Library news

• Local government delegates discuss how to improve organising

  13-06-2022 19:13
  
  Chaired by UNISON vice president Kath Owen, the final afternoon of UNISON’s local government service group conference passed several key motions on union organising.
  Conference unanimously voted through a motion to devise a new UNISON training course for activists on how to organise industrial action ballots and win disputes.
  Introducing the motion, UNISON Sandwell branch secretary Tony Barnsley (pictured above) said: “In my 32 years of being a trade union activist, I have never seen
  
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• Conference affirms there should be no profiteering from social care

  13-06-2022 18:03
  
  There should be no profiteering from social care. That message was at the heart of a series of debates at UNISON’s local government conference in Brighton this afternoon, as delegates continued to plot the service group’s path for the year to come.
  Moving a major motion on care workers for the service group executive, Sarah Barwick said that, while the pandemic has been very challenging for all local government workers, it has been particularly hard so for those “undervalued, u
  
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• Energy conference: ‘Be proud of what you have achieved’

  13-06-2022 17:55
  
  UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea opened the union’s first in-person energy conference in three years today telling delegates: “You should be proud of what you have achieved. You’ve faced so much adversity in the past few years. But you’ve faced it together.
  “Although energy is relatively small compared to some of the other service groups it definitely punches above its weight and has a massive impact across all the other sectors in the union.”
  She wen
  
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• Delegates agree: ‘If our pay doesn’t rise, we will’

  13-06-2022 16:39
  
  This morning, UNISON local government conference unanimously voted to back a motion to campaign for pay rises for workers delivering outsourced services, including those in social care, school meals and refuse collection.
  Local authority budget cuts have heavily affected the salaries of workers employed by private contractors who are delivering local government outsourced services.
  Introducing the motion, UNISON chair of the private contractors national forum Catharyn Richardson said: “If
  
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• LG conference: fighting climate change and misogyny

  13-06-2022 15:44
  
  Chaired by UNISON vice president Andrea Egan, the first afternoon of this year’s local government conference saw the union pass a three-part composite motion on climate change in local government, alongside one on ending misogyny.
  Climate change
  Councils are key to meeting climate change emission targets: they are directly responsible for between 2% and 5% of their local area’s emissions and play a significant role in emissions reduction due to their powers over housing, planning, tr
  
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• Conference applauds the Local Service Champions

  13-06-2022 13:37
  
  The second morning of UNISON’s local government conference opened with the presentation of awards for the union’s Local Service Champions, with delegates rising to their feet for a standing ovation for the three winners, who were chosen from over a thousand nominees.
  Paddy Toner from Halton Borough Council was the overall winner. A rehabilitation worker, who helps people who have a vision impairment to stay in their own homes and remain independent, Mr Toner was unable to be in Brigh
  
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• Delegates reveal that it’s not all doom and gloom

  13-06-2022 11:10
  
  As UNISON’s local government service group met in the flesh for the first time since 2019, delegates were keen to not only talk about the damage being inflicted on services by the UK government – but also to look at ways of improving the union’s impact.
  And there was time too for the vital job of emphasising that, no matter how difficult things have been in recent years – and remain – UNISON does make a positive difference.
  For instance, in a motion on the need for
  
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• WET conference tackles fair pay and protecting our environment

  13-06-2022 10:15
  
  UNISON held its annual water, environment and transport (WET) conference today in Brighton. After a welcome from chair of the WET service group executive Ruth Davies (above, right), general secretary Christina McAnea (above, left) addressed conference, hailing the crucial work of workers in the sector over the pandemic.
  She said it was only right that UNISON’s WET members be rewarded after a period in which they were relied on so heavily to continue their work in unprecedented circumstance
  
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• Social workers at breaking point with half at risk of quitting, warns UNISON

  13-06-2022 01:01
  
  Excessive workloads, high stress levels and low morale are rife among social workers who are at breaking point, according to a new report published today (Monday) by UNISON.
  The report – Social work and the impact of the Covid pandemic – is based on a survey of nearly 3,000 social workers across the UK. It sheds light on the working conditions of social workers, and limitations on the help they are able to give vulnerable families.
  Staff shortages (93%), unmanageable caseloads (90%)
  
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