VIDEO: Ska against the cuts

A lunchtime share for you. We’ve been humming along to this new tune from Captain Ska, a very catchy song in which the band let us know in no uncertain terms their views about the coalition government’s plan of public spending cuts.

Click on the Captain Ska link.

A message from Dave Prentis, UNISON general secretary

Today, we are beginning to see the shape of the coalition government's cuts agenda - half a million jobs axed in the public sector; services slashed to the bone and a brutal attack on the welfare state.

And it looks like local government will take the hardest hit.

George Osborne's Comprehensive Spending Review announcement contains only the headlines. The reality of what they will mean for public service workers and their families will be revealed piece by piece over the next few months as our devolved governments, local councils, police authorities, hospitals, schools, voluntary organisations and others struggle to make sense of the massive budget cuts they have been dealt.

Today's headlines are about job cuts - the government admits to half a million in the public sector alone. Other commentators say 600,000. And economists warn that the private sector is likely to suffer a similar level of job losses as councils and others cancel contracts, shut down projects and search for ways to cut expenditure.

And even those areas the government claims to be protecting are already under pressure - in the NHS alone, £20 billion of cuts are to be found.

Across local government, health, education, housing, police, all of our public services and the private sector that relies on them: a million jobs - axed.

Behind every one of those jobs is a real family dealing with real hardship. A million public service roles - vanished.

And for each service lost - communities losing the real services they rely on. And an economy taking another hit as our families tighten their belts and cut back our own spending. Women are estimated to use three quarters of the services or benefits being cut. That is the legacy of this spending review.

A million less jobs, £4.6bn in lost tax revenue. A million less jobs and £6.1bn increase in benefit payments. An 'austerity budget' that adds £10.7bn a year to the annual deficit and almost entirely wipes out the apparent £12.5bn saving to the public sector pay bill.

These are challenging times for everyone who works in our public services and for all those who rely on them. Our services, our jobs, our pay and our pensions - all under attack.

UNISON has been speaking up for public services. Our Million Voices campaign has warned that the effects of cutting so hard and so fast will ravage our communities. We have protested that public service workers should not be made to pay for the excesses of the bankers and speculators who caused the economic recession.

Today, we are seeing the big picture of the cuts agenda. In the coming weeks, we will see more detail. But I wanted all our activists and representatives to get the union's first take on the spending review as soon as possible.

See our first glance summary of the key issues for UNISON here.

In the coming weeks and months, we have hard work to do. Our members will be anxious and fearful for their jobs. We will have to represent our members and their concerns as well as continuing to put the pressure on government and employers through local campaigning.

We will have to work with public service users and community groups to make sure that we speak up for vital services.

But we will meet this challenge as a strong, united union, determined to speak with one voice whether locally or nationally, with one aim. To defend our public services and the people who provide them. Together, in UNISON, we will meet this challenge.

Dave Prentis

UNISON’s National Skills for Life Survey

UNISON is interested in finding out about the skills, confidence, attitudes and needs of our members in relation to literacy, numeracy and computers. This will help us to inform the development of the UNISON Skills for Life Strategy to support our members.




We would encourage UNISON member's to participate in this survey, It should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete and all responses will be reported anonymously.



To participate in the survey click here.

UNISON BEAR

JOIN THE CAMPAIGN FOR JOBS, SERVICES, FAIRER TAXES & A LIVING WAGE

The Con-Dem government say there is no alternative.

 We say the only sustainable response to the crisis is to promote growth and ensure fairness through creating jobs and protecting services, through fair taxation and a living wage.

UNISON is supporting the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) organised campaign - 'There is a better way' - and a forthcoming demonstration in Edinburgh on Saturday 23rd October 2010. We would encourage ALL members and their families to attend this demonstration. Travel arrangements will be publicised nearer the time, so keep checking back or contact your steward about attending.

UNISON writes to Mungo Foundation Chief Executive Dana O’Dwyer and Chair of the Board Archbishop Conti Seeking Meetings to Discuss Concerns

On Friday 3^rd September following a meeting of UNISON stewards UNISON Regional Organiser Simon Macfarlane wrote to The Chief Exec and Chair of the Mungo Foundation to express UNISON’s concerns in 3 key areas, these were:

1)      Pay - we submitted a pay claim on 10 June 2010 for the Living Wage of £7, now £7.15 p/h to be the lowest rate in The Mungo Foundation with 2.5% for those above it. Given members had no rise last year we feel this is a very reasonable claim. We are concerned that to date we have had no formal response on this. You can find out more info on the living wage here and the full claim is also on the blog. On our blog you will also find info on what some faith based organisations are doing regarding the living wage and if you are a member of such an organisation we would encourage you to raise this there.

2)      Restructuring in learning disability services in Glasgow - we have raised concerns about the consultation process, in particular we are seeking clarity on the salary scale for the new project assistant post they want to introduce in these services. We need members to have the fullest information possible and we are not comfortable this is the case at present. At some stage we may well need to consult formally members in the projects affected. Please can you call UNISON direct on 0845 355 0845 and check that your membership record has your workplace properly recorded (note if you move following this restructure you’ll need to update it again).

3)      Progress on other issues. We have been pursuing a number of issues such as sleepover length for some time. We are concerned about the lack of progress on these issues.

For all of the above reasons we think it would be helpful to meet with the Chief Executive and the Board. We are meeting management on 8^th September and will update the blog following that on where we are at.

On a positive note TMF have agreed to trial out having one of UNISON’s stewards acting as a convenor 3 days a week for 6 months. Alice Lyness has been elected to fill this position, the details still need to be worked out. In the first instance members should continue to contact their local steward wherw they have one, Alice can be contacted on alicelyness@fsmail.net or 07882551134.

At this time we need to be as strong as possible so please encourage non member colleagues to join, they can do so by calling 0845 355 0845 or online at www.unison.org.uk/join .

Is your church paying a Living Wage?

UNISON receives information from many varied sources, one of these is the Church Action on Poverty who are running a campaign called 'Closing the Gap'. The 'Close the Gap' campaign encourages individuals to participate in the campaign against the ever widening pay gap between rich and poor in the UK which is greater now than at any time in the past 40 years. We need your help to tell those in power that it's time to Close the Gap.

Please read the information below, we would encourage all members involved in faith-based organisations to raise the issue of the living wage within those organisations and seek that they adopt the living wage if they have employees.

Each year, the level of the Living Wage gets reviewed and updated. It has now gone up from £7.14 an hour to £7.60. In London it is now £7.85 and in Scotland £7.15.

It is a sad fact that pay below this level is poverty wages. We believe that work should pay enough to lift people out of poverty. Thousands of hard-working families are still in poverty because people are paid just the National Minimum Wage. For Christians, this denigrates the fundamental dignity of humanity. It is an important issue of social justice to stand with people and families who are working hard but still in poverty.

Take action to stop this:

1. Make sure the administrators and cleaners at your church or employer are paid the Living Wage.

2. Ask your church leaders if they plan to implement the updated Living Wage across your area.

More information about the Living Wage is available on the Church Action on Poverty website.

Cranking up the campaign - Methodists lead the way

This summer's Methodist Conference saw them agree to require all Methodist churches and projects to pay the Living Wage by the end of this financial year, except in very exceptional circumstances. This has already lifted a significant number of lay workers out of 'in-work poverty'. This is the culmination of almost 10 years of work by Church Action on Poverty, and we pass on our congratulations to the Methodists. There is still a big job ahead to make sure the many churches and 600 Circuits adopt it.

Not far behind, the Baptists, the United Reformed Church, the Church of Scotland, and the Quakers are all publicly committed to the principle.

However, neither of the two largest denominations - the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England – has taken serious steps towards respecting their low-paid workers with a Living Wage. We will be in touch soon asking you to contact the Anglican or Roman Catholic bishops in your diocese.