Category: austerity

UNISON joins Brussels protest against austerity

On Tuesday 12 December, a delegation of UNISON representatives joined thousands of people at a rally in Brussels to demand an end to austerity, better public services and fairer working conditions.

The Europe-wide mobilisation, On the Road for a Fair Deal for Workers, was organised by The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). It took place during EU negotiations over the new Stability and Growth Pact, which aims to limit debt and deficits for member countries.

The ETUC, which represents 45 million members, claims that under the current draft proposal for a reform, 14 member states will be forced to cut a combined 45 billion euros from their budgets next year alone.

“Under the current proposal, member states with a deficit above 3% of GDP will have to reduce their budget deficit by a minimum of 0.5% of GDP every year,” a spokesperson said. 

“That would lead to fewer jobs, lower wages, stretched public services and leave most EU member states unable to make the investments needed to meet the EU’s own social and climate targets.”

London NEC member Abiola Kusoro attended the rally. She said: “It’s fantastic to be in Brussels today as part of a UNISON delegation to the On the Road for a Fair Deal for Workers demonstration.

“We are marching united with unions from across the European continent in a powerful display against austerity and for a fair deal for workers.

“It is so important that UNISON has such a visible presence here today and it’s been a fantastic opportunity to meet and speak to activists from our sister unions to discuss recent member-led campaigns and how we can work together in the future.”

The article UNISON joins Brussels protest against austerity first appeared on the UNISON National site.

UNISON takes COVID-19 inquiry call to TUC Congress

“In many ways, it took the pandemic to expose the true cost of austerity.”

So said UNISON president Libby Nolan as she moved the union’s motion on the COVID-19 public inquiry at the TUC Congress in Liverpool yesterday, saying that the most fitting memorial to all the working people who died during the pandemic would be for lessons to be learned and acted upon.

She pointed out that the hearings in the inquiry, which only started in June, had revealed that the “government has failed in their preparedness and response.”

Ms Nolan, a cardiac nurse from Swansea, described how, “as a nurse, I used bin bags to cover my uniform and a Tesco carrier bag on my head to cover my hair.

“We knew this government wasn’t ready. This lack of PPE [personal protective equipment] caused unnecessary exposure and a huge amount of fear.”

She said that many unions reps are still dealing with members whose lives have been changed by the pandemic. Masks are returning to wards as COVID-19 cases rise, planned vaccinations are to be brought forward and testing scaled up once more.

Noting that the “UK had one of the worst death rates”, Ms Nolan reminded congress that the country also featured among those with the highest COVID-19 deaths among health workers.

“Let’s always remember the dead and fight for the living,” she said, invoking the slogan for International Workers’ Memorial Day.

Congress applauded the important evidence that the TUC has submitted to the inquiry so far, “demonstrating that austerity seriously damaged the UK’s resilience”.

Delegates also agreed that the TUC should continue to:

  • raise issues of direct relevance to union members, their families and communities;
  • support trade unionists to share their experiences with affiliates, so that these can be built into TUC evidence, and direct to the inquiry through the Every Story Matters process;
  • highlight the equalities impact of the pandemic;
  • hold decision makers to account.

The article UNISON takes COVID-19 inquiry call to TUC Congress first appeared on the UNISON National site.

UNISON takes COVID-19 inquiry call to TUC Congress

“In many ways, it took the pandemic to expose the true cost of austerity.”

So said UNISON president Libby Nolan as she moved the union’s motion on the COVID-19 public inquiry at the TUC Congress in Liverpool yesterday, saying that the most fitting memorial to all the working people who died during the pandemic would be for lessons to be learned and acted upon.

She pointed out that the hearings in the inquiry, which only started in June, had revealed that the “government has failed in their preparedness and response.”

Ms Nolan, a cardiac nurse from Swansea, described how, “as a nurse, I used bin bags to cover my uniform and a Tesco carrier bag on my head to cover my hair.

“We knew this government wasn’t ready. This lack of PPE [personal protective equipment] caused unnecessary exposure and a huge amount of fear.”

She said that many unions reps are still dealing with members whose lives have been changed by the pandemic. Masks are returning to wards as COVID-19 cases rise, planned vaccinations are to be brought forward and testing scaled up once more.

Noting that the “UK had one of the worst death rates”, Ms Nolan reminded congress that the country also featured among those with the highest COVID-19 deaths among health workers.

“Let’s always remember the dead and fight for the living,” she said, invoking the slogan for International Workers’ Memorial Day.

Congress applauded the important evidence that the TUC has submitted to the inquiry so far, “demonstrating that austerity seriously damaged the UK’s resilience”.

Delegates also agreed that the TUC should continue to:

  • raise issues of direct relevance to union members, their families and communities;
  • support trade unionists to share their experiences with affiliates, so that these can be built into TUC evidence, and direct to the inquiry through the Every Story Matters process;
  • highlight the equalities impact of the pandemic;
  • hold decision makers to account.

The article UNISON takes COVID-19 inquiry call to TUC Congress first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: Austerity only points to failure

Fiscal competence, sound money and economic stability. These buzz words are sensible aims for a government, but don’t describe the achievements of the one that’s been in power for 12 years in Westminster.

I’m not only talking about the disaster gamble that happened just eight weeks ago. Of course, Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng pushed our economy over a cliff edge, but Conservative MPs are the ones who’d been dragging it there since 2010.

Their long ‘experiment’ with austerity has left a legacy that can only point to failure. Starving the NHS and all public services of funding has done nothing for economic growth. It’s resulted in struggling services, declining pay for the people providing them, and a recruitment and retention crisis – particularly in the NHS.

Data from the Health Foundation shows that NHS spending over the last 10 years lags way behind Europe by £40bn a year. Had there been greater investment in the NHS, the UK wouldn’t have been so vulnerable when COVID-19 hit, and it would have recovered quicker. It’s no wonder our members working in health services are fed up, and are now voting on whether to take industrial action for the first time in years.

During the summer, while the economic crisis festered, the people in power were too busy arguing amongst themselves about who should be in charge. The new prime minister and chancellor are now saying they’ll stabilise the economy and reduce inflation by simply repeating the same failed austerity programme. And I hear the original austerity architect, former chancellor George Osborne, has been advising the government.

But as Jeremy Hunt admits the NHS is “on the brink of collapse” and Rishi Sunak rightly points out that “we face a profound economic crisis”, how can they think that austerity will fix it?

It’s no longer an experiment. It’s been proven to produce sluggish growth, open up vulnerabilities in our public services, and cause declining living standards and pay for millions of working people across the UK.

Despite the chancellor’s claims of wanting to “protect the vulnerable, because to be British is to be compassionate”, it’s reported that free school meals in England won’t be expanded, energy bills will rise dramatically again in April, and despite public sector pay lagging way behind inflation and private sector pay, it’s about to be capped at 2%.

Choosing to go down this route again only begs the question – who is this government really working for? These aren’t the choices of a government on the side of working people, nor is it a government on the side of public services. But UNISON is still fighting for our members and the public services they provide.

Earlier this week I handed in a petition of over 180,000 signatures to No10 Downing Street (pictured above), calling on the government to end the pay crisis with a £15 an hour minimum wage and an inflation-busting pay rise for public sector workers.

Yesterday I wrote to the Chancellor asking him to do the same, because ending the pay crisis should be at the forefront of the government’s plans to support working people and grow the economy.

The article Blog: Austerity only points to failure first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Austerity cuts had terrible repercussions and should never be repeated, says UNISON

Commenting on a new study from Glasgow University and the Glasgow Centre for Population Health suggesting UK government austerity policies contributed to a significant rise in excess deaths, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said today (Wednesday):

“Harsh spending cuts have cast a long, nasty shadow. Slashing budgets meant key public services were unprepared and understaffed when Covid came calling.

“The same mistakes cannot be made again. Austerity can never be a solution. It was a failed experiment that’s had terrible repercussions for communities across the UK and cost many lives.

“The Prime Minister must take heed, particularly as the pandemic inquiry opens. Cuts to public services cause irreparable damage to the nation’s health.”

Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.

Media contacts:
Anthony Barnes M: 07834 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

The article Austerity cuts had terrible repercussions and should never be repeated, says UNISON first appeared on the UNISON National site.