Management at Yeovil District Hospital are under fire from staff in public service union UNISON after refusing to release details of their plan to outsource 350 Yeovil hospital staff. If Trust bosses succeed, the 350 estates and facilities staff and hospital buildings will move into a “subsidiary company”. The Trust will initially own the “subco” […]
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Public sector workers are thousands of pounds worse off every year because of the pay cap. On Monday 4 December, Members of Parliament will debate ending the seven-year pay cap. But will your MP show up? More than 100,000 people signed UNISON’s petition calling for the end of the pay cap. So now it has […]
UNISON is calling on council leader Tim Warren to stop 300 B&NES job losses under threat from reduced central government funding. The roles face the axe by 2020 after the government told the Council to make another £58m of savings. Initial consultation documents published by the council show that it has already slashed £27m from […]
The board of Gloucestershire Hospitals Trust will this Wednesday (8 November) hold secret talks on the Gloucestershire NHS plan to outsource 900 staff into a subsidiary company. In a bid to cut costs, the Trust wants to pursue an alleged VAT saving by selling services to itself. Managers have been open about their desire to […]
Public service union UNISON has branded a Discovery performance report on the outsourced learning disability service (LDS) provider “a sham” ahead of a Somerset County Council scrutiny committee meeting on Wednesday (8 November). The comments come following concerns the Discovery performance report does not reflect service quality since the outsourcing six months ago. The Somerset […]
Strike action planned at the RD&E this weekend has been averted. UNISON and the Trust secured an interim deal on shift working that saw the Exeter porters strike called off. Both parties have held constructive talks this week, brokered by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), following a dispute over proposals to introduce 12 […]
Rosie MacGregor, chair of the national retired members committee, writes the UNISON retired members conference 2017 report The conference was held on 10-11 October 2017 in Llandudno. The first day of conference was taken up with a mix of self-organised group meetings, workshops and a panel debate on Brexit. All of which were well attended. […]
Public service union UNISON notified the Trust that the porters will strike again from 18:00 on 3 November until 06:00 on 6 November. Porters in public service union UNISON will take further strike action at the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital after management failed to take 12 hour shift plans off the table. 96% of […]
Unions at the University of Bath have responded to yesterday’s statement from senior management on Bath university governance reforms. UNISON, UCU and Unite issued the following statement: “The measures announced by University of Bath management to fend off growing anger over inequality and poor governance are largely worthless. The measures are: a review of the […]
Two periods of the RD&E porters strike will go ahead at the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital after Trust representatives declined the opportunity to take proposed 12 hour shifts off the table. Portering staff in UNISON voted to strike for 24 hours from 06:00 on 20 October. They will follow this with an eight hour action from […]
Public service union UNISON has told management at the Royal Devon and Exeter (RD&E) hospital that a two-day porters strike can be averted if plans for porters 12 hour shifts are scrapped. Portering staff in UNISON currently plan to strike for 24 hours from 6:00 on 20 October. They will follow this with an eight […]
Signing up to a charter on social care would prevent more “inadequate” ratings for Plymouth’s care homes, public service union UNISON has told councillors. UNISON aims to set the bar higher with a Plymouth Residential Care Charter after five residential care centres were told to improve by Care Quality Commission inspections. The Charter lays out […]
After a series of “inadequate” ratings, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has placed the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust in special measures. UNISON South West regional organiser Siobhan Brown said: “People in Cornwall deserve good healthcare, but the CQC report is a damning and sad reflection that they aren’t receiving it. The NHS is under […]
A consultative ballot of UNISON members in Somerset’s Learning Disability Service has returned a 99% “reject” response to Discovery’s cuts. Almost all Learning Disability staff are UNISON members and 70% participated in the vote. Staff voted following Discovery’s decision to unilaterally end the consultation process without addressing their concerns. After Somerset County Council outsourced the Learning […]
Working people need the economy to benefit all of us, not just a lucky few. Politicians will miss the opportunities provided by devolved powers, unless we fix the West of England growth strategy. Last week, we set out five problems in WECA’s growth strategy. Trade unions are about practical solutions, so here are five options […]
