July Scotland in UNISON now online

Conference reports; Education plan: Support staff role ignored; FE ballot and Pride report.

The union’s briefing on the Scottish Government Education Plan: says: “…the absence of any recognition of the wider education team is very disappointing. It also warns of plans to to remove schools from local democratic control. Please note: The print version of this issue referred to school staff as ‘non-teaching’ staff. This terminology is not supported by UNISON members in schools and we apologise for the error.

Plus FE pay ballot and Pride report and coverage of all the main UNISON speakers at UNISON National Delegate Conference and Local Government Conference in Brighton.

We don’t have the luxury of resting. Deep Breath, Heads Down, UNISON, charge!

#undc15 UNISON vowed to defend quality public services and the public sector workers, to defend trade union rights and to encourage a fair, inclusive and tolerant society, drawing together a cohesive political strategy in response to the Tories’ immediate onslaught and escalation of attacks on public services and society itself.

Moving an emergency motion on Friday, Jane Carolan, NEC, said that the union could take some positives from its campaign in the run up to the general election, a campaign that was based on the fundamental principles that this union was founded on – the principles of social justice and equality.

Equality reps key to fairness at work and must have facility time

UNISON will put equalities at the heart of its bargaining agenda and will campaign with the TUC and through Labour Link for facility time for equality reps. Conference recognised that austerity has rolled back equality successes and significantly increased workplace inequality.

Supporting the motion on Friday on behalf of the NEC, Scotland’s Davena Rankin said, “Maya Angelou once said: ‘It is impossible to struggle for civil rights, equal rights for Blacks, without including whites. Because equal rights, fair play, justice, are all like the air: we all have it, or none of us have it. That is the truth of it.’”

Homes for people not profit

#unDC15 There is a massive housing crisis across the UK as a result of Government policies. Too little social housing is being built and apart from Scotland, those that are built are being sold off. In many places rents are unaffordable and the bedroom tax has created more poverty and homelessness.

Delegates backed a call for government and Labour councils to stop implementing the bedroom tax; for an end the privatisation of social housing; for enforced rent and quality controls over private landlords and for a massive social house build programme.

Conference Stands With Rab

#uNDC15 Conference rose to applaud sacked SECC UNISON rep Robert O'Donnell as he was invited to address Conference. Another emotional standing ovation followed.

Conference then unanimously passed a motion calling for Glasgow City Council leadership to urgently meet with UNISON Glasgow City Branch officials to pro-actively discuss the situation at the SECC with a view to granting SECC full statutory trade union recognition and collective bargaining rights to UNISON and their members.

Thanks for donating to Kobane health services

#uNDC15 Thanks to Scotland delegates who have raised £391 towards rebuilding health services in Kobane

Social care staff need UNISON - and some good news from Scotland

#uNDC15 Conference showed just why social work and social care workers need UNISON as it backed a range

Kate Ramsden:
Social Workers' contempt conviction overturned

of measures demanding safe staffing levels. The union will call on all the UK governments to review staff numbers and introduce regulations to force employers to report staff levels and vacancies annually.

It also raised concerns about social workers being named in reports which will add to the abuse staff often face due to the negative portrayal of the profession in the media and TV dramas. It was not only a concern for staff but also for people who may need services.

Thanks to the Conference stewards

#uNDC15 Thanks to the stewards who have been scanning us in and out all week, and a special thanks to the self proclaimed 'Golden Girls', Scotland's own Barbara Fulton and Margaret Ferris.

Confront the Tory lie on services

#uNDC15 UNISON will up its fight for to keep public services public - publicly owned, democratically accountable and delivered by the public sector, busting the austerity myth and continuing to challenge outsourcing and privatisation.

Jane Carolan, NEC, explained that UNISON had put forward a vision of public services in its manifesto, asking politicians of all parties to support the policies. "The outcome of that election could not be any worse for the services that we serve. The Tories won!"

Devolution protocol needs updated to reflect the world we live in

#uNDC15 The fast moving debate around devolution across the UK was high on the Conference agenda this year, with two motions and a lunchtime fringe.

Over 200 delegates packed the joint region fringe meeting on the topic on Wednesday, which looked at the different models for public services in the devolved administrations and the proposed city partnerships in England, and the implications for UNISON and the trade unions.

Fighting for justice for Bhopal

#uNDC15 UNISON vowed to put pressure on UK, Indian and US governments to get justice for Bhopal, and to get the Indian Government to ensure adequate healthcare, employment opportunities and pensions for those affected.

It's thirty years on from Bhopal, the Union Carbide industrial disaster, that caused 25,000 deaths and left 120,000 chronically ill. Thirty years on and it continues to maim generations. Thirty years on and there is still no justice.

Lilian Macer, Scottish Regional Representative, slammed the continued failure of Union Carbide and its 100% owner Dow Chemicals to clean up after the disaster.

"It is an absolute disgrace that upwards of 100,000 people in the city are still seriously ill and the drinking water of a further 20,000 has been poisoned by chemicals leaking from the abandoned plant. There should be no hiding place for the criminals that caused this disaster."

Lilian described the unimaginable horror on the night. "Shortly after midnight on 3 December 1984 poison gas leaked from a factory in Bhopal, India, owned by the Union Carbide Corporation. There was no warning.

Violence against women is a gendered issue

#uNDC15 UNISON will campaign to educate and improve understanding of violence against women as a gendered issue, providing guidance, sharing good practice and ensuring branches can represent all parties fairly and impartially.

Helen Duddy, Lanarkshire Health, said "It is devastating to hear in news reports almost daily about women being assaulted, beaten, raped and murdered. On average two women each week are killed by a current or former mail partner.

“The figures are shocking - as is the fact that too often the law doesn't effectively hold male perpetrators of violence to account."

Helen explained this is an equalities issue, "We are very clear in UNISON that this is a gendered issue absolutely recognising that men and boys can also be victims of violence too. We have also praised the work of the Zero Tolerance Project in Scotland and the Everyday Sexism Project which records women's daily experiences of sexism, assault and harassment."

UNISON sets out a strategy to reverse the decline in public sector pay

#uNDC15 As our pay has declined, the rich simply get richer and richer. So UNISON will look to build support for progressive taxation systems, getting the message across that increasing pay will promote a healthier economy, and campaigning to change the neo-liberal policies that have been evident in not only Tory Governments but Labour ones too – policies that see the suppression of pay, the maximisation of profits, and the reduction of taxation.

“We will not be walking away from a fight,” said Gordon Mackay, NEC “This union’s strategy for fair pay is simple – Recruit, Campaign and Organise. And in case there is any doubt let me be absolutely clear, that includes sustained industrial action – co-ordinated campaigns with other unions. This union will protect and defend our members at all times.”

And Jane Aitchison, South Lanarkshire, called for UNISON to re-invigorate the Pay Claim Cycle “We need to win the arguments with members, the public, the media and our politicians. Our pay has been squeezed for over 30 years – deliberately.”

School support staff don’t have enough hours in the day

#ulgc15 Scotland’s Carol Ball, Vice Chair of the Local Government Service Group Executive, called for support staff in schools to be properly recognised for their contribution to the wider education team, as delegates backed a campaign to reduce school support staff workloads alongside a campaign for increased funding and decent pay.

Carol said that a UNISON survey has shown that 80% of school support staff members are worried about workload. Numbers have reduced leaving more work for those left behind, compounded by a lack of cover in some authorities for absence or maternity leave.

Unions are an integral part of Scotland's Fair Work Convention

#uNDC15 Conference delegates backed a range of measures to combat the rise of vulnerable employment and casualisation across the UK and to restore decent jobs, decent pay and decent standards in the public, voluntary and private sector.

Scotland's amendment highlighted the Working Together Review in Scotland which has led to the establishment of the Fair Work Convention - a stakeholder body providing leadership in industrial relations and promoting Decent Work and Dignified Lives for working people.

Scottish Convener, Lilian Macer, was a member of the Working Together Review and is now one of the trade union representatives on the Fair Work Convention.

Supporting stewards working with stress

Conference backed a South Lanarkshire call for research into the impact on the well-being of stewards given the demands placed on them, with a view to putting in place support mechanisms for stewards and members. #uNDC14

The branch's Margaret Gallacher told delegates that stress is the most common cause of long term absence and there is a proven link between lack of job security and poor mental health.

Public ownership of energy will transform lives

#uNDC14 Conference slammed the rise in fuel poverty which leaves many of our poorest citizens with a choice of whether to heat or eat, at the same time as energy companies have increased their profits by a massive 74%. UNISON will support an energy price freeze and will campaign actively for a re-nationalisation of the energy market.

An amendment from Bromley and Hackney, that no compensation should be paid “to the millionaires, major corporations or hedge funds” was supported with qualifications by the union leadership. Gordon McKay, Scottish NEC member said that public ownership has always been UNISON’s position, but now 52% of Tory voters also support re-nationalisation of the big six energy companies.

Lay tutors essential to challenge austerity myths

#uNDC14 Mandela said that education is the most important weapon that you can use to change the world, Scotland’s Stephen Smellie said, as conference set out a plan to take forward and encourage debate, discussion and education on the causes of austerity and broader political education.

Moving Scotland’s amendment, highlighting the excellent work of lay tutors’ involvement in our education programme in Scotland, Stephen said “Our most valuable resource is ourselves, our activists. We are experienced in representing members, negotiating, organising and fighting injustice daily.

Defeat UKIP by being bold, Gordon McKay tells Labour

Scotland NEC member Gordon McKay urged Labour to be bold and give members and their families a reason to vote Labour and 'wipe UKIP off the map'. #uNDC14

Gordon demolished the politics of UKIP. "When Farage says that parts of Britain are unrecognisable thanks to mass immigration, and that we should be concerned if Romanians moved in next door to us, that is aimed simply at spreading fear, hate and division based on race and colour.

The kind of Scotland we want to see

#uNDC14 UNISON Scotland's position on the forthcoming independence referendum in Scotland was backed overwhelmingly by delegates, after speakers queued up to lend their support.

Some of our colleagues in England and Wales seemed a bit wistful about the debate taking place north of the border and the young members welcomed the vote being extended to 16 and 17 year olds.