All the union news that's fit to blog...
You may have
spotted some good news about climate action in yesterday’s Programme for
Government, including action on phasing out new fossil fuel cars, investment in
active travel, drink deposit schemes and low carbon infrastructure. (UNISON
briefing here).
We particularly
welcome news of the Just Transition Commission, although we still need to hear
the details of it and some otherRead more…
UNISON members are being urged
to help make Scotland’s new Climate Change Act as strong as possible.
With other members of Stop
Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS), we are disappointed that the Scottish
Government’s proposals for the new Bill are not ambitious enough.
The SCCS Act for our Future
campaign has an easy online E Action. You can click here to email First Minister Nicola SturgeonRead more…
Tackling Scotland’s “disgraceful” fuel poverty scandal must be a top priority and will help fight climate change, UNISON said today.
New figures from the Existing Homes Alliance show that 62% of Scottish homes are “unhealthily cold”. The public services union works with the EHA, Energy Action Scotland, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland and others in calling for a Warm Homes Act.
UNISON’s 2016Read more…
2 March 2016
Dave Watson, UNISON head of policy and public affairs said,
‘UNISON welcomes any progress on the council tax freeze. However after 8 years we had expected more than tinkering with the present system. This will not ensure that local government is properly funded, nor will it ensure a fair funding for local government. Scotland needs a fundamental review local tax funding for localRead more…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Date: Friday 22 January 2016
UNISON hails historic pay deal for further education support staff in Scotland
UNISON has led negotiations to achieve the first ever national pay rise for over four thousand support staff in Scotland‘s Further Education Colleges. Support staff deliver a range of vital student services and are key to the running of the 25 new colleges in Scotland.
The deal wasRead more…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Wed 2 Sep 2015
UNISON has welcomed the Scottish Government announcement that it intends to abolish fees for employment tribunals in Scotland.This announcement comes the week after UNISON vowed to go to the UK Supreme Court in its ongoing fight to appeal against the UK government’s decision to introduce employment tribunal fees across the UK – after the Court of Appeal rejected UNISON’sRead more…
Here is the recently published article I wrote for the new edition of the Scottish Left Review, on behalf of the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland. I’ve tried to add helpful links into…Read more…
Friday 3 July 2015
UNISON Scotland’s Health Committee today welcomed a
breakthrough in the fight against poverty pay with the Scottish
Government agreeing to a review of the lowest pay band.
This development highlights the benefits of
Partnership working which has been the basis of industrial relations
in NHSScotland since 1999 and further enshrinesRead more…
Date: Thursday 11 June 2015
Over 60 stewards and union staff from NHS union UNISON meet in Ayr today (Thurs) to plan the union’s future strategy on pay in NHS Scotland.
Speaking at the annual policy event Tam Waterson Chairperson of the Scottish Health Committee said: “UNISON believes in the NHS and UK bargaining on pay and conditions, however our members across the UK have experiencedRead more…