Council staff and residents in Leicestershire are still waiting for action a week after a senior Reform UK councillor was accused of making offensive comments during a council training session, says UNISON today (Thursday). Cllr Carl Abbott, cabinet member for adult social care, questioned whether Muslim children being taught to pray in schools could lead […]
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UNISON East Midlands regional secretary Chris Jenkinson will be moving on from his role at the end of February after being appointed as the union’s new assistant general secretary. Chris joined the East Midlands region in 2020, just weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic transformed workplaces and public services. Since then, he has led the region […]
Derbyshire County Council’s closure of eight care homes has left elderly residents and staff who look after them to bear the consequences of months of poor decision-making by authority bosses. The Reform UK-controlled council has confirmed it will shut the homes after a failed attempt to sell them to a private provider. It flies in […]
Commenting on the budget, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said today (Wednesday): “Scrapping the cruel two-child benefit cap is a victory for thousands of working families. Good riddance to it. But it should’ve happened sooner. “It shows Labour is at last heading in the right direction and helping those who most need support. “But the government […]
Local government reorganisation in Derbyshire must be about levelling up communities and strengthening public services, not cutting costs or putting jobs at risk, says UNISON. The union, which represents thousands of council and school staff across Derbyshire, says any changes to local government structures must have proper funding behind them and protect the people delivering […]
Scrapping half of East Midlands Ambulance Service’s fast response vehicles will put lives at risk, says UNISON. The union says plans to half the number of vehicles will mean fewer paramedics are able to reach life-threatening emergencies quickly. Fast response vehicles are usually first on the scene at the most serious 999 calls across the […]
Commenting on Nottingham University Hospital’s decision to declare a critical incident today (Wednesday), UNISON East Midlands regional head of health Gareth Eales said: “Declaring a critical incident shows just how severe the pressures have become across Nottingham’s hospitals. “Frontline NHS staff are going above and beyond to keep services running and to provide the best possible […]
In her keynote speech to UNISON’s annual disabled members’ conference in Liverpool today (Sunday), the union’s general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The harsh austerity policies of successive Conservative governments had a devastating impact on disabled people across the country. “Not only did their spending cuts hit the essential services so many rely upon. Tory ministers also tried […]
Professional services staff at the University of Nottingham will strike next week after talks to resolve a long-running dispute broke down, says UNISON. Hundreds of workers, including security officers, administrators, IT staff and library personnel, will walk out from Monday 22 September until Wednesday 24 September. This will affect services across the University of Nottingham. […]
Hundreds of professional services staff at the University of Nottingham have voted for strike action in a row over job cuts, says UNISON. Workers including security officers, library personnel and administrators are set to walk out unless university bosses scrap plans to axe jobs. More than three quarters (78%) of staff who voted backed strike […]