Category: NHS

By UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea

The start of 2025 brings into focus not only the scale of challenges that lie ahead, but more importantly, the many opportunities awaiting us too.

The change in government last year marked the beginning of a new chapter in our campaign for properly funded public services and fair treatment for all those that deliver them.

But although the ministers in charge understand the value of properly funded public services, the financial mess inherited from the last lot means our work is far from over.

Across the globe, the devastating situation in Gaza and the demand for a permanent ceasefire continues to be an international priority for our union. Hopes have been raised this week that a ceasefire may be achieved in the last few days of Joe Biden’s presidency. But in the last 15 months, approximately 46,000 Palestinians have been killed and 110,000 injured in Gaza. Public services, including healthcare, have been almost wiped out and over 80% of Gaza remains under evacuation orders.

Last May, when I visited Palestine, unions there told me how much our solidarity means. I know branches and activists will join us in our continued campaigning for an immediate ceasefire, full access to humanitarian assistance, the immediate and safe release of hostages and for the UK government to recognise Palestine officially and ultimately usher in a two-state solution.

Attacks on unions in Turkey have increased in recent months, with a number of prominent trade unionists arrested and detained for alleged terrorist offences. This includes Remzi Çal??kan, president of the municipal workers’ union D?SK/Genel-??. Thankfully, after international pressure, Remzi was released on Christmas Eve, but many others still face trumped-up charges.

When I attended the Heavy Penal Court in Ankara in 2022, I saw how our colleagues in the health union SES were being targeted for their union activities, in a highly politicised trial. Trade unionism is not a crime, and we must continue to demand the acquittal of our friends.

Back in the UK, while Labour gives us opportunities for dialogue at senior levels in Westminster that we’ve largely been denied since 2010, no one can afford to be complacent.

For our NHS workers, we need to persuade the government to think again on pay. Ministers must convene talks with unions and employers on the coming year’s wage rise and reform of outdated Agenda for Change salary scales. The government’s decision to continue to rely on the failed and discredited pay review body process is a huge mistake. This is especially the case when NHS staff will be key to the government’s plans to get the NHS back on its feet.

The Employment Rights Bill presents a crucial opportunity for positive change. Its many positives include protecting workers on zero-hours contracts and bringing union laws into the 21st century.  We also need to use our influence to push the government to set a clear direction to end outsourcing, which affects too many workers across the country.

This week I’ll be contacting the health secretary to ask him to intervene in the decision taken by the East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust to privatise its cleaning, security, catering and porter jobs to Sodexo. This flies in the face of government promises to kickstart a wave of insourcing of privatised contracts.

I also want to make it clear that UNISON will not tolerate the mistreatment or exploitation of any worker. That includes migrant care workers who have travelled from overseas to help deliver a crucial service. We’re speaking to ministers regularly and will keep pushing for an end to discrimination, harassment, bullying and abuse.

Care workers hired from overseas have had money deducted from their wages to cover dubious fees, faced demands to repay thousands of pounds when they try to move jobs, and have been forced to pay extortionate rents for substandard accommodation. Many are also paid at illegal rates and do punishingly long working hours. All completely indefensible.

Earlier this month, the government announced an independent commission for adult social care is to be chaired by Baroness Casey to advise on how (not if) to deliver a national care service for England. This must work to a strict timeframe and deliver recommendations at the earliest possible opportunity.

Care workers, those who need care and their families have already been waiting many years for improvements that should have happened decades ago. UNISON has led the campaign for a national service that provides world-class care for everyone who needs it. More importantly, it must be a service that pays the kind of wages that can help turn around the staffing crisis currently causing so many problems in the sector. The government’s fair pay agreement is just the start of this process and we will do all we can to ensure the ministers keep care reform as the priority it is.

As I look ahead to the coming year, I am determined and optimistic. Our union’s strength lies in solidarity – standing together, supporting one another and fighting for what’s right. Whether it’s defending the NHS, protecting workers’ rights, or supporting union colleagues across the globe – 2025 will be a year of action and we will be at the heart of it. Together, we will continue to be the voice for public service workers and the communities they serve.

By UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea

The start of 2025 brings into focus not only the scale of challenges that lie ahead, but more importantly, the many opportunities awaiting us too.

The change in government last year marked the beginning of a new chapter in our campaign for properly funded public services and fair treatment for all those that deliver them.

But although the ministers in charge understand the value of properly funded public services, the financial mess inherited from the last lot means our work is far from over.

Across the globe, the devastating situation in Gaza and the demand for a permanent ceasefire continues to be an international priority for our union. Hopes have been raised this week that a ceasefire may be achieved in the last few days of Joe Biden’s presidency. But in the last 15 months, approximately 46,000 Palestinians have been killed and 110,000 injured in Gaza. Public services, including healthcare, have been almost wiped out and over 80% of Gaza remains under evacuation orders.

Last May, when I visited Palestine, unions there told me how much our solidarity means. I know branches and activists will join us in our continued campaigning for an immediate ceasefire, full access to humanitarian assistance, the immediate and safe release of hostages and for the UK government to recognise Palestine officially and ultimately usher in a two-state solution.

Attacks on unions in Turkey have increased in recent months, with a number of prominent trade unionists arrested and detained for alleged terrorist offences. This includes Remzi Çal??kan, president of the municipal workers’ union D?SK/Genel-??. Thankfully, after international pressure, Remzi was released on Christmas Eve, but many others still face trumped-up charges.

When I attended the Heavy Penal Court in Ankara in 2022, I saw how our colleagues in the health union SES were being targeted for their union activities, in a highly politicised trial. Trade unionism is not a crime, and we must continue to demand the acquittal of our friends.

Back in the UK, while Labour gives us opportunities for dialogue at senior levels in Westminster that we’ve largely been denied since 2010, no one can afford to be complacent.

For our NHS workers, we need to persuade the government to think again on pay. Ministers must convene talks with unions and employers on the coming year’s wage rise and reform of outdated Agenda for Change salary scales. The government’s decision to continue to rely on the failed and discredited pay review body process is a huge mistake. This is especially the case when NHS staff will be key to the government’s plans to get the NHS back on its feet.

The Employment Rights Bill presents a crucial opportunity for positive change. Its many positives include protecting workers on zero-hours contracts and bringing union laws into the 21st century.  We also need to use our influence to push the government to set a clear direction to end outsourcing, which affects too many workers across the country.

This week I’ll be contacting the health secretary to ask him to intervene in the decision taken by the East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust to privatise its cleaning, security, catering and porter jobs to Sodexo. This flies in the face of government promises to kickstart a wave of insourcing of privatised contracts.

I also want to make it clear that UNISON will not tolerate the mistreatment or exploitation of any worker. That includes migrant care workers who have travelled from overseas to help deliver a crucial service. We’re speaking to ministers regularly and will keep pushing for an end to discrimination, harassment, bullying and abuse.

Care workers hired from overseas have had money deducted from their wages to cover dubious fees, faced demands to repay thousands of pounds when they try to move jobs, and have been forced to pay extortionate rents for substandard accommodation. Many are also paid at illegal rates and do punishingly long working hours. All completely indefensible.

Earlier this month, the government announced an independent commission for adult social care is to be chaired by Baroness Casey to advise on how (not if) to deliver a national care service for England. This must work to a strict timeframe and deliver recommendations at the earliest possible opportunity.

Care workers, those who need care and their families have already been waiting many years for improvements that should have happened decades ago. UNISON has led the campaign for a national service that provides world-class care for everyone who needs it. More importantly, it must be a service that pays the kind of wages that can help turn around the staffing crisis currently causing so many problems in the sector. The government’s fair pay agreement is just the start of this process and we will do all we can to ensure the ministers keep care reform as the priority it is.

As I look ahead to the coming year, I am determined and optimistic. Our union’s strength lies in solidarity – standing together, supporting one another and fighting for what’s right. Whether it’s defending the NHS, protecting workers’ rights, or supporting union colleagues across the globe – 2025 will be a year of action and we will be at the heart of it. Together, we will continue to be the voice for public service workers and the communities they serve.