• The vaccine programme must be led by public health professionals, not private contractors
    We all have a shared interest in getting the vaccine programme right. It’s our only shot at getting life back to normal. But that means learning the lessons from the failures of Test and Trace and PPE provision. The best way to deliver an effective rollout - and build public trust in the vaccine - is for local public health teams to run it. They know their communities best and are best placed to reach them. Outsourcing Test and Trace to private contractors has caused huge problems. We cannot afford the same mistake to be made with the delivery of the vaccine.
    1,051 of 2,000 Signatures
  • Take South Yorkshire's Buses Back Under Public Control
    Private companies control bus services in South Yorkshire. They dictate prices, routes and timetables and the result has been catastrophic - passenger numbers have plummeted, prices have risen and services have shrunk. Send a message now to take back control of our buses!
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    Created by Barnsley Trade Union Council
  • Reverse the cuts to union learning
    I saw first-hand the difference union learning made for hundreds of my workmates and friends. So when I heard the news that the government planned to cut the Union Learning Fund, I was devastated. I thought of everyone I’d supported as a union learning rep and what they would have missed out on without this programme. I thought of the workers getting our country through this crisis, who deserve an opportunity to access education and learn new skills in the workplace. It’s impossible to list all of the benefits of union learning I’ve seen, but I can honestly say it’s changed lives. Our training around mental health helped normalise talking about it at work. People who missed out at school learned English and maths in union learning courses, skills they’ll have for life. And those who came to learning centres and engaged in courses came back over and over again, earning apprenticeships and higher qualifications. And independent reviews have consistently found union learning to be effective and transformational for the workers who take part, their families, and communities. The government must reverse its decision immediately.
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    Created by Sean Dixon Picture
  • Save the open-access rail sector
    Unlike the franchised Train Operating Companies (TOCs), the open-access rail operators Grand Central and Hull Trains have received no Government support during the Covid-19 pandemic. Both companies initially ceased operations during the lockdown and furloughed the majority of their staff. While they have recommenced services, rail passenger numbers remain significantly below pre-Covid levels and both Grand Central and Hull Trains are now facing an uncertain future, and are proposing job losses. For months, the RMT has been calling on the Government to support the sector in order to protect all jobs and conditions and ensure the long-term viability of both operators. In May, the Transport Secretary told Parliament he is ‘keen as mustard on the open-access trains’, yet his Department has offered no support to this sector during the pandemic. The Government must now intervene as a matter of urgency and agree a financial support package for Grand Central and Hull Trains and ensure all jobs and conditions are protected.
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    Created by RMT Union
  • We Are With You: don't break your pay promises!
    Belinda Phipps is CEO of We Are With You- she earns around £140,000 per year. Meanwhile, ex-NHS staff working for We Are With You in Wigan and Leigh stand to lose £150,000 during the course of the NHS Agenda for Change three year pay deal (April 2018- April 2021). We will lose an average of £7,870 each during the course of Wigan Council's contract with We Are With You, with some of us losing out on as much as £10,974. This is simply wrong and across five years, will suck £230,000 out of the local economy whilst We Are With You directs funding towards costly rebrands and its London headquarters. We work hard for We Are With You in Wigan and Leigh to ensure that local people recover from addiction, regaining health, self esteem and becoming fully functioning members of our society. We work in this field because we care and because it's rewarding to support recovery, but we deserve to make a decent living. When we transferred over to We Are With You (formerly known as Addaction) from the NHS, we were promised the NHS rate for the job, but We Are With You have gone back on their word. "Supporting people to overcome drug and alcohol addiction is an incredibly tough job and makes a difference for every single one of us in Wigan. "We Are With You’s employees deserve the pay settlement they were promised when they moved from the NHS to We Are With You". Lisa Nandy, Wigan MP We deserve a decent wage for doing what is an important job for our communities. Please sign the petition to support us. #WeAreNotWithYou #KeepYourPayPromise #BelindaFibs #WeWontPayYou
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    Created by UNISON North West
  • Keep IVF and Reproductive Medicine Public: Save St. Mary’s DRM Service
    Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust announced to staff in March 2020 that they believe the current model of provision for reproductive medicine at St. Mary’s Hospital is not sustainable. Commissioners are now carrying out a scoping exercise on the service’s future, and this could result in a recommendation the service is tendered and could be at risk of privatisation. Staff members working for the St Mary’s Reproductive Medicine service provide a vital lifeline to women and families seeking fertility treatment in Greater Manchester. The service also provides specialist care to women with complex medical conditions, cancer, and who are undergoing gender reassignment, which are not accessible elsewhere in the city region or offered by other providers. If privatised, we are concerned that these specialist services could be at risk. Unions are concerned that many other private sector providers have higher treatment charges and inferior services. Furthermore, staff are in many cases paid less than NHS workers in the private healthcare sector, with less annual leave, sick pay and other essential benefits. We cannot allow this vital service to fall into private hands and be run for profit, when its purpose is to serve the public of our city.
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    Created by UNISON North West
  • Protect care workers pay when we are absent from work due to COVID-19
    As care workers, we have gone above and beyond during the coronavirus crisis to care for your loved ones. A survey by UNISON North West found that 8 out of 10 of us would not receive our full normal pay if we were ill or had to self-isolate or shield due to COVID-19. As a result, many care workers said they may have to attend work while ill which would drastically increase the risk of spreading infection to vulnerable residents and service-users. As part of UNISON’s Care Workers vs COVID-19 Campaign, we have been calling on local commissioners and care providers to protect our pay when we are absent due to COVID-19. As a result, Salford Council and local NHS partners have introduced the 'Salford Offer' which provides additional funding to local social care providers to protect frontline care workers, service-users and the local community by maintaining the full normal wages for care staff that are absent due to COVID-19. The 'Salford Offer' is the very least that we deserve, yet despite the fact it will cost them nothing, there are a number of care providers in Salford that is refusing the support the 'Salford Offer'. Some of these providers have reported millions of pounds worth of profits over previous years.
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    Created by UNISON Salford Branch
  • Bring Liverpool NHS services back in-house!
    Currently, hundreds of hospital cleaners, caterers and security guards working at Aintree University Hospital, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool Women’s Hospital and Broadgreen Hospital are employed by private companies. We are employed by private contractors Compass Medirest, ISS and OCS and as a result, we are at a disadvantage compared with NHS employees. Like all of our health service colleagues, we’ve put ourselves at increased risk over the last few months keeping patients safe. We don’t want a medal, we just want to be treated equally with our colleagues who are employed by NHS. We deserve proper pay and working conditions so that we can deliver a high quality service for Liverpool patients. UNISON Liverpool Hospitals Health branch secretary Su Edwards said: “Our members do some of the most vital jobs within our health service. They cook patients’ food, keep the hospital clean and protect patients and staff. “Yet currently, these health service heroes are being treated like second class citizens. There is only one way that companies such as Compass, ISS and OCS can make a profit within the NHS and that’s by cost-cutting. This means that hospital staff employed by private contractors receive lower pay and worse working conditions than colleagues employed directly by the NHS. It is morally wrong. “But it’s not just hospital staff who are getting a raw deal. Compass, ISS and OCS prioritise profit over people- they bid for NHS contracts, then they cut costs and patients pay the price. If we brought these services in-house, we could deliver a higher quality service, with more staff on shift, better hospital food and safer hospitals.”
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    Created by UNISON North West
  • Wakefield Council: Support public control of our buses
    On Monday morning, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority will decide the future of our bus services. We depend on our local busses to get around. But fares are far too high, and tickets options are confusing. During the month of April, whilst the pandemic reduced bus services to 15% of normal levels, local councils were forced to pay out £4.31million to private bus companies in subsidies for tickets that weren’t being used (according to WYCA public figures). What’s more, local councils do not have a real say in how or where bus routes are operated. Since 2014, privately run routes in West Yorkshire have been cut by 10 million miles! Private companies can do what they like with our buses. It’s a wild west free market. This is not right. Our council taxes should not be used to put profit before passengers. Our bus system is fundamentally broken and things need to change.
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    Created by Better Buses for Yorkshire Coalition
  • Kirklees Council: Support public control of our buses
    On Monday morning, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority will decide the future of our bus services. We depend on our local busses to get around. But fares are far too high, and tickets options are confusing. During the month of April, whilst the pandemic reduced bus services to 15% of normal levels, local councils were forced to pay out £4.31million to private bus companies in subsidies for tickets that weren’t being used (according to WYCA public figures). What’s more, local councils do not have a real say in how or where bus routes are operated. Since 2014, privately run routes in West Yorkshire have been cut by 10 million miles! Private companies can do what they like with our buses. It’s a wild west free market. This is not right. Our council taxes should not be used to put profit before passengers. Our bus system is fundamentally broken and things need to change.
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    Created by Better Buses for Yorkshire Coalition
  • Calderdale Council: Support public control of our buses
    On Monday morning, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority will decide the future of our bus services. We depend on our local busses to get around. But fares are far too high, and tickets options are confusing. During the month of April, whilst the pandemic reduced bus services to 15% of normal levels, local councils were forced to pay out £4.31million to private bus companies in subsidies for tickets that weren’t being used (according to WYCA public figures). What’s more, local councils do not have a real say in how or where bus routes are operated. Since 2014, privately run routes in West Yorkshire have been cut by 10 million miles! Private companies can do what they like with our buses. It’s a wild west free market. This is not right. Our council taxes should not be used to put profit before passengers. Our bus system is fundamentally broken and things need to change.
    30 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Better Buses for Yorkshire Coalition
  • Bradford Council: Support public control of our buses
    On Monday morning, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority will decide the future of our bus services. We depend on our local busses to get around. But fares are far too high, and tickets options are confusing. During the month of April, whilst the pandemic reduced bus services to 15% of normal levels, local councils were forced to pay out £4.31million to private bus companies in subsidies for tickets that weren’t being used (according to WYCA public figures). What’s more, local councils do not have a real say in how or where bus routes are operated. Since 2014, privately run routes in West Yorkshire have been cut by 10 million miles! Private companies can do what they like with our buses. It’s a wild west free market. This is not right. Our council taxes should not be used to put profit before passengers. Our bus system is fundamentally broken and things need to change.
    174 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Better Buses for Yorkshire Coalition