implement all its recommendations.
HMICS has taken into account the high level of pressure that UNISON police staff members work under in the Contact, Command and Control (C3) division of Police Scotland. WeRead more…
Highest prison injury and death figures for a decade reveal system out of control
New statistics released by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) reveal that 267 people have died in prisons in England and Wales in the 12 months up to the end of September 2015, an increase of 33 compared to the 12 months ending December 2014. This number in…Read more…
UNISON calls for halt to Police Scotland control centre closures
Date: Saturday 31 October 2015
UNISON Scotland has pledged full support for a resolution at the Scottish Labour conference today (Saturday 31 October) which demands a halt to the continued closures of local Control Room / Service Centres across Scotland. The resolution, tabled by Aberdeen Central Labour Party at the conference in Perth, highlights the ongoing crisis in Police Scotland’s ControlRead more…
Big increase in assaults on public service workers, says UNISON
Friday 23 October 2015
UNISON Scotland is publishing today Violence at Work: A Survey of UNISON employers and Staff in Scotland 2015. It shows an increase of 1,227 assaults compared with 2014.
The total recorded assaults on public sector workers in Scotland in 2015 was 38,279. This compares to 20,000 in 2006.
UNISON report included a survey, to ask what staff had suffered, how they had feltRead more…
UNISON Scotland 2015-10-22 16:13:00
Thursday 22 October 2015
John Young, UNISON North Lanarkshire Council steward said,
“This is devastating for everyone living in North Lanarkshire and once again it is the low paid and vulnerable, including children, elderly and disabled people who will be the worst affected. North Lanarkshire Council are proposing to cut 10% of the workforce which will cause chaos in our vital public services;Read more…
Community led public services can transform inequalities, says report
Thursday 22 October 2015
UNISON Labour Link Media Release – Launch of Commission on Health Inequalities report will take place at 22 October, 9.00am UNISON Scotland, 14 West Campbell St., Glasgow
The report of the Commission on Health Inequalities for the Scottish Labour Party calls for national leadership and community hubs to tackle health inequalities.The Commission for Health InequalitiesRead more…
‘Ultimate market madness’, UNISON’s statement on privatisation Scottish Water services
Date: Tuesday 6 October 2015
Dave Watson, head of UNISON Scotland bargaining and campaigns, said: “UNISON is deeply disappointed that the contract for Scotland’s public sector water and wastewater services is to be awarded to a privatised utility. In fairness, the Scottish Government had few options because the system of retail water competition is the ultimate in market madness. £350m willRead more…
There’s still time to save the BBC – so let’s get moving
More than 20,000 people have signed BECTU’s petition to save the BBC.Read more…
Public services? “Shareholders first” say CBI
In one of his occasional speeches on public services last month, David Cameron eulogised the role that private companies play in revamping things: What energises many markets are new insurgent companies, who break monopolies and bring in new ways of do…Read more…
Home Office propose more powers for ‘Home Guard’ of police volunteers, amid cuts to police workforce
The Home Office has announced a consultation on ‘Reforming the Powers of Police Staff and Volunteers‘, aiming to give Chief Constables much greater flexibility in designating powers on police staff and volunteers. Crucially, the government propose enabling volunteers to be designated with powers in…Read more…
Scottish public bodies must mitigate austerity, says UNISON
Date: Wednesday 23 September 2015
UNISON Scotland is launching a campaign today (23 September 2015) calling on the Scottish Government, local authorities and public bodies to do all they can to mitigate UK government austerity.The public services trade union is calling for a range of financial and industrial policies to create investment in Scottish infrastructure, green energy production andRead more…
Fine words and ideals no substitute for investment: UNISON inquiry into Scotland’s libraries
Tuesday 8 September 2015
UNISON, the trade union for Scotland’s library staff, has published a report ‘Read It and Weep’, which outlines the experience of those working in Scotland’s libraries. It raises the concerns and difficulties of staff who are simultaneously being expected to expand services while being in the front line of cuts. The report is based on qualitative research from UNISONRead more…
UNISON Statement on HMICS Independent Assurance Review Police Scotland – Call Handling Interim Report
Thu 3 September 2015
UNISON welcomes the findings of the HMICS Independent Assurance Review Police Scotland – Call Handling Interim Report. UNISON has fully engaged in this review and has encouraged police staff to participate as fully as they can. The review found that staff at all levels in the division are ‘strongly committed in often challenging circumstances to providing a good service toRead more…
Government’s union membership changes are aimed at undermining public service workers’ rights
The Trade Union Bill keeps getting bigger as the Government find more ways they can rebalance power away from the workforce. The rapidly increasing package of measures contained in the Bill seeks to reduce the capacity of unions to represent people at …Read more…
Crude caps on public servants’ redundancy payments are not value for money
Despite a settlement on redundancy terms agreed with the last Minister for the Cabinet Office, Matt Hancock’s Cabinet colleague, Francis Maude, which he described at the time as “for the longer term” the government seems intent to rush yet another change less than five years after the…Read more…
What does austerity mean?
“What is austerity?” was one of the most common Google searches during the televised leaders’ debate during the general election campaign in May. To many, public finances appear as a stream of disconnected data, huge numbers and percentages trotted out during budgets and spending reviews that seem…Read more…
BBC funding settlement is a disaster but far from a done deal
Did the 29 celebrities who wrote to complain about the BBC’s funding settlement this week initiate their letter to the PM or did they not? Who cares?! We very much doubt that Daniel Craig or Stephen Fry were forced by the evil BBC to sign or die! But the spat this threw up in the…
The post…Read more…
NHS Pay Review Body echoes health union views on 7 day NHS
A week after the Chancellor effectively sidelined the NHS Pay Review Body by imposing a 4 year “deal” on pay, the PRB has published its long awaited report on seven day services for NHS staff. The report sets out the conclusions and observations of PRB members who gathered written and…Read more…