Category: general election

Blog: The hope Labour can bring

Winning seats like Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy in Scotland is a must for Labour at the next election.

If Labour does win back the seat (and many others like it) to secure a general election victory, it will be because of the promises the party is making in the New Deal for Working People. This package of rights, protections and actions was written up in partnership with trade unions and is packed full of UNISON priorities.

It’s not difficult to see the huge part UNISON played in developing the transformational plan for workers and the economy.

I spent yesterday with Angela Rayner, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, and Wilma Brown, UNISON activist and parliamentary candidate in that Scottish seat, bringing hope of what the New Deal can achieve to voters’ doorsteps.

Christina McAnea with Angela Rayner, Wilma Brown, and UNISON activists

Christina McAnea with Angela Rayner, Wilma Brown, and UNISON activists

The Westminster government’s only plan for workers is to threaten them with the sack if they try to take strike action to secure better pay and conditions. Labour’s plan offers so much for trade unions and the workers they represent.

A new government needs to make work pay with a genuine living wage, pay equality and Fair Pay Agreements in social care. Workers need more security, with an end to zero-hours contracts and fire and rehire. Trade unions need strengthened rights to organise and our whole society will benefit from better sick pay, parental leave and day-one rights at work. The New Deal promises all of this.

Workers can only thrive when they’re being treated fairly and paid enough to have a decent life. Good employers already know that and do the right thing by their staff. But for so many others, they’re at the whim of unscrupulous bosses.

UNISON is fully behind the New Deal and Labour’s promise to introduce an Employment Rights Bill within the first 100 days of office. UNISON will hold an incoming Labour government to account, making sure it delivers on its promise to make Britain work for working people.

The article Blog: The hope Labour can bring first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: The hope Labour can bring

Winning seats like Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy in Scotland is a must for Labour at the next election.

If Labour does win back the seat (and many others like it) to secure a general election victory, it will be because of the promises the party is making in the New Deal for Working People. This package of rights, protections and actions was written up in partnership with trade unions and is packed full of UNISON priorities.

It’s not difficult to see the huge part UNISON played in developing the transformational plan for workers and the economy.

I spent yesterday with Angela Rayner, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, and Wilma Brown, UNISON activist and parliamentary candidate in that Scottish seat, bringing hope of what the New Deal can achieve to voters’ doorsteps.

Christina McAnea with Angela Rayner, Wilma Brown, and UNISON activists

Christina McAnea with Angela Rayner, Wilma Brown, and UNISON activists

The Westminster government’s only plan for workers is to threaten them with the sack if they try to take strike action to secure better pay and conditions. Labour’s plan offers so much for trade unions and the workers they represent.

A new government needs to make work pay with a genuine living wage, pay equality and Fair Pay Agreements in social care. Workers need more security, with an end to zero-hours contracts and fire and rehire. Trade unions need strengthened rights to organise and our whole society will benefit from better sick pay, parental leave and day-one rights at work. The New Deal promises all of this.

Workers can only thrive when they’re being treated fairly and paid enough to have a decent life. Good employers already know that and do the right thing by their staff. But for so many others, they’re at the whim of unscrupulous bosses.

UNISON is fully behind the New Deal and Labour’s promise to introduce an Employment Rights Bill within the first 100 days of office. UNISON will hold an incoming Labour government to account, making sure it delivers on its promise to make Britain work for working people.

The article Blog: The hope Labour can bring first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: Let’s make 2024 a success

Happy New Year to everyone in UNISON and here’s to a successful year for you and your families.

I have high hopes for 2024 – 12 months of campaigning for UNISON’s Year of LGBT+ workers and for a national care service, securing pay deals across all public services and a general election that will push the chaotic Tories out of Westminster and bring in a new government.

A new government is a must for our members and for our public services. Our NHS, schools, local councils and emergency services are on their knees and stuck in a state of crisis. The current government’s legacy is one of slashing jobs, squeezing budgets, and falling living standards for millions of working people. We need a Labour government that will rebuild our public services, put workers first with a new deal for working people and create a national care service.

Campaigning for that change in government will be a big part of our mission this year, but we won’t let election fever take over our daily task of fighting for our members’ pay and conditions. Day in, day out, our activists and organisers are supporting members in workplaces across the UK, and our teams in head office are mounting legal challenges, influencing politicians, preparing campaigns and helping members when they need us most.   

We’ll also be celebrating our Year of LGBT+ workers in UNISON style – continuing to be loud and proud against homophobia and transphobia, and ensuring that UNISON always remains the best trade union for LGBT+ public service workers.  

And later this year, there’s something that every working member can get involved with. From 22 April to 17 May, voting will be open for your representatives on UNISON’s service group executives (SGEs) – the lay leaders who decide on campaigns, pay claims, strike ballots and industrial action. Ahead of that member ballot, from next Monday (8 January) until 9 February, branches can nominate their preferred candidates.

Our SGEs are so important in UNISON. They’re powerful groups of activists that keep UNISON with you throughout your working life, campaigning for fair pay and conditions, safe and healthy working conditions, job security, work-life balance, equal pay and against discrimination.

So if you want some more new year’s resolutions, here’s two for you – have your say in UNISON’s SGE elections and get involved in our Year of LGBT+ workers activities that will be taking place throughout 2024.

From everyone in UNISON, we hope you have a happy, healthy and successful 2024.

The article Blog: Let’s make 2024 a success first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: Let’s make 2024 a success

Happy New Year to everyone in UNISON and here’s to a successful year for you and your families.

I have high hopes for 2024 – 12 months of campaigning for UNISON’s Year of LGBT+ workers and for a national care service, securing pay deals across all public services and a general election that will push the chaotic Tories out of Westminster and bring in a new government.

A new government is a must for our members and for our public services. Our NHS, schools, local councils and emergency services are on their knees and stuck in a state of crisis. The current government’s legacy is one of slashing jobs, squeezing budgets, and falling living standards for millions of working people. We need a Labour government that will rebuild our public services, put workers first with a new deal for working people and create a national care service.

Campaigning for that change in government will be a big part of our mission this year, but we won’t let election fever take over our daily task of fighting for our members’ pay and conditions. Day in, day out, our activists and organisers are supporting members in workplaces across the UK, and our teams in head office are mounting legal challenges, influencing politicians, preparing campaigns and helping members when they need us most.   

We’ll also be celebrating our Year of LGBT+ workers in UNISON style – continuing to be loud and proud against homophobia and transphobia, and ensuring that UNISON always remains the best trade union for LGBT+ public service workers.  

And later this year, there’s something that every working member can get involved with. From 22 April to 17 May, voting will be open for your representatives on UNISON’s service group executives (SGEs) – the lay leaders who decide on campaigns, pay claims, strike ballots and industrial action. Ahead of that member ballot, from next Monday (8 January) until 9 February, branches can nominate their preferred candidates.

Our SGEs are so important in UNISON. They’re powerful groups of activists that keep UNISON with you throughout your working life, campaigning for fair pay and conditions, safe and healthy working conditions, job security, work-life balance, equal pay and against discrimination.

So if you want some more new year’s resolutions, here’s two for you – have your say in UNISON’s SGE elections and get involved in our Year of LGBT+ workers activities that will be taking place throughout 2024.

From everyone in UNISON, we hope you have a happy, healthy and successful 2024.

The article Blog: Let’s make 2024 a success first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: The clock is ticking to the next general election

I remember the feeling of horror, four years ago today, as I watched the disaster of Boris Johnson re-entering Downing Street with a big majority.

The cold and wet winter general election campaign was centred around his many slogans that promised a lot but would deliver very little.

“We will put you first” was the biggest joke of all. I could never reconcile these words with what I saw from the self-centred politician on the screen in front of me. Johnson’s chaotic handling of the pandemic proved this to be a lie.

Had that really been his guiding principle throughout the pandemic, the UK wouldn’t have one of the highest COVID-19 death rates in Western Europe, his government wouldn’t have enabled the deaths of so many care home residents, and essential workers would have had proper PPE, not unusable stock from dodgy crony contracts.

What about the promises for the NHS and investing in our public services? Well, “50,000 more nurses” might have been recruited, but vacancies are stubbornly high. Demand is rising so high that staff are struggling to care for too many patients. Many of these new recruits were from overseas, but now the government wants to either kick them out and make it harder for more to come here.

Their manifesto harped on about “supporting workers and families“. But the only people doing that are trade unionists, while the Tories have been introducing draconian measures to stop us getting the best for working people. New laws that they have no mandate for.

And the big one, “get Brexit done“. That happened, but far from “unleashing Britain’s potential“, we’ve seen our living standards plummet, sluggish growth, a stagnant economy and crumbing public services.

We’ve endured three Conservative prime pinisters since the 2019 general election, countless secretaries of state and ministers, and they are now terminally infighting over a cruel and unworkable immigration policy.

While the clock ticks to the next general election, the public are watching, arms folded, waiting for their chance to vote them out.

The article Blog: The clock is ticking to the next general election first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: Another cycle of the Tories’ economic doom-loop

The damage has already been done by years of chaotic Conservative governments.

Sluggish growth, plummeting living standards and broken public services. That’s the legacy of 13 years of an ever-revolving door of prime ministers and ministers who can’t be trusted with the economy.

Jeremy Hunt’s desperate claims to fix the economic problems that his party caused won’t pull the wool over voters’ eyes. He’s simply giving back what he and his inept predecessors have already snatched from working people.

If the government really wanted to save on benefits for disabled people, it would give them more rights at work so employers don’t make their jobs impossible. And if ministers wanted to help more people back into work, they would fix our underfunded and understaffed NHS to get millions of people the treatment they’re desperate for.

But this is the government that broke the NHS, forcing experienced health professionals out to find better paying jobs elsewhere.

If the government cared about communities, it would reverse the trend of councils going bust and plug the huge budget deficits threatening essential services for children and vulnerable adults.

But this is a government that fails to understand the value of local authorities and the staff who work for them.

Public services and the pay of its dedicated workforces didn’t get a look in, aside from being told to deliver more for less. In-crisis essential services can’t give the public what they need and this government certainly won’t.

What the UK needs is a long-term plan to fund our public services properly, unlock growth and help everyone fulfil their potential.

Today, we were taken around another cycle of the Tories’ economic doom loop. Everybody feels worse off, public services are on their knees and this government is past its sell by date.

The article Blog: Another cycle of the Tories’ economic doom-loop first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: Another cycle of the Tories’ economic doom-loop

The damage has already been done by years of chaotic Conservative governments.

Sluggish growth, plummeting living standards and broken public services. That’s the legacy of 13 years of an ever-revolving door of prime ministers and ministers who can’t be trusted with the economy.

Jeremy Hunt’s desperate claims to fix the economic problems that his party caused won’t pull the wool over voters’ eyes. He’s simply giving back what he and his inept predecessors have already snatched from working people.

If the government really wanted to save on benefits for disabled people, it would give them more rights at work so employers don’t make their jobs impossible. And if ministers wanted to help more people back into work, they would fix our underfunded and understaffed NHS to get millions of people the treatment they’re desperate for.

But this is the government that broke the NHS, forcing experienced health professionals out to find better paying jobs elsewhere.

If the government cared about communities, it would reverse the trend of councils going bust and plug the huge budget deficits threatening essential services for children and vulnerable adults.

But this is a government that fails to understand the value of local authorities and the staff who work for them.

Public services and the pay of its dedicated workforces didn’t get a look in, aside from being told to deliver more for less. In-crisis essential services can’t give the public what they need and this government certainly won’t.

What the UK needs is a long-term plan to fund our public services properly, unlock growth and help everyone fulfil their potential.

Today, we were taken around another cycle of the Tories’ economic doom loop. Everybody feels worse off, public services are on their knees and this government is past its sell by date.

The article Blog: Another cycle of the Tories’ economic doom-loop first appeared on the UNISON National site.

PM’s policy wheezes are last desperate roll of the dice from a government on borrowed time

Commenting on Rishi Sunak’s speech today to the Conservative Party conference, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:

“The country is broken after 13 years of poor government. The prime minister’s focus should be on fixing the mess created by his ministers and those of the four earlier woeful Conservative administrations.

“Under his party the UK has become an international embarrassment. People have been pummelled by a cost of living crisis no one in government appears to have a handle on and public services are in a state of permanent crisis.

“These policy wheezes are a last desperate roll of the dice from a government that knows it’s living on borrowed time.

“There is but one solution. That’s for Rishi Sunak to call an election now and let the people elect a government able to put right the many wrongs of the past decade.”

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

The article PM’s policy wheezes are last desperate roll of the dice from a government on borrowed time first appeared on the UNISON National site.

PM’s policy wheezes are last desperate roll of the dice from a government on borrowed time

Commenting on Rishi Sunak’s speech today to the Conservative Party conference, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:

“The country is broken after 13 years of poor government. The prime minister’s focus should be on fixing the mess created by his ministers and those of the four earlier woeful Conservative administrations.

“Under his party the UK has become an international embarrassment. People have been pummelled by a cost of living crisis no one in government appears to have a handle on and public services are in a state of permanent crisis.

“These policy wheezes are a last desperate roll of the dice from a government that knows it’s living on borrowed time.

“There is but one solution. That’s for Rishi Sunak to call an election now and let the people elect a government able to put right the many wrongs of the past decade.”

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

The article PM’s policy wheezes are last desperate roll of the dice from a government on borrowed time first appeared on the UNISON National site.

No more leadership musical chairs, it’s time for a general election

Commenting on the news that Rishi Sunak is to become the next prime minister, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The depth of the crisis facing the UK is too serious to be left to the Conservatives to solve.

“Changing leaders won’t make a shred of difference. The shambles of the past few weeks proves the Tories are no longer fit to govern.

“It’s time to let voters choose a new government in Westminster. The public wants a general election. They’ve had enough of the musical chairs at the top of government. If Rishi Sunak is so confident he has the answers to the UK’s problems, he should go to the country now.”

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 No more leadership musical chairs, it’s time for a general election first appeared on the UNISON National site.