Category: national young members forum

Why insourcing isn’t always a win

On the final day of UNISON’s health conference, delegates heard a series of debates on defending the NHS against privatisation.

Tam Hiddleston for the service group executive warned that, while “we invariably think of insourcing as a positive,” some insourcing “is about private operators being brought into the NHS.”

UNISON needs to be very careful to monitor “any wider implications for Agenda for Change pay and conditions,” he continued.

Chris from London noted: “What’s the point of insourcing people and you just change their uniforms?”

Moving a motion on mega trusts for the Eastern region, Glen Carrington (pictured above) highlighted the rising problems facing staff in such trusts in his region.

NHS England is pursuing trust mergers in an attempt to save money, “but after 14 long years of Tory cuts, has anyone ever looked to see what the impact is on staff?

“The chances of starting a shift in Cromer and ending up in London happens all too often,” said Mr Carrington. “Don’t let anyone tell you big is always better.”

In another motion, conference heard of staff left devastated at learning that their jobs were being outsourced.

Yet even as outsourced services have been shown to cause major problems, it is an approach that continues, and causes even more problems – not least in the increase of a “two or three or four-tier workforces” as contracts are passed from one company to another.

That situation is a “national scandal that the Tory government continues to be complicit in,” said one speaker.

Steady recruitment of healthcare students

Also on Wednesday morning, conference heard of the “steady recruitment of healthcare students” and agreed that “continuing to recruit healthcare students to UNISON is an essential part of a strategy for a strong UNISON presence in the NHS”, and welcomed the success of the union’s Future Healthcare Leaders programme.

The motion, from the national young members’ forum, noted that a recent survey of heathcare students had revealed increasing struggles with the cost of living crisis and the levels of financial support they received, with 35% agreeing that they might not be able to complete their studies because of the situation.

Among a raft of calls, conference urged the executive to:

  • engage with regional health committees, the strategic organising unit, the national young members’ forum to build and develop strategies for recruitment and organisation of healthcare students
  • campaign for better financial arrangements for healthcare students
  • work with the national women’s committee to explore the additional financial challenges facing healthcare students with childcare responsibilities.

The article Why insourcing isn’t always a win first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Why insourcing isn’t always a win

On the final day of UNISON’s health conference, delegates heard a series of debates on defending the NHS against privatisation.

Tam Hiddleston for the service group executive warned that, while “we invariably think of insourcing as a positive,” some insourcing “is about private operators being brought into the NHS.”

UNISON needs to be very careful to monitor “any wider implications for Agenda for Change pay and conditions,” he continued.

Chris from London noted: “What’s the point of insourcing people and you just change their uniforms?”

Moving a motion on mega trusts for the Eastern region, Glen Carrington (pictured above) highlighted the rising problems facing staff in such trusts in his region.

NHS England is pursuing trust mergers in an attempt to save money, “but after 14 long years of Tory cuts, has anyone ever looked to see what the impact is on staff?

“The chances of starting a shift in Cromer and ending up in London happens all too often,” said Mr Carrington. “Don’t let anyone tell you big is always better.”

In another motion, conference heard of staff left devastated at learning that their jobs were being outsourced.

Yet even as outsourced services have been shown to cause major problems, it is an approach that continues, and causes even more problems – not least in the increase of a “two or three or four-tier workforces” as contracts are passed from one company to another.

That situation is a “national scandal that the Tory government continues to be complicit in,” said one speaker.

Steady recruitment of healthcare students

Also on Wednesday morning, conference heard of the “steady recruitment of healthcare students” and agreed that “continuing to recruit healthcare students to UNISON is an essential part of a strategy for a strong UNISON presence in the NHS”, and welcomed the success of the union’s Future Healthcare Leaders programme.

The motion, from the national young members’ forum, noted that a recent survey of heathcare students had revealed increasing struggles with the cost of living crisis and the levels of financial support they received, with 35% agreeing that they might not be able to complete their studies because of the situation.

Among a raft of calls, conference urged the executive to:

  • engage with regional health committees, the strategic organising unit, the national young members’ forum to build and develop strategies for recruitment and organisation of healthcare students
  • campaign for better financial arrangements for healthcare students
  • work with the national women’s committee to explore the additional financial challenges facing healthcare students with childcare responsibilities.

The article Why insourcing isn’t always a win first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Young members gather at conference in Newcastle

Young members from across the UK gathered in Newcastle over the weekend for the third annual UNISON young members’ conference.

The conference was the first to take place after the age-limit for young members was increased to 30 and under (from 26) via a rule amendment at this year’s national delegate conference.

At the time, UNISON’s young members officer Josephine Grahl said: “The increase in age reflects the changes in the workforce that have happened since UNISON’s first young members’ groups were established in 1996″.

And she added that these included: “The increase in school leaving age, the expansion of participation in higher and further education, and the fact that the public sector workforce tends, these days, to be older than the average”.

The change reflects the fact that, on average, young people are achieving milestones in their lives later than in previous generations.

A 2019 Office of National Statistics report: Journeying into adulthood highlighted a number of examples.

  • In 1998, on average, people left full-time education at 17.8 years old – in 2018 this was 19.3.
  • In 1997 it was not until the age of 26 that 50% of people lived in a home they own – in 2017, this was 34.
  • In 1997 the average age of a first-time mother was 27 – in 2016 this was 29. (The average age of a first-time father is not easily calculated).

The last of these examples highlights an issue that took centre stage at last weekend’s conference.

A motion on maternity pay noted that: “A survey conducted this year by Censuswide found that young people were considering delaying or deciding not to have children. More than half cited financial reasons as the number one reason for this”.

It went on to argue that: “With the cost-of-living crisis and ongoing inflation, it is clear to see that the current maternity pay provision does not sufficiently cover everyday costs.” It also noted the toll this can have on the financial independence of women, leading to an outdated, male-centric ‘breadwinner’ concept re-emerging in dual-income households.

It called for the national young members’ forum to prioritise a campaign to raise awareness and provide young member officers with resources to better campaign, locally, on the issue.

Read about the results of a recent survey on the effects of low maternity pay.

Speaking at the conference, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea also highlighted how the world of work has changed since she left school. She said: “I remember entering the world of work for the first time. It was exciting and scary.

“And work now can still be exciting and scary. But when I started work, the prospect of owning a house was only a few years away, the retirement age was younger, childcare costs weren’t through the roof, and I wasn’t saddled with thousands of pounds in student loan debt.

“We didn’t have the stresses of 24-hour news – the constant barrage of information from Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. And we hadn’t just spent the best part of two years in a pandemic and a lockdown.

“So, without doubt, being young today is so much harder. And I say that as the mother of two young people. But I am constantly in awe of the resilience, creativity, and dynamism of young workers today.

“UNISON believes in you. Believe in yourself and keep fighting for our members.”

The article Young members gather at conference in Newcastle first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Young members gather at conference in Newcastle

Young members from across the UK gathered in Newcastle over the weekend for the third annual UNISON young members’ conference.

The conference was the first to take place after the age-limit for young members was increased to 30 and under (from 26) via a rule amendment at this year’s national delegate conference.

At the time, UNISON’s young members officer Josephine Grahl said: “The increase in age reflects the changes in the workforce that have happened since UNISON’s first young members’ groups were established in 1996″.

And she added that these included: “The increase in school leaving age, the expansion of participation in higher and further education, and the fact that the public sector workforce tends, these days, to be older than the average”.

The change reflects the fact that, on average, young people are achieving milestones in their lives later than in previous generations.

A 2019 Office of National Statistics report: Journeying into adulthood highlighted a number of examples.

  • In 1998, on average, people left full-time education at 17.8 years old – in 2018 this was 19.3.
  • In 1997 it was not until the age of 26 that 50% of people lived in a home they own – in 2017, this was 34.
  • In 1997 the average age of a first-time mother was 27 – in 2016 this was 29. (The average age of a first-time father is not easily calculated).

The last of these examples highlights an issue that took centre stage at last weekend’s conference.

A motion on maternity pay noted that: “A survey conducted this year by Censuswide found that young people were considering delaying or deciding not to have children. More than half cited financial reasons as the number one reason for this”.

It went on to argue that: “With the cost-of-living crisis and ongoing inflation, it is clear to see that the current maternity pay provision does not sufficiently cover everyday costs.” It also noted the toll this can have on the financial independence of women, leading to an outdated, male-centric ‘breadwinner’ concept re-emerging in dual-income households.

It called for the national young members’ forum to prioritise a campaign to raise awareness and provide young member officers with resources to better campaign, locally, on the issue.

Read about the results of a recent survey on the effects of low maternity pay.

Speaking at the conference, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea also highlighted how the world of work has changed since she left school. She said: “I remember entering the world of work for the first time. It was exciting and scary.

“And work now can still be exciting and scary. But when I started work, the prospect of owning a house was only a few years away, the retirement age was younger, childcare costs weren’t through the roof, and I wasn’t saddled with thousands of pounds in student loan debt.

“We didn’t have the stresses of 24-hour news – the constant barrage of information from Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. And we hadn’t just spent the best part of two years in a pandemic and a lockdown.

“So, without doubt, being young today is so much harder. And I say that as the mother of two young people. But I am constantly in awe of the resilience, creativity, and dynamism of young workers today.

“UNISON believes in you. Believe in yourself and keep fighting for our members.”

The article Young members gather at conference in Newcastle first appeared on the UNISON National site.