Wokingham UNISON

Responding to the Prime Minister’s invitation to public sector workers to suggest ways of cutting out waste in the public sector, UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, said:

“Of course UNISON members will co-operate in any exercise that helps cut out waste and delivers value for money for the taxpayer. They have been co-operating with the Gershon reviews for the past three years and have delivered efficiency savings of 6%.

“But the Prime Minister is misleading the country by claiming that you can shave a massive 25% off budgets just by cutting “waste”. The efficiency savings made over the past three years have cut out most of the waste – there is very little fat left to cut.

“There is no escaping the fact that a 25% cut will inevitably strike deep into the heart of the vital services that we all rely on. But it will hit the poorest and the most vulnerable the most.

“I would urge the Government to revisit these impossible cuts and consider what devastation they will cause to our society and our local communities.”

UNISON, the union representing 850,000 local government workers, today hit back at local government employers who are refusing low paid staff, including nursery workers, home carers, housing workers, leisure and parks staff, school meals and cleaning, the £250 pay rise promised in this week’s budget.

Heather Wakefield, UNISON Head of Local Government, said:

“It is a disgrace that the local government employers are refusing to give even the lowest paid workers a rise this year. The workforce is overwhelmingly female, and overwhelmingly low paid. 200,000 earn less than £12,500 year, three quarters earn less than £21,000. This cold hearted decision brings real misery for hundreds and thousands of families struggling to cope with inflation running at 5% plus – and that’s before the increase in VAT hits home.

“Most councils budgeted for a pay increase this year, and for the next two years. There is money available to pay staff a rise, but not the political will. How can councils expect staff to help them deal with the harshest budget for decades when staff are so obviously not valued.”

UNISON, the UK’s largest public sector union, today (24 June) accused the Government of piling more misery onto workers, with its plan to raise the state pension age for men to 66 by 2016.

Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, said:

“The Government seem hard wired into attacking the most vulnerable in society. Workers who have to rely on their state pension to make ends meet, will have no option but to carry on going for another year – whatever the cost to their health – but the better off will be able to retire earlier. One rule for the rich, another for the poor.

“It may be a choice for the fit and healthy to keep on going for another year at work, but for some, work takes a terrible toll on their health.

“Many workers across the public and private sector do very physically demanding jobs where carrying on until 66 is not a safe or practical option.

“You cannot expect paramedics to carry patients down flights of stairs or out from under cars into their late sixties. The same pressures fall on nurses, street cleaners, gardeners, home care workers, cooks, road diggers, engineers and cleaners not to mention the mental stress of working in very pressured environments like social work, in schools and universities.

“This lack of joined up thinking will pile more misery on workers, as well as increasing the long-term costs to our NHS.”

Lost tax and benefits from public sector job losses would cost £15bn says UNISON

UNISON, the UK’s leading public sector trade union, today warned that Tory plans to cut 725,000 public sector jobs*, would cost the UK economy £6.6 billion in lost tax revenue and add an extra £8.8 billion** to the state benefits bill – hitting any chance of economic recovery and making the deficit worse.

The union is calling for a no-cut alternative – Save Our Services budget – to protect jobs, vital services, and safeguard economic recovery. The union’s alternative budget sets out savings of nearly £78 billion ahead of the Government’s own, today (22 June).

Together with cutting real waste and making tax fairer, the union is backing the campaign for a Robin Hood Tax on banks which would raise an estimated £30bn a year.

UNISON’s Save Our Services alternative budget

£4.7bn could be raised every year by introducing a 50% tax rate on incomes over £100,000

£10bn could be raised every year by reforming tax havens and residence rules to reduce tax avoidance by corporations and ‘non-domiciled’ residents

£14.9bn could be raised every year by using minimum tax rates to stop reliefs being used disproportionately subsidise incomes over £100,000

£30bn could be raised every year by introducing a Major Financial Transactions Tax on UK financial institutions – the Robin Hood Tax

At least £1.5bn could be raised this year by bringing back the windfall tax on bankers’ bonuses.

£4bn could be saved this year by cancelling Trident, the project could cost as much as £100bn.

£500m could be saved every year by eradicating healthcare acquired infections from the NHS – the extra cleaners would cost half this.

£495m could be saved every year by adopting measures to improve the health and well-being of NHS staff, thereby reducing sickness absence

£1bn could be saved every year by halving the local government agency bill, as has been achieved by high performing councils

£5bn could be raised every year with an Empty Property Tax on vacant dwellings. This only exaggerates housing shortages and harms neighbourhoods.

£2.8bn could be saved every year by ending the central government use of private consultants who bring little discernable benefit

£3bn could be saved in user fees and interest charges every year if PFI schemes were replaced with conventional public procurement

Total – 77.895bn.

*The CIPD predicted last week that 725,000 public sector jobs could go over the next five years.

** Based on research by Tax expert Richard Murphy.

“If this government picks a fight with us, then we will be ready for them,” declared general secretary Dave Prentis to a packed and cheering audience of members.

“Do not underestimate us. We will be fierce defenders of our members and the services they deliver. The government won’t know what hit them.

“Don’t get me wrong. We are not looking for a fight,” he added. “We will always be prepared to talk, to engage – to negotiate, that’s what trade unions do. And where we find agreement, to move forward.

But he did not shy away from the strongest defence of public sector pensions.

“If Nick Clegg comes for our pensions, as he boasted only yesterday, then we will ballot for national strike action,” he affirmed to noisy and enthusiastic applause.

Dave Prentis was scathing in his view of Cameron and Clegg – “politics’ answer to Jedward” – and their repeated warnings about the debt and the deficit. What they are proposing is “gutting, not cutting” public services, he said.

But he had a different message for UNISON members.

“The biggest danger is that people accept the propaganda that all this is inevitable. That there is no alternative. But we will not allow people to lose hope. We will stand up for a better way.”

There is an alternative, he said. The choice for the employers is to stop cutting pay and conditions, and start cutting out the contractors and management consultants.

The choice for the councils, he said, is to stop council tax giveaways that benefit a few and start protecting the services needed by the many.

And he had a special message for George Osborne: “Even you – you do have a choice. Stop taking money from schools, hospitals, care homes. Have the guts to go back to the banks, the speculators, the profiteers. And tell them on our behalf – you pay for it.”

With conference delegates inspired by his words, the general secretary hammered home the rallying cry to defend public services.

“We begin that fight, here, today. We will organise. We will organise public meetings and street demonstrations, in towns and cities, up and down the country. We will build lasting community alliances, to defend our public services… We will promote an alternative economic political and social agenda.”

He stated that the union would only support a candidate for the leadership of the Labour Party who is ready to stand up and fight against cuts and privatisation.

And he received a standing ovation for his rousing closing words:

“It is time to stand tall. We know who we are. This is the time to lift our hearts and raise our flag. A brand new chapter. Strong, determined, united. This is really our time.”

(16/6/10) UNISON took the battle for public sector pensions to the government today, with proposals that would counter the threat of cuts from Whitehall.

Central to UNISON’s approach would be a reduction of the funds within the Local Government Pension Scheme, from the current 101 to single funds for England, Wales and Scotland – and to greatly reduce the costs paid to fund managers.

Managing the funds in-house would prevent millions of pounds of pension fund income going to bankers and traders.

“The battleground for our pensions is clear,” the NEC’s Bob Oram (pictured) told conference. “The government commission on public sector pensions has one aim – cutting costs. They can cut our benefits, increase our contributions, increase the age at which we retire – or all three.

“We need a coherent alternative to counter these threats,” he said. “It’s our money, our deferred wages, and we need them managed in the most efficient way.”

Mr Oram told delegates that the same bankers and traders who took the country into recession were the same bankers and traders who were charged with managing the pension funds – earning a massive £250m in 2009.

“They’re the ones who created the mess we’re in. And yet the amounts they have been charging us to manage our money have been going up and up.”

In 2009 Clwyd paid investment managers £57 for every £100 earned. While West Yorkshire members, managed in-house, paid just £1 for every £100 earned.

“The difference between the two is size,” Mr Oram said. “West Yorkshire is a fund with assets of £6bn, Clwyd just £750m. And because of its size West Yorkshire is able to pay its own fund managers, who are directly employed by Bradford Council and are not economic mercenaries.

“Their sole aim is to make money for fund members, rather than themselves.”

There is also more economic power if the many funds are merged. Research shows that three funds, instead of the 101 that currently exist, would bring in an extra £1bn a year in income, from their size alone.

“The bigger the investment fund the larger the return,” Mr Oram said. “In this case, size really does matter.”

The NEC has been charged with devising a programme, in consultation with the union, that would:

• create one fund each for England, Scotland and Wales – there is already one fund in Northern Ireland;
• demand efficiency savings in fund management contracts – estimated at around £150m-250m a year;
• consult internationally with other public sector unions and their fund managers.

Commenting on the latest unemployment figures released today (16 June), Dave Prentis, UNISON’s General Secretary, said:

“With unemployment on the up again it makes no sense to throw thousands more people on to the dole queues.

“Behind every statistic is a personal tragedy – cuts to public spending will have a huge impact on the local economy and will devastate communities and families.

“We face a lost generation of disaffected young people, struggling to get their first foot into work.

“Cutting hard and fast will risk a double dip recession. We need to protect public services and create opportunities for young people and the long-term unemployed.”

UNISON, the UK’s largest public sector union today hit back at the Government’s attack on public sector pensions, accusing them of scaremongering, peddling myths and of breathtaking double-speak.

Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, said:

“Only a few months ago, Clegg was warning that cutting public spending now would threaten the economic recovery. Now he is saying that public sector workers should pay the price for the banker’s recession, with cuts to their pensions.

“The Government is using breathtaking double-speak to peddle myths about public sector pension schemes – trying to pit public sector workers against those in the private sector – and it just won’t work.

“These pension myths are scaremongering. There are no unreformed, gold-plated pension pots. The average pension in local government is just £4,000 a year dropping to £2,600 for women. Public sector pensions have already gone through massive changes to ensure they are sustainable and affordable.

“It is grossly misleading to pick one moment in time and apply that to the 20-30 years of a pension scheme cycle. You have got to look at why pension costs are rising. Costs are based on stocks and shares and the collapse in the stock market has hit all schemes But pensions are for the long term – a 20 year timeframe is more appropriate to assess the true cost – the Government’s knee-jerk reaction makes no sense. These figures are put out there to create an aura for cuts, but they are not the true picture.

“The review to the NHS scheme in 2008 gives complete protection to the public purse. The employers’ contribution is capped at 14% and, if the cost rises, it is health workers who will pick up the bill.

“The Government should be encouraging people to save for their retirement, not attacking workers who do. If people do not save for their pension, through a decent scheme – they will end up having to rely on taxpayer funded benefits in their retirement.”

Press release 15/06/2010

Key issues at conference

 

Representatives of UNISON’s 1.3 million members will debate policy in Bournemouth as storm clouds gather over public services.

One immediate consequence of the coalition government agreement was to give the green light for the Tories’ plans for immediate cuts of at least £6bn – even though they couldn’t actually win an electoral mandate for that.

New Chancellor George Osborne spelt out where he plans to swing the axe at the end of May, just before the government’s first Queen’s speech. And more will come in the coalition’s emergency budget on 22 June.

But as general secretary Dave Prentis has consistently said: “Unions were born in adversity. We are there for the bad times as well as the good times.”

And how UNISON responds to the challenge of the current crisis – on behalf of our members – will be the overwhelming theme of this year’s annual union parliament, the national delegate conference.

Some 2,000 delegates – and around 1,000 visitors – will gather in Bournemouth between 15 and 18 June to debate 135 motions (plus amendments) ranging from organising (motion 1) to branch funding (motion 135) – and everything in between.

On top of that, they’ll also be deciding on 32 proposed changes to the union’s rules and taking part in discussions at a wide range of fringe meetings and events in the conference’s UNIZONE, where delegates can pick up tips on organising and campaigning.

The national delegate conference is at the heart of the union’s democracy: you – or your delegates – will fill the halls, meeting rooms and corridors of Bournemouth and have a lot to think about and report back on.

And at the heart of everything will be the union’s Million Voices for Public Services campaign.

In particular, conference will be asked, in motion 70 from the NEC, to “welcome the progress the Million Voices campaign has made towards promoting and popularising” the vision that “the only way of ensuring future prosperity and economic stability” – and preventing more crises like that which hit the world economy from 2008 – is “to move decisively beyond the failed neo-liberal model and build a fairer and more democratic economy”.

But far from resting on our laurels, delegates will debate plans to “continue and build on the work of the Million Voices campaign” by working with members, co-workers and service users, in unions and other organisations, to “oppose the right-wing agenda of cuts, privatisation and deregulation,” while advocating and developing “an alternative economic agenda based upon fairness, good jobs, quality public services and the strengthening of democratic regulation and control of our economy”.

But of course, we know that the old mantra of Mrs Thatcher – “there is no alternative” – is being trotted out to justify these cuts; cuts that will attack the poor, the old, the very young and the vital public services they rely on – and all in the name of tackling a deficit that was caused by the unregulated gambling of the financial industry.

Conference delegates will have a chance to highlight the real fact that there is, indeed, an alternative when they debate motion 41 on public services and taxation, submitted by the NEC.

This notes that “we can afford the public services we need if we ensure that we have a tax system that is fair and progressive, raising the greatest amount from those best able to pay, and we eliminate the loopholes that currently allow many large corporations and wealthy individuals to avoid or evade paying their share”.

And, as with the motion on the economy, it calls for “the work that the Million Voices has begun to involve regions, branches, members, service users and the wider public” to be continued and stepped up with a campaign that highlights the need to strengthen and invest in public services, oppose privatisation that serves to strengthen the private ‘public services industry’, campaign for fair taxes and “highlight the contribution and commitment of public service workers”.

But while the big-picture policies set out a framework and are key in countering the political attacks on public services, we also know that we will need to defend our members from specific attacks on them.

And a key area in the years ahead will be pensions: despite the fact that every public-sector pension went through a review a few years ago and proved its affordability, the new government has set up one of its many commissions specifically to look at ‘the affordability’ of our members’ pensions.

The subject occupies a whole section of the conference agenda. In particular, motion 18 on defending the Local Government Pension Scheme will lay the groundwork for defending and fighting for the LGPS, securing it for the future and improving its governance.

Similarly, there will be key debates around the future of the NHS (motion 58), providing equitable social care (motion 61), and the move towards public-service integration via Total Place (motion 64).

Conference debates on these issues will set policies and lay the groundwork for the union’s work to meet the challenges of the next year and beyond. But to turn them into realities will rely on our strength on the ground and in the workplace.

As well as campaigning on trade union rights (motion 86), delegates will discuss how to improve UNISON’s organising (motion 1) recognising that “reaching out to everyone in the public services and organising for growth is the biggest challenge we face”.

Rule changes to address key issues

Thursday of conference week traditionally hosts the rules debate. This can be seen by many as a dry, unexciting debate: but it does address key issues. This year, two proposed rule amendments stand out in particular.

Rule amendment 8 is a simple two-line change, replacing the words ‘Higher Education’ with ‘Universities and Colleges’ in rule 3, defining the union’s service groups.

This continues the work started last year on developing new structures that meet members’ needs in the bargaining world.

The 2009 conference put this change back to let the members in the current higher education service group and further education sector in local government discuss the implications.

That discussion has taken place and the rule change is supported by both groups of workers.

“The review identified that over 90% of issues were common to all groups,” notes higher education SGE chair Derek Earnshaw.

“We have retained a process for the remaining 10% where any sector can make decisions that only affect that particular group of members.

“I am now confident a new service group will ensure that all members have an ‘equal voice’ and that there will be a seat at the table for all in a structure that is relevant to staff who are employed in our universities and colleges.”

The other key rule change up for debate in rule amendment 4 is designed to combat the far right, spelling out that membership of UNISON is incompatible with membership of “a political party whose constitution, aims and objectives expressly or impliedly promote racism, or whose objectives are contrary to the objectives of UNISON, specifically the equality provisions set out in … the UNISON Rule Book”.

The rule change also spells out that this is directed at “the British National Party, the National Front and similar parties”.

(InFocus, June 2010)

National Young members Weekend 2010

There was a beach. There were young members. There was UNISON. Sadly, though, carnage did not ensue. In fact, this year’s National Young Members’ Weekend was the best one I have ever been to. And this was my third one.

The National Young Members’ Weekend, set in the idyllic surroundings of UNISON’s Croyde Bay holiday village in Devon, is where hundreds of the union’s young members met together to learn about the union, how to be better activists, how the union works and what we can take back to the regions.

It wasn’t just boring motions though. It was very much, ahem, “interactive”. For the first time this year, participants got to tell the National Young Members’ Forum (the members’ committee which oversees young member activity) what issues should be taken forward for UNISON Young Members. Issues were diverse; many people said the NYMF should campaign on housing. Others were worried about the impending cuts. A large number said that we should fight to save the National Minimum Wage. The NYMF will decide how to go forward from this feedback at it’s AGM in July.

There were workshops, but they were engaging and fascinating. There were workshops held on UNISON’s migrant workers project, on the Three Companies project, but I went to the one on health and safety. Don’t yawn, it was interesting stuff. I learned that the most common causes of workplace injuries is trips and falls because of loose wires in the office. I now have a clean(er) and tidier desk. Slightly.

There were, of course, socials (there isn’t much else to do in Devon – it’s hardly Brighton) and while many people thought they could take or leave Shirley Bassey, a good time was had by all, as the positive feedback showed.

Next year, it’s going to be in Cardiff, and hopefully this year was a benchmark. If you have the chance, do go next year; you’ll meet some excellent people, learn stuff you didn’t know about the union, and come back energised and refreshed. Oh, and have a good time, too.

Chris Leary, Surrey County branch and SE YMF vice chair

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