Monday 30 March 2015

Public Meeting about the future of Social Care - 29th April 2015

Weston super Mare Labour Party are organising a meeting about the future of Social Care:

29th April at 7.30 pm

The Purple Sheep Centre
25 Hughenden Road
Weston super Mare
BS23 2UR

Speakers include:

Ash Poddar, Help-in-Care
Tim Taylor, Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Weston super Mare
Helen Thornton, North Somerset UNISON
Steve Timmins, Protect Our NHS

All UNISON members, whether Social Care workers or not, are welcome to attend.

Sunday 29 March 2015

Special Local Government Conference held on 24th March 2015

UNISON local government delegates from across the UK met at a special conference in London to debate the lessons of the recent pay campaign and agree a set of strong proposals to increase member engagement and democratic participation in every aspect of future pay campaigns.

During a day of impassioned speeches and strong feelings about the impact of the government’s continuing pay freeze and years of declining pay in local government, a range of composites and motions were agreed.

Composite A recognised that “years of pay freezes and pay caps in local government mean that many of our members are now forced to rely on in-work benefits or to take on extra jobs…or even rely on food banks”.

It pledged the union to ensure a UK-wide perspective on all pay campaigning; to put women and gender equality at the heart of campaigning; to work jointly with other unions and to build bargaining and industrial strength through a massive recruitment and organising effort.

Most importantly, future campaigns needed to increase member participation and engagement in the fight for fair pay.

Delegates also agreed Composite B to amend the local government service group’s procedures to ensure that “meaningful, clear and transparent” consultation is carried out with branches.

It also called for at least one lay representative from the appropriate sector committees to have the opportunity to be involved in all pay negotiations.

Composite C called on the union to lodge an additional pay claim for 2015/16 with a settlement date of 1 April 2015 to include a Living Wage rate as the minimum pay value of the NJC pay spine and an equivalent flat rate pay increase to be applied to all other scale points.

Delegates agreed motions from Wales and Scotland calling for a range of measures to increase member engagement in pay campaigning and for the development of a “consistent, sustained and coherent political strategy, allied to our bargaining and industrial strategies.

UNISON Northern Ireland and Scotland moved a motion calling for future claims to be based on a strong central claim but allowing for local improvement in devolved nations, while opposing any moves to undermine National Joint Council bargaining or move towards regional or local bargaining.

The conference also agreed a report from the service group executive to alter the union’s pay consultation processes to improve participation - including allowing branches to carry out consultation using electronic polling methods.

Election Hustings for North Somerset and Weston super Mare Constituencies - 10th and 24th April 2015

HOW WILL THE NHS SURVIVE THE NEXT 5 YEARS?

YOUR CHANCE TO QUESTION YOUR NEXT MP

North Somerset Public Meeting:

Friday April 10th 7.30pm 

Scotch Horn Leisure Centre, Brockway, Nailsea, BS48 1BZ

Invited Candidates Include: Dr Liam Fox MP (Cons), David Derbyshire (Green), Greg Chambers (Lab), Marcus Kravis (LibDem), Ian Kealey (Ukip)


Weston super Mare Public Meeting:

Friday April 24th at 7.30pm 

Blakehay Theatre, Wadham Street, Weston-super-Mare BS23 1JZ

Panel includes:
John Penrose MP (Cons), Dr Richard Lawson (Green), Tim Taylor (Lab), John Monroe (LibDem), Ernie Warrender (Ukip)

The General Election on May 7th 2015 will be the most important vote we will have for the future of our NHS.  Are we heading for a US style health insurance model or is there a chance of retaining a health service which remains free at the point of use.

Everyone is invited to come and hear what all the candidates are thinking their party will do if it gets into power.  And with the way the polls are looking at the moment, it looks as though we will have another five years of a coalition of some sort.

Remember these public meetings are an essential part of our democracy.  Come along and ask the difficult questions, raise the burning issues and make sure your chosen candidate tells you exactly what their party will do if they get into power.

If you can’t make it to the meeting you can send your questions to The Weston Mercury: simon.angear@archant.co.uk or call The North Somerset Times on 01934 422656

For further information please contact: NorthSomersetHustings@outlook.com

Tuesday 3 March 2015

UNISON NHS members in England accept government’s pay offer

UNISON members have accepted the government’s pay offer for NHS workers in a ballot that closed today.

The results are:

Votes to accept: 67 per cent
Votes to reject and take further action: 32 per cent

UNISON head of health, Christina McAnea, said:

“Our members have voted to accept this offer. Although it does not go far enough, it is an improvement and it will make a difference particularly to over 250,000 of the lowest-paid in the NHS.

“By ignoring the recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Body for England, the government forced health workers to take strike action over pay for the first time in 34 years.

“I’m proud of the fact our members were prepared to take strike action without compromising patient care. Their industrial action has forced the government to negotiate with us and sent a warning that NHS workers will not sit back and do nothing when their standard of living is attacked.

“We are calling on any government elected in May to develop a pay strategy that rewards health workers fairly for the demanding jobs they do, and ensures the NHS can continue to recruit and retain a high quality workforce.

“The current state of pay in the NHS means many workers rely on unsocial hours payments to make ends meet. We know this government wants to cut these.

“The industrial action over the last six months should be a warning to ministers that our members will not accept further cuts.”

Monday 2 March 2015

March for the NHS in Bristol - 14th March

March for the NHS in Bristol Saturday 14th March

Starting at College Green at 11am.
March to Castle Park for rally from about 12.30

Download a poster for the Bristol event:
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/peoplesvoteforthenhs/pages/111/attachments/original/1425035268/March_poster_A4__Bristol_no_printer_marks_AW.pdf?1425035268 

Full details of national campaign:  http://www.peoplesvotefornhs.org.uk/pledges

The People’s Vote for the NHS’s pledges are:

1. Repeal the Health and Social Care Act. Halt and roll back the privatisation of the NHS. No to TTIP.
2. End the NHS funding freeze: Increase spending to meet growing need for health care.
3. No more unsafe cuts and closures to save money.
4. Don’t let PFI costs kill off local services! Renegotiate on the basis of fair value.
5. Fair deal and fair pay for NHS staff.

This will be the second stop in a pre-election tour of Britain by those who marched 300 miles for the NHS last August from the North to London.