UNISON reacts to spending review announcement on NHS

Commenting on the announcement on the NHS today (Wednesday) by the Chancellor, Ravi Subramanian Unison West Midlands Regional Secretary said

"So far the government’s plans for funding the NHS have been all smoke and mirrors. There has been no consistent plan to deal with the social care crisis and its consequent impact on the NHS.

There’s also been no strategy to prepare and adapt the health service to deal with the challenges of an ageing population, or one strategy to fairly pay its overworked staff.

The new funding will do little to stop long ambulance queues outside A&E departments and little to help organisations that are already in black alert.

Also commenting on the scrapping of bursaries for student nurses, Ravi added:

“Scrapping student nurse bursaries at a time when the NHS is struggling with a shortage of nurses is wrong and irresponsible.

The bursary is a major incentive for people to train as nurses as it helps attract older and diverse candidates. Nurses are already the lowest paid of all those who take vocational degrees. The starting salary is lower than a newly qualified teacher or a graduate police officer. Adding financial pressures onto roles that are so vital makes no sense and will deter many from applying."

UNISON Warns of Disruption to Hospitals Across Birmingham

UNISON has today warned of disruption to hospitals across Birmingham as staff employed to provide sterile serves to all the major trusts in the area take industrial action this Thursday (26^th November 2015). 

 

Employees of BBraun Sterilog will be striking over the decision by their employer to dismiss any staff who refuse to give up their breaks while at work. There will be an all out, 24 hour stoppage from 0001hrs on the 26^th November 2015 and staff will work to rule from then on.

 

The staff provide specialist services to sterilise medical instruments used in hospital theatres and specialist units. The action is likely to affect hospitals such as The QE, the Children’s Hospital and the major A+E departments in the city.

 

The dispute follows an attempt by BBraun to force staff to give up breaks. The work they carry out is in a controlled environment which prevents them from taking refreshments while in the workplace, irrespective of the temperatures, protective equipment they have to wear or a number of other difficult working conditions. Many of these staff have had these breaks for a number of years which predate their employment with BBraun before being transferred to the private company from the NHS.

 

Ray Salmon UNISON West Midlands Regional Organiser said:

 

“It is disappointing that this has come to a strike. We have tried to resolve this amicably but BBraun have consistently refused to listen to their staff or offer a sensible resolution. Once our members made it clear they didn’t feel they could give up their breaks the company changed from a reasonable employer to take a hard line and have taken steps to dismiss staff’.

 

Despite the potential impact on major NHS services across Birmingham the NHS trusts have refused to assist and resolve the dispute.”

 

Ray Salmon added

 

‘I have never experienced such a poor response from the NHS Trusts on an issue like this. They transferred their staff to BBraun and despite contracting them to provide the service they think they can ignore this action. This is a very dangerous position to take.’

Congratulations to... West Midlands Regional Awards

On Wednesday last week the West Midlands Regional Awards took place at the Rep theatre in Birmingham. Congratualtions to all the winners.

Award	Winner
Gina Meredith Customer Service Award	Birmingham branch won this award Sittu Ahmed of the CVS branch; Ian Houston of the UHNM branch and Helen Randle of the Dudley Group of Hospitals branch were all highly commended
Irene Barker – best recruiting and growing branch	George Eliot branch
Adele Gwyne Organising Award	Coventry and St Cross branch
Recruitment Innovation	Walsall healthcare and UHNM branches were joint winners Dudley Group of Hospitals were highly commended
Campaigning	Birmingham branch
Communications	Black Country Health
Equalities	Dave Warren, Keel University branch
Health and Safety	Mike Maley, Walsall General branch
Learning at Work	Winners were West Midlands Fire Birmingham branch were highly commended

17th Annual West Midlands Health Conference

Health branch activists from across the West Midlands region, gathered at the Bescott Stadium in Walsall for their 17th regional annual health conference.

The general secretary, Dave Prentis, opened the conference with a morale boosting speech to delegates. Dave reassured conference that in spite of the barrage of anti trade union legislation UNISON remained strong and popular amongst working people.

To illustrate this he told conference that since this government came to power over 700,000 people of the have joined unison which demonstrates that unions are as relevant today as they always have been.

Delegates then split into 3 focus group sessions on:

Change Management and Downbanding – facilitated by Alan Lofthouse

Managing Sickness Absence (incorporating stress in the workplace) – facilitated by Robert Baughan

The Changing Face of UNISON - facilitated by Dave Johnson

After lunch delegates listen to 2 presentations followed by QAs on:

- TUC’s Work on Public Services and Austerity – Matt Dykes, TUC Senior Policy Officer for - Public Services

- Trade Union Bill – Rob Smith, Thompsons

 

Personal Injury Success - September

Every month UNISON wins thousands of pounds for our members who are injured at work or at home through no fault of their own.

Unlike no-win no-fee lawyers the union does not charge for this service and all the compensation goes to the member.

In September this year we won over £232,500 for our members.

UNISON’s reaction to the Prime Minister’s speech in Manchester

Commenting on David Cameron’s speech to the Conservative party conference today (Wednesday) in Manchester, UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said:

 

"The Prime Minister talks of launching an ‘all-out assault on poverty’, but his government is soon to make almost three million working families and their five million children significantly poorer. Cuts to tax credits next April will hit the incomes of families already struggling to get by, forcing them deeper and deeper into debt.

 

David Cameron recognises the need to make the UK's inflated housing market more affordable, yet anyone wanting to buy one of the new 'affordable' starter homes needs to be earning at least £76,000 a year in London, or £50,000 elsewhere.

 

According to the Treasury, only 30 per cent of the population earn more than £50,000, pricing the starter homes way beyond the reach of most workers, including public servants like nurses, teaching assistants, PCSOs and school cleaners.

 

Developers given the option of providing 'affordable' housing are likely to opt for homes to sell rather than rent, leaving anyone who doesn't earn enough to get a mortgage high and dry.

 

This housing crisis is forcing public sector workers to live further and further from their places of work. Four more years of pay restraint and the cuts to tax credits will make it increasingly difficult for local hospitals and councils to recruit and retain staff.

 

The government must commit to a national public house building programme to deliver the low rent and affordable homes people need. This would lower housing costs, cut the housing benefit bill, and make it much easier for people to rent or own their own homes.”

Graph of the Week - What percentage of voters voted for their MP?

We've blogged about this before but with today's TUC demonstration at the Tory Party Conference and the proposed Trade Union Bill we thought it would be worth reprising this graph.

The government's Trade Union Bill aims to introduce a 50% voting threshold for union strike ballot turnouts, and a requirement that 40% of those entitled to vote must back action in "essential public services" - health, education, fire and transport. 

The recent General Election resulted in only 84 out of 650 MPs (less than 13 per cent) meeting the threshold of 40 per cent of the electorate voting for them. 

This week's graph of the week (to make it larger click on it) shows the proportion of the electorate voting for their MP. All parliamentary seats are shown by a bar but due to space limitations not everyone is labelled on the vertical axis. The graph shows the 566 red bars showing those that do not meet the 40 per cent threshold and the 84 green bars where the threshold was met.

West Midlands Regional Secretary said:

"Compared to the increasingly out of touch Tory MPs, working people now have a second class form of democracy when they fight for workplace justice,  It's one law for MPs and another law for workers."

There is an alternative to austerity

There is an alternative to austerity, says UNISON

Speaking on the austerity and public services motion at the Labour party conference in Brighton UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said:

"Millions of working people didn’t cause the recession. But they are now paying a heavy price, and will go on paying a heavy price throughout this parliament./So far the Tories have been able to convince many people that austerity is the only way, that there is no alternative./Our public services have been cut, closed down and privatised. Savage spending cuts have seen thousands of jobs axed, with those left behind fearful they will be next, and even more fearful for the survival of the essential services they provide.

Cuts so severe that many local councils worry that soon they will only be able to provide those services required by law. This vicious government must be held to account as it slashes and burns all we hold dear. Our NHS is under siege, and there’s a pay cap for another four years, on top of the five we’ve already had. And billions more will be cut from public finances in the spending review later this year. Tax credit cuts will penalise the poor and low-paid. A teaching assistant earning £16,300 with one child will see her net pay fall by £1,800 a year, and millions of other working families will see their incomes hit hard. For too long, working people have made do with half-baked promises from our own politicians. Yes, promising fewer cuts than the Tories, less privatisation than the Tories.

Labour must become a real opposition to take on the Tories, not sit in its shadows. It must expose the cruel and vindictive plans being pushed through parliament and offer a clear alternative, not a paler shade of the Tories’ so called ‘middle ground’. Now, with the election of a new Labour leader, there’s hope for the future, a belief that there is another way, of growth and investment in infrastructure, of a balanced economy that works in the interests of the many. People will now hear of a kinder, more compassionate world, one where public services matter and its people matter before profit. We’ve been given a vision of a better world that works for everyone, not just the self-serving few.

Of course Labour has to develop a credible economic alternative, without that only more opposition lies ahead. We need to convince the public that there is another way, and that unchallenged, austerity risks irreparable damage to public services.

We don’t want fewer cuts than the Tories, we want no more cuts to our public services. We don’t want less privatisation than the Tories, we want no more privatisation of our NHS, our local government, our police and probation services. We cannot afford the £20bn that Trident’s replacement will cost. Not when adult social care is on the point of collapse, when wards are closing in every city, and when thousands of police support jobs are to go, depleting our police forces so that the only winners are burglars and muggers. New guidance says that quality care cannot be delivered to the elderly and the vulnerable in their own homes in 15 minute visits, but now 15 minute visits are the norm. And the ever-increasing pressure on budgets will force councils to push dedicated homecare workers for even more in even less time. Try telling that to the homecare worker who has to wake, feed and shower a frail 90 year old with dementia. That same homecare worker who has no time to get to the next visit, and who won’t be paid for any time spent travelling.

Try telling that to the dedicated staff at Addenbrooke’s – who saw their hospital placed in special measures last week. Through no fault of their own, but simply because the government’s tight-fisted approach to the NHS funding means there’s no money to employ the extra staff so desperately needed.

This is our time to smash the consensus that austerity is here to stay. It’s our time to create a new path that offers hope and opportunity for those already left behind. It’s time to set out an alternative to the cuts agenda, the privatising agenda, and to the pay freeze destroying lives."