By general secretary Christina McAnea
After endless disappointments, cuts and chaos from a stream of Conservative prime ministers, there were, understandably high expectations around the first King’s Speech under a Labour government for 14 years.
Reassuringly the bills proposed last week showed a promising start to the long process of rebuilding the economy and revitalising essential public services.
In Keir Starmer, it feels like we finally have a PM who has a proper understanding of public services and their role in holding our communities together. Even better, he’s actually run one.
But you only have to look at the grim picture painted by the initial findings from the COVID inquiry, issued just a day later, to see what happens when services are hollowed out and simply collapse.
The new government set out 40 bills in its first King’s Speech. An ambitious work programme, but it was heartening to see their commitment to workers’ rights was high on the agenda.
I must admit, it felt strange to hear the King say, “My government will make work pay and introduce a New Deal for working People”.
At UNISON we’ve worked closely with the Labour Party to make sure the voices of our members were heard and shaped these proposals. Now it’s finally happening, I want to thank all staff, activists and members for their input in this groundbreaking moment.
And the New Deal has the potential to make a huge difference to workers and jobseekers in the UK. Good employers will benefit too and have nothing to fear.
A ban on exploitative zero-hours contracts and an end to ‘fire and rehire’ tactics are good news for millions of people. A fair pay agreement for adult social care workers could make a huge difference and help to end the staffing crisis. And the agreement will be a building block for a game-changing national care service.
We also have a commitment to introduce sectoral bargaining for school support staff in England, a long-standing policy for UNISON.
Plans to focus on and support the growth of devolved regional services in England as well as the commitment to strengthen devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland could benefit UNISON members in each nation.
Far too many people continue to face racism and injustice in their workplaces. But allowing staff to make equal pay claims based on disability and ethnicity are a major step in the right direction. Promises to introduce new pay reporting requirements will also bring an improved level of transparency.
There will be challenges ahead, but the King’s Speech paints a picture of a government ready to rebuild and restore. And from what we’ve seen so far, this is a government that’s prepared to consult and listen to unions and the people they represent.
UNISON is the UK’s largest union and, as general secretary, I’m committed to pushing for the issues that matter most to our members and their families. That means working with Labour to deliver real benefits for everyone, to get rid of the worst of the Tory anti-union laws and to constantly make the case for public services to be seen as a driver of the economy.
Keir Starmer has promised to bring back trust to politics. This is so important, especially after 14 years of corrupt and out of touch Tory governments.
We’re at a pivotal moment, and we need to work together to take the chance to fix what’s been broken for too long.
The article Opinion: Taking the chance to fix what’s been broken for too long first appeared on the UNISON National site.
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