general secretary – Page 5

Blog: Proud to welcome in Pride

Today, we welcome in Pride season when UNISON activists will again join Prides across every region and nation to celebrate our LGBT+ members and the wider community.

UNISON’s LGBT+ members bring so much to our union, and make it a diverse, wonderful organisation to join and to work for.

A year on from the last time I wrote about Pride month, it’s sad that such little progress has been made in our society and even worse, that in some ways, the UK government is taking huge leaps backwards.

One in five LGBT+ people have experienced a hate crime or incident because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity in the last 12 months.

Attacks on and discrimination against LGBT+ people seem to constantly be on the rise, and Trans people are being used in a game of political football, with little regard for their feelings or their voices.

But within UNISON, we’ve a lot to be proud of. Our Trans equality training has been delivered to many branches and regions, with over 600 members now having taken part. Our trans activist network has doubled and are delivering a ‘train the trainer’ workshops for trans activists to keep up with the demand.

During LGBT+ history month in February, we lit up UNISON Centre in Pride colours and, as this year is UNISON’s Year of Black Workers, we celebrated our Black LGBT+ activists, both from our past and present.

So I want all our LGBT+ members to stay hopeful. UNISON is here, campaigning for urgent action by governments to combat rising inequality and to put adequate funding into specialist LGBT+ services.

We’re here, campaigning for the abolition of conversion therapy and to encourage inclusion, make more allies for the LGBT+ community and to always show solidarity.

Let’s be proud of our achievements over the years on LGBT+ inclusion, and make sure we keep equality at the heart of everything UNISON does.

Happy Pride season everyone. Stay fabulous.

The article Blog: Proud to welcome in Pride first appeared on the UNISON National site.

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 Twitter

This is one of many reasons why NJC workers deserve and inflation busting pay rise. Find out more at the campaign page below:

NJC: Council and school pay 2023

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

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

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: Launching UNISON’s campaign for a National Care Service

It’s clear to everyone that social care is broken. During the pandemic, this crucial public service was left exposed to the ravages of COVID-19. Care workers forced to work without PPE, no sick pay for self-isolation and older and disabled patients discharged from hospitals into care homes while COVID-positive. It led to a national tragedy and the scale of loss was among the worse in Europe.

But the problems in social care didn’t start when COVID-19 arrived. For decades, governments have tried to run our social care system as a privatised bargain basement service, where care workers are left unsupported and care recipients routinely let down.

Most social care in England is commissioned by local government and delivered by private and independent companies. The system has been run down by a combination of funding cuts to councils and profit extraction by some providers. National standards are not properly enforced and care workers routinely face poverty wages and even outright exploitation.

Pay for care workers is at rock-bottom minimum wage rates, even though it’s a difficult, skilled job that requires them to take on huge responsibilities. Some receive even less, because they are not paid adequately for travel time or overnight sleep-in shifts. Is it any wonder there are 165,000 vacancies in the sector? By far the highest rate of unfilled posts for any sector of the economy.

Despite the Westminster government’s claim it would “fix” social care, it doesn’t have the solutions, or the genuine political will, to deliver the service that’s needed.

And if we needed any reminding of how the current government disregards the care sector and its workforce, we got news yesterday that they are planning to half the investment in the social care workforce which they announced in 2021. Social care now needs to moved to the front of the queue, not shifted to the back.

It’s time for change. Social care should become part of a nationally recognised institution, as respected as the NHS. It should not be run for profit, but to provide world-class, high quality social care for those who need it. Older people, disabled people and those in need of reablement services deserve to have their needs put first, not those of shareholders.

UNISON is the largest union in the care sector, and we have a responsibility to push for this progressive and radical change. That’s why over the next 18 months and beyond, UNISON will be intensifying our campaign for England to have a National Care Service.

We want to see a National Care Service that:

gives access to quality care for all who need it;
is focussed on providing world-class social care, not delivering profits for shareholders;
has national pay, terms and conditions for all care workers and a proper workforce plan;
has the long-term and adequate funding for a high-quality care service;
includes an emergency pay boost for all care workers, helping to end the staffing crisis.

Social care is a devolved policy area. Reform, and moves towards a National Care Service model, are at different stages in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. UNISON is campaigning hard for root and branch reform in all nations of the UK. So, although this campaign is focussed on England, we are on the front foot on this issue across the UK.

Over the coming months there will be lots of ways for UNISON members working in social care to get involved in the campaign and push for the change we all so desperately want to see.

We have listened to our members and heard the voices of all those who rely on social care. Make no mistake, we will do everything in our power to make this happen.

Find out more about the campaign here

The article Blog: Launching UNISON’s campaign for a National Care Service first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: Which version of the UK will Jeremy Hunt choose to back?

Last week, the news showed two versions of the UK. In one, school buildings are crumbling and ambulances have to queue outside overstretched A&E departments. Public service workers who we clapped through the pandemic are relying on food banks, and credit cards to afford their energy bills and childcare costs. Workers across the country are making the difficult choice to take industrial action for a decent wage.

In the other UK, though, profits are booming. The oil and gas giants made record returns, while our energy bills hit record highs. And as public service workers are told to accept pay restraint, Shell’s outgoing CEO was given a 53% pay rise and a payout in the millions. Bankers bonuses have doubled since the 2008 crash.

Wednesday’s budget is about choices. The chancellor has to choose which of the two versions of the UK is his priority. Will he choose to let oil and gas giants continue to make massive profits at the expense of ordinary households struggling to pay their bills? Will he choose to allow obscene payouts at the top, while telling public service workers to accept yet another pay cut?

Or will he choose to fix the crisis in public services and the crisis that each of us faces as we grapple with the rising cost of living?

When working people get a pay rise, they don’t gamble it in stocks and shares, or buy second homes. Instead, they spend it locally, buying food in local shops, taking their family to the cafe, paying their nursery bills or getting a haircut, thereby helping businesses locally and the economy as a whole.

Giving a pay rise also helps essential public services at a time when they are haemorrhaging staff.

UNISON’s recent NHS staff survey shows that 1 in 9 nurses left active service in 2021-2022 while a quarter of paramedics say they would leave their job as soon as they could find another one. The outlook is bleak unless the chancellor chooses a drastically different direction.

All the reports say that there is some financial wriggle room in this budget. Borrowing was lower than forecast, and the government has an unexpected surplus.

On Wednesday, Jeremy Hunt can afford to invest in working people and public services, and he has the money to be able to keep energy bills down and ensure people can afford the basics. The question is, will he choose to?

We’ll be watching closely, and we’ll be ready to take action if the chancellor fails to fix the crisis in pay packets and public services.

The article Blog: Which version of the UK will Jeremy Hunt choose to back? 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: An electric atmosphere at Northern Ireland strikes

I arrived in Belfast last night, ready to spend today with striking health and care workers. After radio interviews with BBC Radio Ulster and Foyle, I arrived to a packed picket line.

Together, we marched from the Royal Victoria Hospital, joining other marchers on the way to a rally at Belfast City Hall. The atmosphere was electric. An energy driven by their determination to put an end to poverty pay and the silence from politicians in power.

Northern Ireland’s healthcare workers have taken a difficult decision to go on strike. So it’s no surprise they’re ready to be loud about the bold steps they’re taking.

From the stage at the rally, I looked out over the sea of purple and green UNISON flags and the colours of other unions. I could see the faces of the essential workers who have been treated by governments as dispensable, unimportant and as a nuisance.

My message to them was that UNISON is 100% behind them all, and that we’re in it for the long haul. The Prime Minister, the chancellor and the health secretary have gone into hiding. But they can’t stay there forever.

They must face the reality that they’re letting down millions of workers from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. That their political choices have caused hardship to workers and families, and are driving our public services into the ground.

UNISON will keep up the pressure on the Westminster government. Until they take responsibility, get round the negotiating table and deliver fair pay for our amazing members, we will remain resolute, organised and loud!

The article Blog: An electric atmosphere at Northern Ireland strikes first appeared on the UNISON National site.