News

UNISON South & East Belfast | News

30
Sep

The government will need to inject £280m into the NHS by the end of the decade, or ministers will find themselves in breach of their own minimum wage laws, warn unions representing health service employees in the UK today (Friday). In their annual submission to the NHS pay review body, the unions say that because the pay of health workers has ...

23
Sep

Healthcare assistants (HCAs) working in the NHS are doing the jobs of nurses without the equivalent pay or education, says a report from UNISON published today (Friday). Two in five (39%) say they have not received the training necessary to provide the care expected of them such as looking after dementia patients, according to the report­­ Care on the cheap. Less than ...

02
Sep

Government told to think again on promoting private healthcare

UNISON report shows up role of Department for International Development in promoting healthcare privatisation to some of the world’s poorest countries The UK government needs to rethink its agenda of promoting privatisation in the global South, especially in healthcare, says UNISON. As MPs and ministers, including new international development secretary Piti Patel, return ...

01
Sep

In recent years, a huge amount of time has been spent talking about the levels of debt that the country faces – but far too little time has been spent on the debt that millions of British families have to deal with. Perversely, the government’s pursuit of austerity in an attempt to reduce government debt has contributed to higher levels of ...

16
Aug

Save over £200 through the Marriage Allowance tax break

“3.6 million of the 4.1 million eligible couples are still missing out on a tax benefit of £220 each year” Marriage Allowance allows a spouse or civil partner who doesn’t pay tax to transfer part of their tax-free personal allowance to their partner, if their partner pays income tax at the basic rate of ...

11
Aug

UNISON gives evidence on growing social care funding crisis

The crisis in adult social care is set to worsen due to a growing funding gap, UNISON has told the Communities and Local Government Committee In June the Committee launched an inquiry into the financial sustainability of local authority adult social care and the quality of care provided. UNISON said the funding shortfall is ...

09
Aug

Who is your Health Hero?

Nominations are now open for the UK’s only dedicated awards scheme to celebrate the healthcare support workforce Do you know a support worker in the NHS who deserves national recognition for their dedication? Perhaps you’re one yourself? Then the Our Health Heroes awards, organised by UNISON, in partnership with Skills for Health and the National Skills Academy for Health, could be just the ...

03
Aug

A fairer national minimum wage remains an ‘urgent need’

  There remains an “urgent need” to raise the national minimum wage to the level of a “proper living wage”, UNISON said today, as it made its annual submission to the Low Pay Commission. In its evidence, UNISON calls on the commission to honour its 2014 commitment to seek “significantly faster increases in the minimum wage”, which will deliver “major improvements” for ...

21
Jul

Staff Meetings

UNISON South & East Belfast will be holding two meetings over the next few weeks, please come along and these issues are so important.  

19
Jul

Single Pay Frequency Victory

STATEMENT FROM PATRICIA McKEOWN, REGIONAL SECRETARY VICTORY FOR UNISON CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT THE LOWEST PAID! UNISON welcomes the Health Minister’s decision to retain weekly and fortnightly pay for health workers following UNISON’s intensive campaign and our recent decision to ballot for strike action. The Minister has recognised that women workers, low paid and part time particularly, would be adversely affected by the ...

24
May

More evidence confirms safety in numbers on the wards

UNISON today reiterated its call for safe nurse patient ratios on hospital wards, as new research shows that death rates increase where there are not enough nurses. The report, Safe and Sound for the Safe Staffing Alliance, is launched to coincide with International Nurses Day and is based on research by Southampton University. The report shows that hospitals with more than ...

17
May

THE recent threat of mass closure of our Residential Homes is only the start. This 'U Turn' from Minister Poots is only a short reprieve and the Minister is still planning to close over 50% of our Residential Homes over the coming months while slowly closing the rest via a non-admission policy. We need to fight our services and show that the ...

10
May

EDWIN Poots reaffirmed to the Assembly today that he is pressing ahead with his ‘Transforming Your Care’ plan to close and privatise all NHS care homes despite the distress caused last week and the negative health impacts this will have. His plan is 100% withdrawal from NHS homes, even though there is a projected population rise in older people of 40% ...

30
Apr

UNISON NI at Health Conference

UNISON Northern Ireland along with all other regions were in attendance at the 2013 Health Care Service Group Conference from Monday 22nd to Wednesday 24th at the SECC Glasgow. The following UNISON NI delegates spoke to the conference: Marion Ritchie, proposing Motion 13, said: “For 30 years our members across the NHS have resisted. UNISON members in Northern Ireland have been at ...

25
Apr

ICTU May Day March

On May Day Saturday 4th May the trade union movement will once again take to the streets of Belfast for the annual May Day march and rally which will see us pledge to continue to campaign for a better, fairer alternative to the devastating effects of austerity and cuts. ICTU have released their programme of events which you can view here:

19
Apr

UNISON Independent Care Homes newsletter

Issue 2 of the Independent Care Homes newsletter is now online, click here to view this.

18
Apr

Northern Ireland unemployment figures released

UNEMPLOYMENT in Northern Ireland has risen by 1.5% and now stands at 8.4%. As well as this, nearly 300 people were made redundant in March and 68,000 people signed onto unemployment benefit. Dave Prentis, UNISON's General Secretary, said: "This rise in unemployment is further proof that the Chancellor has lost his grip on the economy. Every job lost is a personal tragedy ...

15
Apr

Pension auto-enrolment

FROM October 2012 the very largest employers will be required to start automatically enrolling eligible staff into qualifying pension schemes. UNISON supports auto-enrolment in principle as extending pensions coverage is a positive step towards all workers having access to a decent pension in retirement. We recognise our members have questions about auto-enrolment so we have designed a Q&A that we believe will ...

09
Apr

Please find enclosed UNISON's submission to "Who cares - the future of adult care and support". "The principles espoused by the Good Friday Agreement and original Programme for Government made a range of commitments to the citizens of Northern Ireland which should have resulted in a fairer, healthier, more prosperous and peaceful society with decision makers and ...

04
Apr

Stand Up To The Cuts

The Community / voluntary branch of UNISON NI is holding a discussion in Galway House , York Street, Belfast, on 17th April at 7PM, refreshments will be provided. Community activist Agnes Fraser will talk about the welfare cuts and how they are going to affect you & your family. Members of UNISON are invited and all those who want to know more ...