In maternity services across Wales, midwives report overwhelming workloads, increasing complexity of care, and concerns about their ability to provide the safe, personalised care every woman deserves. Yet many hardworking graduates struggle to secure the permanent jobs they trained for. Investment in education must be matched by investing in jobs. As a union, midwives are calling on ministers to: 1. Guarantee up to full time employment opportunities for newly qualified healthcare graduates. The Welsh Government should work with health boards to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals have clear pathways into permanent full time employment if that is what they want.  2. Fund safe staffing levels in maternity services. Every maternity unit should have enough staff on every shift to provide safe, compassionate and personalised care.  3. Publish transparent workforce plans. Families deserve to know how many midwives and maternity support workers are needed, how many are in post and what action is being taken to address shortages.  4. Retain and support the existing workforce. Improved wellbeing, flexible working and manageable workloads are needed to keep experienced staff in maternity services.  5. Link training investment to workforce need. If Wales trains healthcare professionals to meet future demand, funded posts must be available so those skills are not lost.

Bishop Auckland Hospital is part of the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust. In recent years various part of its services have been downgraded. The latest proposal is to close Ward 7, which provides speciality frailty care ward. Patients are overwhelmingly older, have been referred there following a fall or serious respiratory condition, and spend between 1-4 weeks in order to be able to then move home independently. As well as cutting needed beds the proposed closure is part of wider downgrading of services. These services play a vital role in the care Bishop Auckland Hospital is able to provide.

1. Witness Liaison Officers at South Yorkshire Police earn £5,000 LESS than West Yorkshire Witness Liaison Officers, despite doing the same job. In short, people who deliver a vital and difficult service are being paid less than those in identical roles only 45mins up the M1. 2. Witness Liaison Officers provide support and assistance to victims and witnesses throughout the criminal justice process, often speaking with and supporting highly vulnerable individuals including rape, domestic and child abuse victims.  3. South Yorkshire Police admit Witness Liaison Officers in West and South Yorkshire do the same job, yet South Yorkshire still refuse to accept that the pay rates for the role are too low, or that their job evaluation system is broken, well, broken for those at the bottom, not those in Senior Command who use a different job evaluation system similar to the one in West Yorkshire. The people who provide support to some of the most vulnerable at an incredibly difficult time deserve better. Please sign and share your support for Witness Liaison Officers. 

For many patients, hydrotherapy provides a safe, low-impact form of rehabilitation that cannot easily be replicated elsewhere. Now it is slated for closure. The knock-on impact for patients, their families and the wider community means that many will experience inferior treatment or lengthy journeys, just to carry on with their treatment. GMB members working in the Hydrotherapy pool and within the wider therapy services deeply value their role and the meaningful care they are able to provide to their patients by using this facility. The union is appalled by the decision to close the pool, which has caused significant concern for staff and threatens job insecurity. We are equally concerned about the lack of proper consultation. Please support this important campaign.

Over the last few months, Reform councillors in both Staffordshire and Warwickshire have attacked the visibility and representation of LGBTQ+ people in council libraries. In Staffordshire, library staff have been told that “we will not be celebrating Pride in any form”. They have been instructed to remove displays, halt events and activities, and cease any Pride-related communications. In Warwickshire, the Reform leader has said that county council libraries “have been promoting contested gender ideology”. He went on to say that issues had been raised with him, such as staff wearing rainbow lanyards and libraries having a book that “would give out the wrong messages” and potentially be “dangerous to young children”. The Reform leadership has promised “a comprehensive policy” for libraries and other council-owned public spaces “to combat this trend”.  Inclusive libraries matter. Research found that 81% of LGBT+ respondents oppose restrictions on the promotion of Pride events in public libraries.* It also found that nearly three-quarters (72%) believe withdrawing public funding from Pride events would negatively affect LGBT+ people, with reduced feelings of inclusion and belonging and increased concerns about discrimination among the most cited impacts.  We believe that libraries should be inclusive spaces that help to educate, inform and entertain people of every age, gender, sexuality, background and political belief. They are here to help open minds, not close them. *LGBT+ results are based on a cross-break of respondents within the nationally representative UK sample and are not a standalone representative sample of LGBT+ adults

Today, British workers put in the longest full-time working hours compared to almost every country in the EU and at the same time we have one of the least productive economies. Research conducted by the 4 Day Week Global Campaign has found that:  • 63% of organisations find it easier to attract and retain staff with a four-day week • 78% of employees with a four-day week are happier and less stressed  • 92% of companies in the UK opted to continue with the four day week • Levels of anxiety and fatigue decreased • Mental and physical health both improved • The number of staff leaving participating companies decreased significantly, dropping by 57% over the trial period Current part-time workers could also stand to benefit from a pro-rata reduction in their working hours with no loss of pay, provided job descriptions and workload expectations are realistic for the number of hours worked. The arguments in favour of a four-day working week gain increasing ground as ever more new technology is introduced into the workplace, generating substantial productivity gains, and those benefits should be shared among the workforce. Dorset Council would bolster and help cement their reputation as a cutting-edge employer and institution among staff, students, Dorset and the wider community. Further, they’d be helping lead the way nationally and in the sector on being a four-day working week employer as a key component of changing our working life. We call on Dorset Council to commit to implementing a four-day working week trial in the institution, with the view to making it permanent. UNISON Dorset Branch

This matters because the proposed closure isn't about the work ending, it's about an office closing. The jobs still need doing, but experienced staff could be forced out of the DWP or asked to travel much further for work. In an area with limited opportunities for similar jobs, that would be a real blow to workers, their families and the local economy.

Staff have been forced to work while suffering from dehydration, with members even reporting that they’ve fainted on the way home from work, when this was raised with management they received no response. Gallery assistants are also expected to work shifts in the garden at the South Kensington site in extreme hot weather putting their health, and the safety of visitors at risk. Our members have had enough! They said “the V&A has shown it does not value its lowest paid workers indispensable contributions to the operations of its museums. Without us these buildings don’t operate”. We need sufficient mitigations to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of our colleagues now!    Further to these major health and safety incidents, after multiple attempts to negotiate, V&A management have failed to provide a meaningful pay offer for workers . They have also refused to become a Real Living Wage accredited employer. We work in one of the country’s most prestigious institutions, a landmark that is visited by people from all over the world yet we are treated with contempt when we ask for the bare minimum commitment from our employer to ensure we can afford to keep up with the rising cost of living in London.     When we mention that curators in other institutions have higher salaries, we are told a bigger increase for us would only be possible if they lower pay for our front of house colleagues. We all deserve fair pay, and it’s not fair that an uplift for some should result in poverty wages for others!   

Because this campaign is about the council honouring their word, defending the pensions of dedicated nursery workers and looking after the children and parents in Barnsley. Without action, families could lose access to much-needed nursery provision and workers who have spent decades serving their communities could see their retirement security put at risk. By signing, you are sending a clear message that Barnsley's children, families and nursery staff deserve better. This issue goes beyond pensions. The uncertainty is already affecting nursery provision, with nurseries reportedly having to turn away children because the future arrangements have not been resolved. Families, children and staff are all being impacted. Protect local nursery places so that children and families can continue to access vital early years education and support services. Stand up for fairness by ensuring long-serving nursery workers receive the pension protections they were assured they would keep. Hold decision-makers accountable and encourage Barnsley Council to resolve the dispute and provide clarity for staff and parents. Support a predominantly female workforce that has spent years serving local communities and deserves respect and security in return for that service.

Nearly everyone - 94% of adults in the UK - uses the BBC every month. The BBC has an incredible range of TV, audio and digital services - from Planet Earth to the Proms, from BBC Bitesize and The World Service to live coverage of the World Cup - all without advertising and without subscription fees. For around £3.50 a week, that’s remarkable value for money.  In return the BBC contributes £6.7 billion to the economy every year and drives the wider creative industries: nurturing talent, commissioning work, engaging thousands of freelancers and directly employing over 20,000 staff.  People across the UK’s nations, regions and local communities should see their lives and stories reflected in the BBC’s news, drama, film and musical productions.   To do this, the BBC needs proper funding. The renewal of the BBC Charter - which happens every ten years and is already underway - offers an opportunity for the government to give the BBC the resources and reforms it needs to provide a quality public service, free from commercial or political interference.  This means the BBC remaining universally funded and accessible to all. This means worker representation and no more political appointees on the BBC board. This means the BBC being the gold standard on employment rights: driving up pay, terms and conditions, and generating opportunities for workers across the country.  The constant cycle of cuts and cost-saving must end. Public services only work when we invest in them and the people who provide them.  We urge the BBC’s new director general Matt Brittin to listen to his workers and call on the UK government to urgently intervene.  How can I get involved?  The BBC is ours – and it’s up to us to fight for it.  Sign this petition to show solidarity with workers and demonstrate how much a properly funded, independent and representative BBC means to you and your community. Please share this petition and ask your family and friends to sign too.  Read more about the Broadcasting, Entertainment & Arts Unions’ (BEAU) Charter Renewal demands. 

This dispute exemplifies the failings of outsourcing government work for profit. Cutting hours and/or staff is not in the interests of the workers delivering these important services, nor is it in the interests of the public sector workers to whom they deliver these services These cuts only benefit Sodexo.  PCS believes that outsourcing is a failed experiment, and this dispute is further evidence of that.

Civil servants deserve a pension service they can trust. Sign this petition to demand action now.