Livewell Group becomes a Living Wage employer

Livewell Group has accredited as a Living Wage Employer. The Living Wage commitment will see everyone working at Livewell Group receive a minimum hourly wage of £9.00 in the UK. In the South West over a fifth of all jobs (23.4%) pay less than the real Living Wage – around 529,000 jobs. Despite this, Livewell […]

Strike action looms as Mitie staff in Cornwall are balloted over pay

Porters, cleaners and caterers in hospitals across Cornwall are to be balloted for strike action after pay negotiations with NHS contractor Mitie stalled. UNISON has been in discussions with the employer since December 2017 to bring staff up to the same rates of pay awarded to colleagues working directly for their NHS Trust. A consultative […]

Livewell Southwest commit to TUC’s Dying to Work Charter

Livewell Southwest has today (Wednesday) added its name to a charter aimed at helping employees who become terminally ill at work. The social care organisation is the latest employer to sign up to the Dying to Work Voluntary Charter, following in the footsteps of employers such as Rolls Royce, Royal Mail and the Co-op. The […]

Plans to review admin services withdrawn at Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Trust

Plans to review admin services at Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Trust have been withdrawn today following a successful campaign by UNISON. The announcement from the Trust’s new Chief Executive Dominic Hardisty followed 18 months of talks, lunchtime walkouts and a formal strike ballot which saw over 95% of affected staff voting for strike action. Wiltshire […]

Somerset County Council Chief Exec and union officials hold A1 sized certificate confirming the council's commitment to a local apprenticeship agreement

Somerset County Council signs new agreement to protect apprentices

Somerset County Council has signed a local apprenticeship agreement with UNISON. The agreement ensures that apprentices will receive the correct rate for the job they are doing, high quality training, and a safe and healthy working environment. UNISON South West Regional Secretary Joanne Kaye said:  “We are delighted the council has decided to sign a […]

More than 500 jobs at risk as Dorset Council announces restructure plan

Dorset Council must avoid compulsory job losses as it today (Monday) announced plans to cut its workforce, says UNISON. “At risk” letters have been sent to employees in five areas of the council including human resources, finance and IT. Staff will now enter a 45-day consultation period. Dorset County Council, East Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck, […]

UNISON members rally outside Thornbury library

Stop the South Glos library cuts!

30% of library staff in South Gloucestershire could be sacked under Tory Councillors’ plans to hit the local service, despite the council’s own consultation showing most public support for stopping library cuts. With £650k of cuts planned over the next three years, the library service will see its budget (£2.6m) fall by more than one […]

Bristol budget chaos shows Mayor must be honest with residents

Bristol budget chaos shows Mayor must be honest with residents, says UNISON The deeper than expected hole in Bristol City Council’s budget means a different approach is needed if public services in the city are to survive, UNISON has said. Over £100 million of cuts – 25% of the budget – could leave the Council […]

Preferred provider status for Virgin Care leaves questions to be answered

Health staff have little faith in Virgin Care’s ability to deliver a public service in Bath & North East Somerset despite the private corporation’s newly awarded status as “preferred provider”. UNISON is pledging to fight every step of the way to ensure no aspect of Virgin Care’s bid goes unscrutinised in the remaining three months of […]

Save Our Services! New toolkit for campaigners

Despite a new Prime Minister, the Tories show little sign of fairer funding for public services. So it’s more important that ever that UNISON members, and everyone else who care about high quality public services, have the right tools to make the case for proper investment in the services our communities need. Get the Save […]

£1 million at risk as Devon contractor reneges on deal

£1 million of taxpayers’ money at risk as contractor Optum reneges on agreement UNISON is calling upon Devon County Council to save £1m of tax payers’ money as a dispute escalates due to failings within the Council’s procurement process. At a time when Devon NHS Services face a £402m black hole by 2020 an unnecessary […]

Merger Row Masks Deep Cuts to Somerset Services

A cuts-driven restructuring plan risks the quality of council services, UNISON has today warned. With a 30% budget reduction threatened by 2020, arguments between councillors in Taunton Deane and West Somerset over whether they should merge, collaborate, or go their own way are missing the point. Transformation plans aim to introduce a call centre approach […]

UNISON campaign wins living wage at Cornwall Council

UNISON are thrilled that Cornwall Councillors voted at the full council meeting to re-instate the Living Wage Foundation pay rate for staff at the bottom of the pay structure – the majority being women.  In a joint campaign between the Trade Unions and the Labour Party, councillors were persuaded that Cornwall Council needed to continue […]

Our statement on the EU vote result

UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis has made the following statement: The people have spoken, and they have made a clear call for change – and a different relationship with Europe. We will be working in the coming weeks and months to hold the leave campaigners to the promises they’ve made – that there will be […]

Damning report shows need for change in NHS 111 services

Damning report shows need for change in NHS 111 services, says UNISON South West A Care Quality Commission (CQC) report rating the NHS 111 services run by South Western Ambulance Service Foundation Trust (SWAST) as inadequate has been responded to by UNISON South West. UNISON South Western Ambulance branch co-secretary Chris Nelson said: “This is […]