Category: Article

NEC election candidate applications now open

The candidate application and nomination period opens today (Monday 13 January) for UNISON’s NEC elections 2025, which take place over the next five months. It will remain open until 5pm 14 February.

Throughout its structures, UNISON is a lay member led union, and the national executive council (NEC) is the union’s senior decision-making body. It is re-elected every two years.

Between conferences, the body directs the union’s policy and campaigning priorities – taking important decisions on things like pay negotiations and industrial action.

The NEC is made up of representatives elected from all of UNISON’s regions and service groups, as well as seats for four Black members, two young members and two disabled members. Since women make up roughly two thirds of the union’s membership, two-thirds of the seats on the NEC are reserved for women and 13 seats are reserved for low-paid women.

UNISON strives for representation from every corner of the union’s membership and you could be one of those representatives. You only need to have been a full member since 11 September 2024 to apply to be a candidate.

Some seats come with further eligibility criteria (you can find full details in the NEC election procedures). For example, to apply for a service group seat you must work in that sector, for a young member seat you must be aged 30 or under for the entire length of the two year term on the NEC or those applying for low-paid seats must earn less than the new 2025 cut-off rate.

You can find the application form here.

Once you have applied, to be eligible for election, candidates must also receive nominations from two branches or self-organised bodies relevant to your seat. To find the full details of nomination requirements, eligibility and the timetable, read the NEC election procedures.

Ballot papers will start being sent to eligible voting members on 21 April, with the pack containing a pre-paid envelope for members to return their ballot. Votes must be received by the scrutineer by 21 May. The results will be announced on 11 June.

The article NEC election candidate applications now open first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Tougher laws needed to protect ambulance staff against violence and abuse

Commenting on new figures published by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives today (Tuesday) highlighting the levels of physical and verbal abuse directed at UK ambulance staff, UNISON deputy head of health Alan Lofthouse said:

“Nobody should endure violence or abuse just for doing their job. It’s appalling that paramedics and ambulance workers, who deliver life-saving care, are targeted with punches, kicks, death threats and other disgraceful tirades.

“This shocking report shows an alarming rise in incidents that has to be addressed. Tougher consequences and better protection for staff are needed urgently.

“Ambulance staff who’re there to protect the public must be able to work without fear of being assaulted or threatened.”

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
Sophie Goodchild M: 07767 325595 E: s.goodchild@unison.co.uk

The article Tougher laws needed to protect ambulance staff against violence and abuse first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Tougher laws needed to protect ambulance staff against violence and abuse

Commenting on new figures published by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives today (Tuesday) highlighting the levels of physical and verbal abuse directed at UK ambulance staff, UNISON deputy head of health Alan Lofthouse said:

“Nobody should endure violence or abuse just for doing their job. It’s appalling that paramedics and ambulance workers, who deliver life-saving care, are targeted with punches, kicks, death threats and other disgraceful tirades.

“This shocking report shows an alarming rise in incidents that has to be addressed. Tougher consequences and better protection for staff are needed urgently.

“Ambulance staff who’re there to protect the public must be able to work without fear of being assaulted or threatened.”

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
Sophie Goodchild M: 07767 325595 E: s.goodchild@unison.co.uk

The article Tougher laws needed to protect ambulance staff against violence and abuse first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Opinion: Water under pressure – the case for renationalisation

By UNISON head of environment Donna Rowe-Merriman

Water is life – a basic human need and a critical public service. Yet across England, this precious resource has been in the hands of private companies for over 30 years, with disastrous consequences for customers, communities and the environment.

On the day that water regulator Ofwat announced hikes of an average of 36% over five years for consumers, England’s largest water company is on the verge of collapse, burdened with massive debt and embroiled in court battles. Elsewhere in England, over 50,000 homes, schools, hospitals and businesses are without water due to failing infrastructure.

Public good should come before private profit. It’s time to renationalise water companies.

A way forward

On 9 December, UNISON launched its water report in Parliament (see photo above, by Gary Schwartz), joined by senior UNISON activists from the water industry and Environment Agency, Labour MP Clive Lewis, parliamentarians and prominent academics, with speakers emphasising the need for a water sector that prioritises public health, environmental protection, and accountability.

Outlining a comprehensive roadmap for renationalisation, it highlights systemic issues in England’s privatised water sector.

When water services were privatised in England and Wales in 1989, it was sold to the public as a way to improve efficiency and attract investment. Since then, private water companies have raked in £72 billion in dividends for shareholders, while failing to invest adequately in infrastructure.

That is what Ofwat says today’s announcement of rises to bills is looking to address.

Household bills have risen by 40% in real terms and the regulator’s recent announcement to ringfence infrastructure – this only compounds the burden.

England’s rivers and beaches are in crisis, with companies spilling 3 million hours of raw sewage into waterways in 2022 alone. Only 14% of rivers meet good ecological standards.

Meanwhile, companies have built up a staggering £60 billion in debt since privatisation, with much of it used to pay shareholders.

A case study in the problems

Thames Water epitomises the issues plaguing the sector.

Despite managing the UK’s busiest water network, it loses 630 million litres of water daily – equivalent to 250 Olympic swimming pools.

Since 2017, the company has paid £32.4 million in fines for pollution, including dumping raw sewage into rivers.

It is saddled with £14 billion in debt, largely accrued to pay shareholders. In June 2023 it nearly collapsed, requiring a £750 million bailout from investors.

This is not an isolated case. Financial mismanagement, excessive shareholder payouts and environmental harm are endemic.

Failures of senior management in individual companies do not reflect the high standards of their employees, many of whom are UNISON members.

In addition, Ofwat was established to hold private companies accountable for fair pricing and environmental protection. It has failed, allowing companies to get away with poor performance, focusing on short-term price controls instead of long-term investment.

After a 20% price hike in July 2023, today’s announcement averages a 36% increase – closer to the demands of water companies, many of which are owned by foreign investors or private equity firms, and many of which prioritise profit over public service.

Renationalisation would eliminate the need to pay shareholders, allowing money to be reinvested into infrastructure and passed on to consumers as savings.

Public ownership can prioritise ecological restoration, ending the sewage scandal and ensuring clean, safe water for everyone. Removing the profit motive would allow water services to focus on long-term planning and sustainable investment, not short-term gain.

Public ownership isn’t just possible—it’s popular. A 2023 poll found that 66% of Britons support renationalising water, cutting across political and social divides.

UNISON will continue to pressure the government to make water security and renationalisation a key priority. It’s time to end the 30-year experiment of privatisation and put water back where it belongs – in the hands of the public.

Read the report: Clean Water – a case for public ownership

Water customers will be outraged that bills are rising again

The article Opinion: Water under pressure – the case for renationalisation first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Opinion: Water under pressure – the case for renationalisation

By UNISON head of environment Donna Rowe-Merriman

Water is life – a basic human need and a critical public service. Yet across England, this precious resource has been in the hands of private companies for over 30 years, with disastrous consequences for customers, communities and the environment.

On the day that water regulator Ofwat announced hikes of an average of 36% over five years for consumers, England’s largest water company is on the verge of collapse, burdened with massive debt and embroiled in court battles. Elsewhere in England, over 50,000 homes, schools, hospitals and businesses are without water due to failing infrastructure.

Public good should come before private profit. It’s time to renationalise water companies.

A way forward

On 9 December, UNISON launched its water report in Parliament (see photo above, by Gary Schwartz), joined by senior UNISON activists from the water industry and Environment Agency, Labour MP Clive Lewis, parliamentarians and prominent academics, with speakers emphasising the need for a water sector that prioritises public health, environmental protection, and accountability.

Outlining a comprehensive roadmap for renationalisation, it highlights systemic issues in England’s privatised water sector.

When water services were privatised in England and Wales in 1989, it was sold to the public as a way to improve efficiency and attract investment. Since then, private water companies have raked in £72 billion in dividends for shareholders, while failing to invest adequately in infrastructure.

That is what Ofwat says today’s announcement of rises to bills is looking to address.

Household bills have risen by 40% in real terms and the regulator’s recent announcement to ringfence infrastructure – this only compounds the burden.

England’s rivers and beaches are in crisis, with companies spilling 3 million hours of raw sewage into waterways in 2022 alone. Only 14% of rivers meet good ecological standards.

Meanwhile, companies have built up a staggering £60 billion in debt since privatisation, with much of it used to pay shareholders.

A case study in the problems

Thames Water epitomises the issues plaguing the sector.

Despite managing the UK’s busiest water network, it loses 630 million litres of water daily – equivalent to 250 Olympic swimming pools.

Since 2017, the company has paid £32.4 million in fines for pollution, including dumping raw sewage into rivers.

It is saddled with £14 billion in debt, largely accrued to pay shareholders. In June 2023 it nearly collapsed, requiring a £750 million bailout from investors.

This is not an isolated case. Financial mismanagement, excessive shareholder payouts and environmental harm are endemic.

Failures of senior management in individual companies do not reflect the high standards of their employees, many of whom are UNISON members.

In addition, Ofwat was established to hold private companies accountable for fair pricing and environmental protection. It has failed, allowing companies to get away with poor performance, focusing on short-term price controls instead of long-term investment.

After a 20% price hike in July 2023, today’s announcement averages a 36% increase – closer to the demands of water companies, many of which are owned by foreign investors or private equity firms, and many of which prioritise profit over public service.

Renationalisation would eliminate the need to pay shareholders, allowing money to be reinvested into infrastructure and passed on to consumers as savings.

Public ownership can prioritise ecological restoration, ending the sewage scandal and ensuring clean, safe water for everyone. Removing the profit motive would allow water services to focus on long-term planning and sustainable investment, not short-term gain.

Public ownership isn’t just possible—it’s popular. A 2023 poll found that 66% of Britons support renationalising water, cutting across political and social divides.

UNISON will continue to pressure the government to make water security and renationalisation a key priority. It’s time to end the 30-year experiment of privatisation and put water back where it belongs – in the hands of the public.

Read the report: Clean Water – a case for public ownership

Water customers will be outraged that bills are rising again

The article Opinion: Water under pressure – the case for renationalisation first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Water customers will be outraged that bills are rising again

Commenting on the announcement today (Thursday) by Ofwat of new water charges that mean typical bills will rise by an average of £86 next year, UNISON head of environment Donna Rowe-Merriman said:

“Customers will be outraged that water companies are raising bills again and by such a huge margin, despite ongoing environmental abuses and a failure to provide basic services.

“This increase, backed by Ofwat, unfairly piles more cost on consumers already facing financial strain, while rewarding underperforming companies.

“Public frustration is understandable as households everywhere will bear the cost of water companies’ failures for years to come.

“Water companies must be held accountable, they have to improve service quality and reduce their impact on the environment.”

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:
Fatima Ayad M: 07508 080383 E: f.ayad@unison.co.uk
Anthony Barnes M: 07834 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk

The article Water customers will be outraged that bills are rising again first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Water customers will be outraged that bills are rising again

Commenting on the announcement today (Thursday) by Ofwat of new water charges that mean typical bills will rise by an average of £86 next year, UNISON head of environment Donna Rowe-Merriman said:

“Customers will be outraged that water companies are raising bills again and by such a huge margin, despite ongoing environmental abuses and a failure to provide basic services.

“This increase, backed by Ofwat, unfairly piles more cost on consumers already facing financial strain, while rewarding underperforming companies.

“Public frustration is understandable as households everywhere will bear the cost of water companies’ failures for years to come.

“Water companies must be held accountable, they have to improve service quality and reduce their impact on the environment.”

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:
Fatima Ayad M: 07508 080383 E: f.ayad@unison.co.uk
Anthony Barnes M: 07834 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk

The article Water customers will be outraged that bills are rising again first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Parliament publishes UNISON’s Employment Rights Bill evidence

UNISON’s written evidence to the parliamentary committee charged with examining the detail of the Employment Rights Bill has been published today.

The bill represents the government’s flagship initiative to radically improve working lives, which the union has hailed as ‘game changing’.

MPs on the House of Commons public bill committee are reviewing expert evidence, ahead of the bill’s report stage in early 2025.

In November, Maggi Ferncombe, UNISON’s director of political strategy and transformation, gave powerful verbal evidence to the committee.

And in December, UNISON’s policy and legal staff submitted the union’s written evidence.

UNISON identifies the bill as “a long overdue set of proposals that will bring much-needed relief to working people in Great Britain”, while acknowledging that the Northern Ireland government is consulting on its own set of labour market reforms.

The union welcomes the raft of proposals that will upgrade workers’ rights, from the introduction of day one rights, to protection from sexual harassment, strengthened rights for pregnant workers, tackling exploitative zero-hours contracts and fire and rehire, and much more.

But it insists that, “for individual rights to become a reality, collective bargaining, effective enforcement, a trade union voice in the workplace and a well-resourced employment tribunal system are all key.”

That’s why the union also welcomes the provisions in the bill to create a new Fair Work Agency (a single, centralised body enforcing employment rights), measures to introduce sectoral pay bargaining, starting with adult social care, and the reinstatement of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) in England, providing professional recognition for a group of staff which has been long overlooked.

“These proposals demonstrate that the Employment Rights Bill isn’t just tackling worker’s rights – it holds the key to tackling longstanding public policy failures that have been ignored because they affect workers and service users whose voices are too often neglected by decision makers,” the union writes.

“Tackling this neglect and allowing trade unions to engage in constructive social partnership and better represent their members is long overdue.”

Specific areas of the bill covered by UNISON’s evidence include:

  • Social care
  • The SSSNB
  • Outsourced workers
  • Sexual harassment, gender pay gaps, menopause and maternity
  • Statutory sick pay
  • Zero-hours contracts
  • Fire and rehire
  • Unfair dismissal
  • Flexible working.

The union also welcomes the government’s plans to repeal damaging anti-trade union legislation and modernise the industrial relations framework, such as electronic balloting.

It states: “UNISON believes that the Employment Rights Bill sets a vision for a fairer economy where exploitation doesn’t pay and working people are empowered to have a better life at work. It also contains key proposals to modernise trade union rights, enabling UNISON to support both workers and employers in realising this ambition.”

Read the evidence in full 

The article Parliament publishes UNISON’s Employment Rights Bill evidence first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Parliament publishes UNISON’s Employment Rights Bill evidence

UNISON’s written evidence to the parliamentary committee charged with examining the detail of the Employment Rights Bill has been published today.

The bill represents the government’s flagship initiative to radically improve working lives, which the union has hailed as ‘game changing’.

MPs on the House of Commons public bill committee are reviewing expert evidence, ahead of the bill’s report stage in early 2025.

In November, Maggi Ferncombe, UNISON’s director of political strategy and transformation, gave powerful verbal evidence to the committee.

And in December, UNISON’s policy and legal staff submitted the union’s written evidence.

UNISON identifies the bill as “a long overdue set of proposals that will bring much-needed relief to working people in Great Britain”, while acknowledging that the Northern Ireland government is consulting on its own set of labour market reforms.

The union welcomes the raft of proposals that will upgrade workers’ rights, from the introduction of day one rights, to protection from sexual harassment, strengthened rights for pregnant workers, tackling exploitative zero-hours contracts and fire and rehire, and much more.

But it insists that, “for individual rights to become a reality, collective bargaining, effective enforcement, a trade union voice in the workplace and a well-resourced employment tribunal system are all key.”

That’s why the union also welcomes the provisions in the bill to create a new Fair Work Agency (a single, centralised body enforcing employment rights), measures to introduce sectoral pay bargaining, starting with adult social care, and the reinstatement of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) in England, providing professional recognition for a group of staff which has been long overlooked.

“These proposals demonstrate that the Employment Rights Bill isn’t just tackling worker’s rights – it holds the key to tackling longstanding public policy failures that have been ignored because they affect workers and service users whose voices are too often neglected by decision makers,” the union writes.

“Tackling this neglect and allowing trade unions to engage in constructive social partnership and better represent their members is long overdue.”

Specific areas of the bill covered by UNISON’s evidence include:

  • Social care
  • The SSSNB
  • Outsourced workers
  • Sexual harassment, gender pay gaps, menopause and maternity
  • Statutory sick pay
  • Zero-hours contracts
  • Fire and rehire
  • Unfair dismissal
  • Flexible working.

The union also welcomes the government’s plans to repeal damaging anti-trade union legislation and modernise the industrial relations framework, such as electronic balloting.

It states: “UNISON believes that the Employment Rights Bill sets a vision for a fairer economy where exploitation doesn’t pay and working people are empowered to have a better life at work. It also contains key proposals to modernise trade union rights, enabling UNISON to support both workers and employers in realising this ambition.”

Read the evidence in full 

The article Parliament publishes UNISON’s Employment Rights Bill evidence first appeared on the UNISON National site.

A Christmas message from Christina McAnea

As we approach Christmas and the end of another year, I want to thank all of you who have worked tirelessly to keep our public services going.

It has been, as always, a challenging year. Yet with Labour’s victory at the general election in the summer, it has been a transformative one. We should be proud of the pivotal role we all played in achieving a Labour government. It’s an accomplishment that paves the way for meaningful change for working people across the UK. We have already made a significant contribution to the work on the Employment Rights Bill which will have a real impact for our members everywhere.

And while we know they may not be perfect, and there will be some tough conversations ahead, we can finally look forward to working with a government that has working people and trade unions in its DNA.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank those who give up their time to support our members, through representation and UNISON’s campaigning work. I hope you can spend some precious time with family and friends this Christmas but, as our public services rely on your work every day, I know your jobs may be just as demanding then as the rest of the year.

Throughout the festive period, people still need care in hospitals, care homes and the community; the public still expects refuse services to keep running; winter weather puts demands on environment agencies and pressures on staff working in energy and water companies builds up.

UNISON truly appreciates the vital work you all do, and we are always here for you when you need support in your workplace.

As some of you know may know, very sadly my husband died in November. On behalf of myself and my two children I want to thank you for the many messages of condolence and support that I received from our wonderful “UNISON family”. These have been a great comfort.

My husband, Robert, who was a NALGO and UNISON activist and member, had been a passionate supporter of Palestinian rights for many years and I particularly want to thank those who donated to the Medical Aid for Palestine fund set up in his memory.

In the new year I will be back campaigning and fighting as hard as ever for our members and our union.

As we look forward to 2025, I know we will continue to work together successfully to campaign for better pay, conditions, workers’ rights, equality and world-class public services. We will also continue to be part of the global trade union movement, fighting for peace and justice.

I wish you, your families and loved ones a happy Christmas and let’s hope for a kinder and peaceful new year.

Thank you all once again,

Christina

The article A Christmas message from Christina McAnea first appeared on the UNISON National site.