UNISON’s national executive council (NEC) met yesterday and heard about the ongoing work of the union on the Employment Rights Bill, as itcontinues its passage through Parliament.
This came in the report from general secretary Christina McAnea, which stated that, in a one-week period before Christmas, UNISON submitted seven different consultation responses to “improve the bill” and has already met ministers from the Department for Work and Pensions twice this year.
Beyond the bill itself, the union is also continuing to push for “the New Deal commitments on procurement/insourcing and to influence the shape of the Equalities Bill that will introduce ethnicity pay gap and disability pay gap reporting among other measures”.
Along with other general secretaries from the Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation, Ms McAnea had met Prime Minister Keir Starmer and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner last week to press the union’s agenda and “campaign for the changes our members so badly need”.
The report also explained that, after January’s Black members’ conference was postponed due to a major burst water main in the Llandudno area of north Cymru/Wales, talks are underway to reschedule the conference.
There was a welcome for the ceasefire in Gaza, but campaigning must continue. “We must maintain international pressure to ensure it is fully implemented, hostages are released and sufficient aid continues to flow into Gaza”, with the presidential team hoping that this would “provide the opportunity for [a] genuine solution to emerge”.
The general secretary’s report also celebrated the news that UNISON “achieved net growth of 40,000 in 2024 and strengthened our stewards ranks by over 500”, making it a “year to remember.”
The presidential team’s report to the meeting echoed this celebration of growth, adding: “We hope to build on this as we move forward.”
UNISON president Steve North, who chaired today’s meeting, spoke about the union’s support for justice for Zane Gbangbola, after a motion was passed at last year’s national delegate conference (NDC).
Seven-year-old Zane died in 2014 after flash flooding hit his home in Surrey and brought with it deadly hydrogen cyanide after flowing over a former landfill site. Yet at the inquest, carbon monoxide was blamed for the boy’s death – in spite of there being no evidence of any being present, while the fire brigade confirmed that hydrogen cyanide was present at the house.
Zane’s parents, Kye and Nicole, continue to campaign for the truth about what happened, were awarded honorary UNISON membership by last year’s NDC and will hopefully be at this year’s NDC in June.
Much of the rest of the meeting was taken up by discussion and debate about what motions the council would prioritise for NDC.
The meeting also received reports on the union’s finances, from across service groups and on industrial action.
The article NEC hears of ongoing work on the Employment Rights Bill first appeared on the UNISON National site.
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