Christina McAnea – Page 8

Local government workers are ‘everyday action heroes’

Every day, everyone’s lives are affected by local council staff. Our communities depend on the 1.3 million local government workers who spend their working lives looking out for others.

We may not see them when they’re working through the night, caring for older and disabled people, or at the crack of dawn when they’re clearing up our streets and parks to keep the environment clean and healthy, but the impact of their work is there when we wake up.

We don’t get to see every minute they dedicate to educating our children and keeping them safe, or to running council services like housing, libraries, and social services, but we rely on them to keep the cogs turning.

We entrust them with some of the most precious people in our lives, and the most precious places, because they are our every day heroes.

When I speak to our members working for local authorities across the UK, they tell me that, although they love their work, they often feel taken for granted. They feel like the silent workers who are often on the sharp end of criticism from the public.

They don’t do it for the prestige, they do it for the difference they can make to people’s lives, every day – but greater understanding from the public would go a long way to making their jobs easier.

It’s UNISON’s job to make sure their work is valued and understood. It’s also our job to make sure they’re treated fairly at work and we campaign all year round to protect the public services they provide.

So today, we’re launching lifelike action figures of crossing warden Sandy, librarian Emma, residential care worker Denise and refuse worker Richard, to recognise the ‘everyday action heroes’ that are our local council workers.

Every community has a Sandy, an Emma, a Denise, and a Richard dedicating their working lives to keeping everyone safe and supported. We saw the extent of their dedication through Covid-19. They went to work – exposed to risks – so that others could stay at home safely. Their colleagues are heroes too, and as Denise says in the video, UNISON makes members feel like they’re not alone.

With these action figures, we hope we can encourage the public, and politicians, to appreciate their superhuman efforts, just as much as UNISON does.

Watch and share the video

Find the cartoon strip on Twitte

The article Local government workers are ‘everyday action heroes’ first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: Don’t give away your power

Every week is a busy week for UNISON. And although it’s only Wednesday, we’ve already achieved so much this week.

We’ve pushed the government one step closer to getting more money into the pockets of NHS workers, we’ve supported our CQC members taking strike action in their dispute over pay, and today, our legal team entered the Royal Courts of Justice to challenge the government on their strike-breaking laws.

UNISON members, activists and staff all play their part in making these things happen. A whole team working in partnership to make a huge difference for our members, for public services and society.

But it also relies on the right decisions being taken, on where we put our efforts and resources.

As the leader of UNISON, I work with our National Executive Council (NEC) to make those crucial decisions.

I’m committed to working in partnership with the 68 members that will take up their positions next month. And you have until 19 May to have your say on who should be on the new NEC.

It’s the foundation of our union and the principle on which our rules were built – that by working in partnership we are stronger and can achieve more.

It’s down to you, and all your fellow UNISON members, to put the right people into positions of responsibility in our union. Don’t give away your power by missing your opportunity to vote.

Have your say, make your voice heard.

The article Blog: Don’t give away your power first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: Honouring Stephen, Doreen and Neville Lawrence

On Saturday 22 April, we will mark the 30^th anniversary of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence. Each anniversary marks a year of life denied to Stephen, who was only 18 when he died.

Our hearts go out to his parents, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Neville Lawrence for whom this day, thirty years ago, was the start of their courageous battle for justice. They took on not only Stephen’s murderers, but the police force that failed Stephen at every turn.

UNISON was proud to stand with Stephen’s parents from the very start, offering whatever support we could. Our commitment remains to this day.

This year, UNISON will be giving Doreen and Neville Lawrence honorary life membership as a mark of respect for their enormous contributions to fight racism across UK society. The honour will be ours.

By challenging the racism that led to Stephen’s death, Doreen and Neville Lawrence challenged an entire society to change and transform itself. We have all benefited from their work. But we still see, across the world, that the lives of Black people are not valued.

UNISON pays tribute to the work of the Lawrence family through our commitment to fighting racism in workplaces and institutional barriers in the workplace, in society and in the trade union movement. In doing so, I am well aware that this fight is not over.

Only a few years ago the government announced that ‘institutional racism’ didn’t exist, only for us all to witness the stark reality of racism laid bare in the pandemic.

We saw its impact on Black workers on the pandemic frontline and we saw its effect on communities already ravaged by deprivation and inequality. And now, the public and politicians are becoming more aware of how much work still remains to be done to tackle institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia in our police forces.

In Stephen’s terrible death, and the justice and help denied to him, we saw the deadliest form that racism can take. But racism can worsen lives by a thousand small cuts, impoverishing lives and life chances.

As UNISON general secretary, I will always ensure that tackling racism in all its forms remains at the core of our work.

The article Blog: Honouring Stephen, Doreen and Neville Lawrence first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: This is democracy in action

There is something important happening inside our union right now, and every UNISON member has the chance to take part in it. It’s our National Executive Council (NEC) elections, and this week, the ballot opened.

Whoever you elect to the NEC, will work with me to steer our union over the next two years. As the leader of our great union, I’ve always been clear that we want to increase participation in important votes like these, so that as many members as possible have their say.

The seats on the NEC are important leadership positions. They come with big responsibilities and have an impact on how our union operates, and on members’ working lives.

The NEC is tasked with making decisions on your behalf and, working collectively, they must put UNISON members’ interests first and focus on the issues that matter to you, no matter which region, service group and self-organised group you’re part of. That’s why it’s crucial that you have your say.

If your ballot paper hasn’t already arrived at your home, then it will arrive in the next few days. It’s so important that you look out for this, take a few minutes to read the information, use all your votes, and send it back in the pre-paid envelope.

Remember, this is your chance to vote for who you want to represent your region and service group, and everyone gets a vote for the national Black members and national disabled members seats.

So make sure your voice is heard, and encourage your UNISON friends to vote too. Ballot papers must be returned by 19 May and results will be announced on 8 June. If you haven’t received your ballot paper by 25 April, please contact our ballot helpline 0800 0 857 857 from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday.

The article Blog: This is democracy in action first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: Money for everything, everywhere, just not your pay rise

Today’s budget was supposedly a ‘back-to-work’ budget, with policies trailed over the past few days promising to help parents, disabled people, and the over-50s return to the workplace.

In reality, though, this budget was back-to-normal for the Conservative Party – big tax cuts for some of the highest earners, and billions of taxpayer money spent subsidising big businesses.

Over thirteen years of Tory austerity, chancellor after chancellor has claimed that there is no money for public services and that the country cannot afford to pay key workers more.

However, somehow, today’s budget found the cash to offer tax cuts to big businesses and the highest earners.

Today’s budget was also as much about what the chancellor didn’t say as what he did.

Childcare

The UK has the most expensive childcare in the OECD, and it is testament to the campaigning of UNISON and others that the chancellor used his budget to announce an additional £4bn investment.

However, what he didn’t mention is that many nurseries already struggle to provide the free hours that parents are entitled to, and many communities suffer massive shortages of provision.

Crucially, childcare doesn’t deliver itself – staff need better pay not lower staff-to-child ratios, but the chancellor said nothing about pay. Cutting staff reduces quality, not cost, and will only accelerate the recruitment and retention crisis in the sector.

Tax loopholes for big business

The chancellor announced a new scheme called “full capital expensing” that allows companies to deduct expenditure on things like IT equipment from their taxable profits.

This loophole is the equivalent of a corporation tax cut worth an average of £9 billion a year. It means that, as well as having one of the lowest corporation tax rates in the world, only 10% of businesses will actually end up paying the full rate.

This means ordinary taxpayers are giving big businesses a £9bn tax subsidy.

Another big tax loophole was left wide open too: the government’s failed windfall tax on oil and gas companies was untouched in today’s budget.

Since the windfall tax was announced, big oil and gas companies like Shell and Exxon have made record profits and paid out billions to their shareholders and executives – while despite the energy cap staying in place another three months, bills are more than double what they were last year.

It doesn’t have to be this way – windfall taxes in other countries have been far more effective, raising billions for the public purse and lowering bills. The chancellor missed an opportunity today to do the same.

Tax relief for the better off

One of the most expensive items in today’s budget was the big tax cuts for high earners who have accumulated significant pensions savings.

For those lucky enough to have over £1.07million in their pension pots, the chancellor abolished the lifetime pensions allowance. This policy only helps around 8,000 of the wealthiest pensions but works out as a £1.1bn a year tax giveaway by 2027.

Another group paying less tax will be some of the UK’s highest earners. As well as increasing the tax allowances for the wealthiest pensioners, the chancellor abolished the lifetime pensions allowance altogether for those lucky enough to have over £1.07 million in their pension pots – helping only 8,000 of the wealthiest pensioners – a huge public subsidy for those on bigger salaries.

Tax rises for everyone else

Meanwhile, the chancellor neglected to mention the taxes that ordinary households will be paying. A huge tax rise is coming next month, thanks to the freezing of tax thresholds in April.

Economists call this ‘fiscal drag’ – but in plain English all this means is basic rate taxpayers will be paying £500 more and those on the higher rate will pay £1000 more.

Over 3 million low paid workers will be dragged into the tax system at the bottom end, while another 2.5 million will be hit with the 40p and 45p top rates.

What is clear is that the cost of living crisis hasn’t gone away. The money for pay rises and public services exists – but it’s concentrated at the top while ordinary households continue to struggle with the rising costs of living.

The article Blog: Money for everything, everywhere, just not your pay rise first appeared on the UNISON National site.

How the budget could fix public services

Jeremy Hunt. Image © Richard Townshend

The budget takes place next Wednesday and is the Westminster government’s opportunity to take big decisions that would benefit people’s lives, such as investing in public services, improving wages, making the tax system fairer and tackling out-of-control energy bills.

But new UNISON research shows that an overwhelming 94.5% of public service workers are not optimistic that it will do any of those things.

This is against a backdrop of almost nine in every 10 public service workers (88.1%) finding it harder to pay their household bills than they did six months ago.

This financial strain is forcing them to make some incredibly difficult choices: 86% of those surveyed are cutting costs to make ends meet – of whom more than one in 10 (10.5%) have had to use, or plan to use, a foodbank.

As well as making cuts, one in five has also taken steps to increase their income, of whom two thirds work overtime, over a third are already working two jobs and a further 24.1% plan to find a second job; 6.5% of respondents have even taken on a third job.

The need to find better-paid work is a major factor in the staffing crisis in public services, the survey shows, with a third of those surveyed planning to leave the public sector altogether for a job elsewhere.

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea commented today: “It’s difficult to see how one of the richest politicians in the UK [the chancellor is worth an estimated £14 million] can deliver the policies that ordinary people who work in and rely on public services need.

“So, here at UNISON we asked the experts – those workers on the frontline in their communities – what policies would improve their lives and boost the economy.”

Abbi, a probation service officer in Llanelli, says that “working full time, two average incomes just doesn’t cover the cost of living anymore.” She would like to see the government put money into tackling poverty, helping with housing costs and bringing down the cost of essentials, like childcare.

Similarly, Kate, a staff nurse in Leicester, would prioritise making sure that working people are able to pay for the essentials.

Three quarters of frontline workers say that an above-inflation pay rise wouldn’t just benefit them, but would boost the whole economy.

Michaela, a teaching assistant in Cornwall, says a pay increase above inflation would mean she and her colleagues could “live without relying on food banks, can be warm in their own homes, not worry about their pay running out in the middle of the month and not having to constantly live hand to mouth. We could live, not just exist.”

Jayne, a legal assistant in Essex, says that an above inflation pay rise would “mean I could eat and put the heating on.”

Jacqueline, a social care support worker in Goole, East Yorkshire, says she would focus on making society fairer, stopping companies from making vast profits when their employees are low paid, and closing tax loopholes so no one avoids paying their due.

Similarly, Derick, a medical librarian working for the NHS in Birmingham, says that if he were chancellor, he would increase the windfall tax on excess profits and close tax loopholes like non-dom status. He would increase income taxes on people earning over £125k and use this to increase the NHS budget and give public sector workers a proper pay rise.

“Public service workers are clear,” said Ms McAnea. “The problem isn’t that there isn’t enough money to go round, but that it is being concentrated in the pockets of big businesses and the wealthiest households.

“95% of public service workers think the chancellor should prioritise cracking down on tax avoidance in next week’s budget, and 92.9% want to see higher windfall taxes on oil and gas giants.”

She concluded: “The choices made next week will have a significant impact on everyone who works for and relies on public services, so we’ll be following the announcements carefully. We hope that the chancellor will listen to public service workers who can see the damage that this government has done to local services and economies – if not, then watch this space for opportunities to take action.”

Notes: figures and quotes are from a UNISON survey of 23,644 public service workers, working in education, local government, health/NHS, social care, police and justice, energy, water, environment, and transport.

The article How the budget could fix public services first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: We will be talking to resolve this dispute for members

UNISON is leading NHS pay negotiations starting today with government ministers. Our head of health, Sara Gorton, will be proceeding with caution but going to the table with the aim of resolving the dispute.

Thousands of ambulance staff, hospital workers and staff at NHS Blood and Transplant were due to walk out tomorrow in a significant escalation in our strike action. But the pressure from several days of strike action from December to February, and from new strike mandates secured in the past few weeks, has built on the government.

As I visited picket lines during our strike days, it was clear that the determination from our members to win fair pay was only growing stronger and stronger the longer the government failed to act.

These negotiations could have opened up as long ago as last July. That’s when UNISON first warned the government that the £1,400 flat rate pay award was not enough to deal with the staffing crisis in the NHS, or to avoid going into dispute with health unions.

After months of intransigence and missed opportunities by the government, the brave action of thousands of NHS workers has forced ministers to move from their position, offer more money for this year and next year and start negotiations.

Ignoring NHS workers for this long was a big mistake and refusing to take their concerns seriously has been hugely damaging for all involved. But, in good faith, we took their offer to start talks seriously.

Find out more about the dispute

The decision to suspend our strike action was made democratically by health members at the end of last week, but as no deal has been struck yet, we continue to prepare for further strike action should we need it if talks break down.

Lay members and UNISON officials will be closely monitoring progress of the talks, and we’re all clear that the dispute is not over yet. It will only be over when the dedicated and experienced staff working across the NHS, accept a deal that gives them the fair pay they deserve.

The article Blog: We will be talking to resolve this dispute for members first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: Celebrating our Black LGBT+ activists

This month we lit up our UNISON Centre in Pride colours to celebrate all our LGBT+ members during LGBT+ History Month.

As this is UNISON’s year of Black workers, I also want to celebrate our Black LGBT+ activists, both from our past and present, who’ve led the way in the struggle for equality and LGBT+ rights both within UNISON and across the UK.

Rizwan Sheikh was a leading activist in lesbian and gay, and Black members groups. He became a senior activist in his region and then nationally. He was very proud to be the first Black co-chair of UNISON’s national lesbian and gay committee (as it was known at the time, now the LGBT+ national committee) and campaigned for supporting migrant workers in the Northern region.

Then there’s Bev Miller, our first ever lesbian chair of the national Black members’ committee and a tireless advocate for Black LGBT+ rights for many years in UNISON.

Dave Merchant’s activism on trans rights was pioneering. He was the first trans man to co-chair the national LGBT+ committee and drove the work on trans equality in workplaces and within UNISON itself.

Tim Roberts is now Eastern regional secretary, but he has always been an influential advocate for equality, whether it was on our national LGBT+ committee, or challenging racism and discrimination in the workplace. Tim led the way for UNISON to have continued representation at UK Black Pride.

We also can’t forget Ted Brown and Dirg Aaab-Richards, both national lesbian and gay committee members who led a successful campaign against media homophobia in the 1990s. They organised an advertising boycott of The Voice, until it issued an apology for a homophobic comment piece about Justin Fashanu and pledged to include positive coverage.

Another prominent activist at this time was Claire Andrews. She had big ideas about where we were going as a movement and what that meant for Black lesbians and gay men. She served on both the national lesbian and gay committee and Black members committee and ensured that there was space in both to debate their issues and set union policy.

Anyone that has been to LGBT+ conference over the years will know Paul Amann, who has been part of the LGBT+ standing orders committee for 20 years! Paul has led campaigns for LGBT+ refugees and was a strong advocate for LGBT+ rights at the Qatar World Cup. He was a vocal critic of the World Cup being held in a homophobic country.

These are just a small number of our activists that have made our LGBT+ Black history. To all our Black LGBT+ activists past and present, we thank you for your activism and for making our union what it is today.

The national LGBT+ committee’s Black caucus have created a quiz and presentation that can be used by UNISON members in their LGBT+ history month activities. You can find it here.

The article Blog: Celebrating our Black LGBT+ activists first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: A significant step forward for pregnant workers and new parents

The beginning of February marked a significant step forward for pregnant workers and new parents, as a bill to provide new and expecting parents with additional protections in the workplace passed its third reading.

UNISON worked with Dan Jarvis MP on the new law – the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill – to prevent employers from laying off expectant mothers and new parents, by extending redundancy protections to six months.

Raising a family is becoming even more expensive as the cost of living crisis continues. What new parents often need most is job security, but pregnant workers and new parents are too often first in line for redundancy.

Around three quarters of working people currently experience maternity discrimination and 54,000 pregnant women are forced out of their jobs each year.

In theory, the law already gives women on maternity leave priority over other employees at risk of redundancy – a woman on maternity leave is “entitled to be offered” any suitable alternative vacancy, where one is available, as soon as her job is at risk of redundancy.

However, in practice, this is often not happening. Those who have just given birth or have been away from the workplace for months, are unlikely to pursue an employment tribunal claim. So, it’s hardly surprising that maternity discrimination cases form a disproportionately large percentage of UNISON’s legal caseload.

To make matters worse, many maternity protections are under attack through the Retained EU Law Bill, including protections against discrimination for pregnant women and women on maternity leave, and the right to suitable alternative work on no less favourable terms.

Without these core protections, UK workers – especially women – will be thrown back to the 1970s, which means the bill is even more urgent.

This new law will represent a significant win for UNISON members as well as add greater workplace protections to the statute book, and I hope it receives the full support of the House of Lords too.

The article Blog: A significant step forward for pregnant workers and new parents first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: Government inaction just leads to more action

An escalation in our industrial action is about to cause more headaches for the Westminster government – an administration that’s already buckling under the pressure.

Working people are standing up for themselves and refusing to quietly accept the pay crisis and a decline in their living standards. In contrast, the government ministers responsible for sorting out public sector pay disputes have gone silent.

There have been no meetings between UNISON and ministers since before 11 January, and it has been weeks since Rishi Sunak protested on the media that his ‘door was always open’.

But is it? No invite has arrived in my office, and our request to meet the chancellor has gone unanswered.

Even odder, is the health secretary’s admission to the health select committee that the government hadn’t submitted any evidence to the NHS pay review body

One thing is for sure, the pay crisis that our members are dealing with won’t go away if the government sticks to their current game plan of ignoring workers and their unions.

And the constant dire economic forecasts give nobody hope that the government knows what they’re doing. As we’ve had no progress in resolving our disputes, we’ve announced more NHS and Environment Agency strike dates.

Environment Agency workers will walk out for another 12 hours from 7am on Wednesday, 8 February.

Meanwhile, ambulance workers in London, Yorkshire, the South West, North East and North West will go on strike again on Friday, 10 February.

Our NHS action, on top of that of other unions, means there’ll be action in the NHS every day this week.

For members who take the difficult decision to go on strike and lose a day’s pay, it’s tough. They need all of our solidarity and our moral support.

We’ve also set up an appeal, and any contribution you can make to the strike fund is very much appreciated.

UNISON has been taking sustained industrial action for some time now. We are now welcoming additional donations to our strike fund.
You can make a one-off bank transfer or set up a regular standing order to:
Account name: UNISON
Account no: 20170693
Sort code: 60-83-01
If you want your donation to go to the health strike fund, please use the reference health. If you want your donation to go to Environment Agency, please use the reference env. If you don’t use a reference it will go to the general strike fund.

The article Blog: Government inaction just leads to more action first appeared on the UNISON National site.