On 26 May, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) announced a programme of £11 million worth of cuts required in order for the Service to deliver a balanced budget for the 2023/24 financial year. These cuts impact communities across Scotland and include the ‘mothballing’ of ten wholetime fire appliances, the reduction of high reach appliances from 25 to 14, and the scrapping of the dedicated water rescue response covering the River Clyde. They will also see a further significant reduction in firefighter posts across Scotland. Worse yet, SFRS anticipate a further £25 million worth of savings will be needed to be found over the following three financial years up to 2026/27. SFRS have stated that these cuts are temporary, but without significant investment the FBU believe that these 200 firefighter posts and the removal of front line resources are likely to be permanent. The Fire Brigades Union is clear – these cuts will decimate the fire and rescue service in Scotland, undermining the credibility of SFRS as an effective emergency service protecting Scotland’s communities. Firefighters know that these cuts aren’t sustainable. They see the impact of underinvestment in their Service every day and the increased risk to the public as a result. That’s why the FBU has started the #CutsLeaveScars campaign to highlight to politicians and the public what the real impact of these enforced cuts will be. A DECADE OF UNDERINVESTMENT – A DECADE OF REAL TERMS CUTS Since the creation of SFRS on 1 April 2013 the fire and rescue service in Scotland has suffered tens of millions of pounds of real terms cuts. The plain facts are: • In 2012/13 the combined resource budget for the eight legacy fire and rescue services totalled £290.7 million. • The first year of SFRS saw this budget cut by £13.5 million to £277.2 million in 2013/14. • On 19 June 2023, the Minister for Victims and Community Safety confirmed that had the 2013/14 resource budget risen in line with inflation it would total £340.2 million in 2023/24 • The resource budget set for SFRS in 2023/24 is £308.6 million, a £31.6 million real terms cut over that ten year period. • However, using the 2012/13 resource budget figure of £290.7 million as a starting point the FBU calculate that an overall £56.8 million real terms cut has been inflicted upon SFRS over the last 11 years. • Indeed, using the Scottish Parliaments own SPICe calculator the SFRS 2023/24 resource budget would sit at £374.6 million – a £66 million real terms shortfall since 2012/13. The impact of sustained real terms budget cuts to SFRS over the last decade is clear. The service’s own statistics lay bare the reduction of over 1100 firefighter posts in Scotland since the creation of SFRS. The Service have been clear in their own budget forecasting of the impact of further projected cuts. Last October, in giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament Criminal Justice Committee, the SFRS Chief Fire Officer indicated that the impact of the resource based spending review could see the loss of a further 780 full time firefighter jobs and the removal of a further 30 fire appliances across Scotland by 2027. The impact of reduced firefighter numbers and restricted appliance availability have already impacted upon the viability of SFRS as an effective emergency service. From 2015/16 to 2020/21 response times to incidents increased by a full minute, from 7 to 8 minutes. Budget cuts = less firefighters = delayed response times = increased risk to public safety.

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) are planning disrupt the journeys of tens of thousands of visitors to Brighton Pride by cancelling all trains south of Three Bridges next Saturday. They are claiming they can't get the extra drivers for increase capacity due to the overtime ban implemented by ASLEF train drivers. The company has known for months this was going to happen and instead of making alternative plans they have taken the nuclear option of mass cancellations. ASLEF have acknowledged that it would be possible to design a shift pattern that could accommodate the event but GTR are refusing to engage. GTR have enough drivers to cover the event if they were to reallocate from the Peterborough or Cambridge routes and run a shuttle service to London. Their decision to cancel all trains to Brighton will leave tens of thousands of people stranded and will be dangerous for those trying to get home. GTR can create a shift pattern that works but are instead cancelling all trains, they must urgently act to save Brighton Pride.

Workers who are also in receipt of Universal Credit are among those most negatively impacted by the current cost-of-living crisis. Where unions are winning payments from government in this respect, it is unfair that those who also claim Universal Credit do not benefit from those payments. The government has available powers to protect UC claimants from this unintended consequence and exempt the payment from UC calculations.

These workers deserve fair pay for skilled work and an end to real terms pay cuts, their quality of life has been eroded over time, this needs to change for the workers, their families and for the future of decent paid jobs in Teeside.

Manufacturing has a proud industrial heritage in this country. Skills have, in the past, been valued and paid accordingly. We are now seeing a race to the bottom where for many the minimum wage (or slightly over so the company can't be accused of being a minimum wage employer) becomes the maximum wage. This erosion needs to end. Too often companies make massive profits but fail to remunerate workers for the input they have had in achieving this. Workers at Denso Marston deserve better. They deserve to be valued and paid accordingly for their work. They deserve a 12% pay increase. Support the workers in their campaign for fair pay. Please sign and share this petition.

The position of a PFCC should be held by someone with integrity and who can make competent and professional decisions. The current PFCC is not that person. The PFCC is the governance of one of the most trusted and reliable workforces in the public’s time of need. The fire service, firefighters, and the public deserve better.

Add your name to this petition in support of Wirral University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Clinical Support Workers in their campaign for fair pay and recognition.

The state pension age is currently 66 years. It is due to rise to 67 from May 2026, and to 68 from May 2044. However, government ministers have been pushing for this timetable to be sped up, according to media reports. New research by Unite the Union has found that many workers feel they cannot continue working in key roles until state pension age. Over 10,000 Unite members across four key sectors took part in the survey: 86 per cent of health workers do not believe they can mentally continue to undertake their current roles beyond the age of 66, while 83 per cent of them could not physically continue in their roles beyond the same age. 75 per cent of construction workers stated they can’t work physically beyond 66, while 64 per cent said the mental demands of the job would become too much by 66 at the latest. 76 per cent of road haulage and warehouse workers said that they will not be able to physically work beyond 66, while 70 per cent said the mental demand of the job will become too great by that age. 67 per cent of bus and tram workers said the mental demands would become too great by 66, while the job would become too physically demanding by then for 57 per cent of them. These findings show that tens of thousands of workers will be forced out of employment due to the physical and mental demands of their work but will be too young to receive the state pension. *** Join Unite in the fight for dignity in retirement. Join here: https://join.unitetheunion.org/ *** *** Join the National Pensioners Convention, the campaigning organisation for older people in the UK here: https://www.npcuk.org/join-the-npc *** *** Join the Scottish Pensioners Forum here: https://scottishpensioners.org.uk/ ***

While we understand that local authorities are facing huge cuts and having to make difficult decisions, we have a duty to fight for our community and the people within it. Buses within the Foxhill Road/Grenoside area have been continually cut to the bone, year on year. Our lifeline is the 86 bus, which runs from Chapeltown, through Grenoside and Foxhill Road, down to Sheffield city centre - and then onto Abbeydale Road. This allows myself and other residents to get out and about in the evening, visit friends, go shopping, play sports and get back from work late. The 86 bus is already a shoddy and incredibly unreliable service and these cuts to evening and Sunday services will completely isolate entire communities, such as Grenoside and Burncross. Private bus companies, such as Stagecoach, are making a profit from providing a bus service which isn't fit for purpose. At our most recent residents bus meeting, a representative from Stagecoach did not even attend. Drivers are overworked and underpaid and bus companies are free to do what they like, dictating routes and timetables. Many residents cannot drive due to age, disability or cost. In addition, our roads continue to become busier than ever. The UK has a target to cut emissions by 68% by 2030, requiring a reduction in total car mileage of at least 20%. This is clearly unachievable while public transport is slashed and left in a state of managed decline. While we are happy to hear of the re-introduction of the 32 bus through some areas, this only serves the daytime and does not serve the communities who will be most affected by the proposed cuts of the 86 bus. Stop the cuts to the 86 bus!

No worker should be subject to bullying & harassment in the workplace, it’s down to Northumbrian Water to listen to our members and put a stop to this bully boy culture.

It's vital to maintain the Health, Safety and Welfare of firefighters, not reduce opportunity for progression and also to ensure that the service has competence and confidence at vital roles across all management levels from Crew - Brigade Management.

Mayor Marvin Rees' decision to delay all funding decisions for Arts Organisations funded by Bristol City Council will have hugely damaging consequences for one of the most important industries in the city's economy, and is totally at odds with his One City Approach for Culture launched in June this year. When the Mayor launched his One City Plan 2023 in June, he wrote "Bristol’s culture is internationally recognised for its creativity, vibrancy, diversity, history and innovation across many mediums such as art, theatre, dance, music, TV and film and architecture." But Bristol's reputation and success as a film and TV hub exists in the same ecosystem as the rest of the creative sector in the city and cannot be separated from its live performance industry which is now at risk from this delay in funding decisions. Instead of being told about funding decisions in October 2022, as planned, Arts Organisations and major cultural events will now have to wait until March 2024 to find out how much money they’ll receive – or if they’ll receive any money at all. This is only a month before the grant period starts and will mean organisations can’t plan for the future – leading to loss of work, income and closures in the interim. The Mayor’s claim that he will give the final decision to an ‘independent panel’ about which the he has given no information on the membership or what new process will need to be followed to apply. Mayor Rees has offered no trade union consultation to the relevant culture unions, whilst simultaneously the Mayor’s office have sidelined the Culture Board, a body the Mayor created, which is the only consultative culture body that exists in the city. These less then transparent delays and possible cuts will disproportionately impact working class creative workers, and those from minority and oppressed groups. It will have social and cultural implications for all the large Arts organisations in the city and smaller one off artistic projects that work in local communities, from parent and baby groups and schools, to festivals and live events. Leaving access to the arts only to those who can afford it. Bristol is a fair, healthy and sustainable city. A city of hope and aspiration, where everyone can share in its success. All of this enabled by Culture, which Mayor Rees is placing at risk with his intervention and reckless decision to delay. We demand that Mayor Marvin Rees restore our arts funding. No delays, no cuts, and no more decision-making from non-transparent 'independent' panels. Image credit: crabchick from Bristol, England; Bristol City Hall at night https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_Council_House_at_night_(2693195473).jpg