Dundee City Council are trying to force through a disruptive restructure of all secondary schools in the area. If the changes were to go ahead, the council would band subjects together under one faculty. The council would remove principal teachers from secondary schools and replace them with a new position – “faculty heads”. The plans mean there would be fewer teachers in our already under-resourced schools and yet more disruption to students’ learning. The changes would significantly increase workload for teachers – that means less one-to-one time with students. And there is no evidence out there to suggest that the faculties model has any educational benefit. This will hit the poorest students, hardest. Dundee is one of the most deprived areas in Scotland. And one in five young people leave school without any qualification at National 5 level. Secondary teachers almost unanimously oppose the changes. 97% have voted to reject the plans, and 96% don’t believe that the changes will improve the attainment gap. Education is in crisis. We need more class teachers, not less. Every young person deserves a qualified and experienced teacher. Every young person deserves a quality education.

Tracey Scholes has been a bus driver at the Queens Road depot for the past 34 years. When Tracey started her journey as a bus driver in 1987 she was the first female bus driver employed at the Queens Road depot. The industry back then was very male dominated and a woman taking a driving position was challenging to say the least however Tracey took the challenge and has had the full respect of all her colleagues. Over the years Tracey has been instrumental in paving the way for other women to take up positions within the passenger sector. Tracey is a hardworking, loved and valued member of the NW/5/4 Branch and the Queens Road family who deserves to be commended for her years of service to the traveling public of Greater Manchester, however Go North West Ltd has dismissed her from employment because THEY changed the manufacturer specification on their fleet of buses resulting in five foot tall Tracey being physically unable to operate some company vehicles. Go North West Ltd have refused to consider proposals from Tracey and her Unite trade union reps to keep her in employment. This has resulted in her unfair dismissal from Go North West Ltd for capability to fulfil her role a PCV driver. The company’s only resolution is to offer Tracey a position in the company that would see Tracey’s pay and hours cut significantly leaving her in financial hardship.

Girls' Day School Trust is threatening to leave the national Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) at 23 of its schools. This could mean a significant reduction in the pension entitlements promised to hundreds of teachers. There is no excuse for teachers at GDST schools to be threatened with cuts to their pension rights given the financial position of the employer. All teachers deserve certainty over income in retirement. The alternative defined contribution scheme proposed by GDST would leave teachers with an inferior pension for teachers and their families. Furthermore the unacceptable proposals would also allow GDST to reduce the amount it pays in employer pension contributions in future years - further cutting the value of teachers' pensions (i.e deferred pay) in future years. This is not an honourable position for any good employer to take and, if implemented, these changes will seriously damage the reputation of GDST. We call on GDST to withdraw its proposals to leave TPS and to commit to working with the NASUWT on a way forward in the interests of teachers and pupils. GDST has enough funds to offer teachers fair pensions. The Trusts finances are in a healthy condition with total funds of £461.9 million and available reserves of £43.1 million as of August 2020. Whilst the fees payable by parents have increased, additional investment should prioritise teachers at GDST. Despite claims by the employer, there is no confirmation that pension contributions to be paid by the employer will increase. The proposed changes are therefore an unnecessary and unjustified attack on the terms and conditions of dedicated and highly-skilled and professional teachers. Teachers make a school successful. GDST, as an employer, needs to value and invest in the school workforce. There is no justification for them cutting pensions. There is a recruitment and retention crisis in education and attacking pensions and threatening to dismiss and re-engage staff on inferior terms and conditions of service is not the way to encourage them to remain with GDST or to motivate them to deliver the best possible education for pupils. Teachers deserve a decent pension. Keep GDST in the Teachers' Pension Scheme and withdraw these threats to teachers.

Unite the Union currently have over 60 members on strike at Weetabix, due to the company adopting fire and rehire tactics which will in some workers losing £5000 annually. Weetabix have no legitimate reason to be slashing the pay and conditions of it's engineers. From research obtained, we believe Weetabix profited $112.3 million in 2020. And Post Holdings Inc. most recent accounts show an operating profit of $700.8 million and has $1.2 billion in cash reserves. The healthy finances at both Weetabix and Post Holdings render these actions completely unnecessary. This is nothing more than corporate greed at the expense of a loyal workforce. The Post Holdings corporate responsibility states: "We believe it’s our responsibility to help make the world a better place, and we do this through our commitment to doing business the right way and investing in efforts to create positive change for people and our communities." So why are they treating Weetabix engineers with contempt? You can read the full statement here: https://www.postconsumerbrands.com/responsibility/

Community support has been fantastic, with more than 11,500 of us having signed the petition. We need to carry on getting more signatures to help us to put more pressure on the Government to set up an Inquiry into police brutality and government involvement at Orgreave. Please can you send a message to keep the momentum going?

Throughout the pandemic, biomedical scientists have been on the frontline of our NHS, analysing patient blood samples and carrying out covid-19 testing. The workers, who have been on strike since May, are owed staggering amounts of back pay. That starts at several hundred pounds up to as much as £8,000, after managers failed to honour a 2019 agreement to upgrade their pay. Send a message to Chair of the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, Eileen Fairhurst, demanding she meet with Unite and settle this unnecessary dispute as soon as possible.

On 31st October 2016, the Tory Home Secretary, Amber Rudd announced in Parliament there would be no Orgreave inquiry of any kind. The unacceptable reasons she gave were that it was too long ago, nobody died, there were no miscarriages of justice, policing had improved since 1984 so the police had nothing new to learn and that it wasn’t in the public interest to hold any kind of inquiry. We believe she did not examine relevant evidence and prevented an inquiry to protect the legacy of the 1984/5 Tory Government. Today’s Tory Government is still preventing an Orgreave Inquiry. Government involvement in the 1984/5 Miners’ Strike, police brutality against strikers, wrongful arrests of miners, falsified police statements, police lying under oath in court and media smears which deliberately created a false narrative against strikers, are some of the reasons why it is in the public interest to hold an inquiry. Add your name and demand an independant public inquiry.

Ordinary Londoners did the right thing during lockdown and stayed home, but this has led to spending on fares for London’s public transport drying up. London’ transport system is too dependent on passenger fares, far more so than most global cities, where government plays its part. The government is now grudgingly offering extra funding, but that support looks set to come with disastrous strings attached - strings that will be bad for anyone who works or travels on London’s public transport. But our public transport system is vital to getting Londoners moving after the pandemic. It’s vital to the national recovery from Covid, and it’s vital to creating a sustainable, green future. If you believe that London’s commuters and key workers deserve a world-class public transport system - not job cuts, attacks on conditions of employment and fare hikes - then sign the petition now.

Stagecoach has had taxpayer support of nearly £300 million during the COVID pandemic and made £32 million in profits from bus operations. Hundreds of bus workers are leaving the industry because they can earn better wages elsewhere. This exodus of staff threatens lifeline bus services if Stagecoach don't face up to reality. RMT Stagecoach staff provide vital services to our local communities. All our members are asking for is fair pay that recognises their hard work. Professional staff deserve professional wages.

The £20 a week uplift has been a lifeline to many people throughout the pandemic, predominantly going towards topping up low wages in the city; further that despite York having one of the highest employment rates in the country, wages are unjustifiably low and people are struggling; and further that, at a time where the cost of living is shooting up and upcoming tax increases are being implemented by the Government, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to pay their bills, buy food, or heat their homes.

PFI BLEEDS THE NHS DRY, TIME’S UP FOR PFI PROFITEERS! Unison Lanarkshire Health Branch has launched a campaign to bring private contracts within NHS Lanarkshire back in house into public ownership. The campaign aims to end the private Serco and ISS contracts within NHS Lanarkshire; which provides catering, portering, domestic and security services at Hairmyres and Wishaw Hospitals back in house to put an end to a two-tier workforce. Once brought back in-house it will allow all NHS Lanarkshire workers at these sites to be employed on equal terms and conditions. Bringing these contracts back in house will also put an end to profit-motivated contractors providing public services at the public’s expense. Unison has produced a letter which we have directly mailed to all Lanarkshire Councillors, MSPs and MPs asking them to support our campaign to bring the staff back in-house where they belong. Let's be clear, PFI contracts are bleeding NHS Lanarkshire and its time to put a stop to private profiteers draining OUR National Health Service. Support our campaign and sign our petition! You can also get more involved in the campaign by: Phone: 01698 754333 Email: [email protected]

Throughout the pandemic, biomedical scientists have been on the frontline of our NHS, analysing patient blood samples and carrying out covid-19 testing. The workers, who have been on strike since May, are owed staggering amounts of back pay. That starts at several hundred pounds up to as much as £8,000, after managers failed to honour a 2019 agreement to upgrade their pay. Send a message to Interim Chief Executive at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, Martin Hodgson, demanding he meet with Unite and settle this unnecessary dispute as soon as possible.