FINANCE
NHS AND MoD Fair pay plea May 10 protest
Unite took its pay campaign to the top of bank giant RBS in May, when the union challenged the board about unfair pay across the organisation. RBS workers demanded answers from CEO Stephen Hester and other senior managers on behalf of staff, including over 28,000 who this year received no pay rise despite performing well. Unite called for RBS to meaningfully engage with the union to ensure a fairer pay rise for all.
Robin Hood tax – in Unite’s plans
Thousands of public sector employees took to the streets on May 10 standing strong against the unrelenting onslaught on their pensions by the government.
Unite NHS and MoD members of Unite joined with members of other unions including PCS and NUT in nationwide protests. Unite believes the coalition’s sustained attack on public sector pensions – which have seen the average Unite NHS member paying an extra £30-a-month in contributions – is part of a wider attack on the public sector, which includes privatisation of the health service, the introduction of regional pay and the continuing erosion of pay levels.
Hundreds of MoD firefighters joined in the strike, furious that the imposed pension changes will make them poorer in retirement. Unite national officer Mike McCartney said, “This government has pushed MoD firefighters to the absolute limit.”
FINANCE
Uniting finance sector
Unite membership in the banking and finance sector is up 5,000 in the last year. But the crisis in the sector cannot be underestimated and with 150,000 jobs lost since 2007, Unite has had to fight back.
Unite has drawn up radical plans to ensure the banking and finance sectors are fit for purpose for staff, the communities they should be serving and the economy as a whole.
A Finance sector for the real economy, pushes for stronger regulation, greater trade union involvement, including employee representation on remuneration committees, a financial (Robin Hood) transactions tax on speculative trading, employment security for all, including front-line staff, high quality training and a greater emphasis on service rather than sales.
Unite national officer David Fleming said, “Banks should, serve their local communities, including customers and workers. We want to ensure that becomes the case and banking staff who are not already a member of Unite should consider joining as we fight to make improvements.”
Elsewhere in the sector HSBC has just announced another 3,000 job losses, and Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks intend making 1,400 job cuts, around 15 per cent of their joint UK staff.
11 uniteWORKS July/August 2012
The strong support shown by Unite members shows this issue can’t be ignored. And now even more unions are saying no to the pensions plans, including the GMB and the BMA. Unite believes it is now imperative that the government reopens talks.
Spike Johnson
Mark Thomas
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