NEC hears UNISON will contribute to Employment Rights Bill

The final 2024 meeting of UNISON’s national executive council (NEC) took place yesterday, with a busy agenda seeing thorough discussion from across all areas of the union.

An extensive report from the general secretariat highlighted the Employment Rights Bill, which is now going through the committee stages in Parliament. The union’s “policy and legal staff are working hard to meet admission deadlines to make UNISON policy and member voices heard and to help improve the bill.”

Internationally, the union continues to support workplace days of action for a ceasefire in the Middle East, and also to press for recognition of the state of Palestine.

It also detailed how recruitment for the year passed 200,000, with membership in Northern Ireland having grown by 15% over the past two years. The largest percentage of this growth came in social care. The union has also secured over £100 million for NHS workers through the Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign.

There was a brief update on a legal win in the Court of Appeal, Hewston v Ofsted, where a UNISON member who was employed as an inspector was dismissed for brushing rain from a pupil’s head. Ofsted has indicated that it might seek to appeal to the Supreme Court after it sees the reasons for the Court of Appeal’s judgment.

The presidential team set out how it has continued to campaign on the Middle East, alongside attending UNISON conferences and other events, and lending support to striking members.

Members of the council also received an update on the progress on the union’s race discrimination inquiry is progressing. There was also an extensive discussion around the union’s work on tackling racism, together with the challenging racism training, which is hoped to be available early in 2025.

It was also reported that the union will be able to use the ACC Liverpool for conferences again, after successfully challenging the owners for hosting an arms fair there and receiving a commitment of an ethical policy going forward.

The council also discussed:

• the union’s budget for 2025, which was unanimously passed;
• the problems of funding across public services;
• a report from COP29;
• a statement on the situation in South Korea where the president had, the previous day, declared martial law.