'Not in our name' - Police & Justice Conference condemns NEC rule breaking

UNISON's first in person conference for almost 20 months was held in Brighton over the past two days. https://www.unison.org.uk/news/2021/10/police-and-justice-delegates-stress-frontline-pandemic-role/

Police and Justice branch delegates gathered to debate pay, job security, displacement of support staff workers by police officers, the welcome insourcing of a majority of probation staff and other key issues.

Notably an emergency motion condemning last week's unconstitutional, unprincipled and unviable decisions by the NEC was carried overwhelmingly. Full text below.

NOT IN OUR NAME

Conference, there is great concern following a meeting of our National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Wednesday 6th October 2021.

At this meeting resolutions were put forward on the agenda for this meeting and our own legal department made representations suggesting that four of these resolutions were a breach of UNISON rules, unlawful and could possibly bring our union into disrepute.

Vultures circling over Police Staff

Metropolitan Police proposals to transfer 500 'business services' staff in human resources, payroll and procurement to a new company Shared Services Connected Ltd, (75% owned by French multinational Sopra Steria and 25% owned by the UK government) could lead to 'the mass privatisation of civilian staff employed by police forces across England' according to a Tribune report by David Hencke:
http://www.tribunemagazine.org/2015/01/police-staff-for-sale-after-may/

Police Chief disregards compelling evidence

Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, writes in today's Guardian and calls for 'radical structural reform' to deal with the impact of Government funding cuts. His solution includes proposals for force mergers and predictably the 'opening up all but core policing functions to competition'.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/14/reform-cuts-public-risk-police-emergency-services-austerity
    Clearly Hogan-Howe has not applied his detective skills to the track record of outsourcing companies in the criminal justice sector. Barnet UNISON has compiled a useful list of private sector commissioning failures. Maybe the branch should contact Crimestoppers?
http://falseeconomy.org.uk/blog/top-ten-private-sector-commissioning-failures
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/dec/14/police-cuts-public-safety-bernard-hogan-howe

Police Scotland staff to hold a ballot on strike action

Police staff in Scotland are to ballot on strike action after relations between the force and trade unions have broken down. On top of existing job losses, members have been hit by plans to close four 999 centres, cuts in redundancy terms and and annual leave restrictions due to the Commonwealth Games. UNISON has long warned that the Scottish Government claim of 1,000 extra police is a sham as staff jobs are cut and police officers are used to backfill them.

Frosty reception for Tory Minister at UNISON Police & Justice Conference

#pjconf2013 Last month the Con Dem Government put 70% of probation services out to competitive tender,thus guaranteeing a frosty reception for Policing and Criminal Justice Minister Damian Green MP when he addressed UNISON’s police and justice service group conference in Brighton yesterday. Green angered delegates by defending profit making in public services as ‘not a bad thing’ and by snubbing probation staff at the sharp end of Con Dem privatisation. However privatisation is not the only threat to the job security of police staff. UNISON is raising concerns about the removal of safeguards as growing numbers of staff face transfers from the police service to local authorities:
http://www.policeoracle.com/news/HR%2C+Personnel+and+Staff+Development/2013/Oct/10/Staff-transfers-Loophole-could-lead-to-unscrupulous-decisions_72180.html

Unions call on police chiefs to arrest employment rights slide - UnionNews

UNISON, Unite and GMB are calling on newly-elected police and crime commissioners and chief constables to sign up to a new ‘Police Staff Employment Charter’. In signing up to the charter, police and crime commissioners and chief constables would agree to prevent a two-tier workforce, by ensuring the same terms and conditions for staff, regardless of where they are employed.
http://union-news.co.uk/2012/11/unions-call-on-police-chiefs-to-arrest-employment-rights-slide/?doing_wp_cron=1353660992.8601770401000976562500

Stop Police Privatisation

#Oct20 ‘We need to elect PCCs who support our “Stop Police Privatisation” campaign. It will be our members and our communities who have to pick up the pieces if we do not succeed’ says UNISON’s Debi Potter in a Police Oracle report on the union’s Police and Justice service group conference.UNISON has pledged to only support Police and Crime Commissioner candidates who oppose privatisation of police services. It’s a message that UNISON police staff members will be bringing in force to next Saturday’s 'A Future That Works' marches:
http://www.policeoracle.com/news/Police+Performance/2012/Oct/15/Pro-Privatisation-PCC-Candidates-Face-Blacklisting_56412.html

UNISON's sword of Police & Justice sharper than ever

Representatives of UNISON's police staff, probation services and Cafcass membership gathered in Cardiff over the past two days for a very successful service group conference. The dominant issue was the growing threat of privatisation in the police and probation services. Delegates unanimously backed the union's campaign against privatisation and staged a demonstration outside Cardiff City Hall yesterday (Friday) morning to show the strength of feeling on the issue.
http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=2836

Suffolk police petition at Burston as Crow calls for cuts strike

UNISON Suffolk police branch members took their petition against cuts and privatisation to the Burston Strike School Rally on Sunday as over 1,000 gathered at the annual event celebrating the longest-running strike in British history. The RMT's Bob Crow told the rally "It's 98 years since Burston yet the same attacks are taking place now. We should be doing what the Spanish workers have done and the Greek workers have done and have a general strike."
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/123380

Police Privatisation - Public say No Thanks!

Today’s FT reports that political and public opposition has forced the West Midlands and Surrey Police Forces to delay plans for a £1.5bn ‘partnership’ with private companies to provide police services. Surrey Chief Constable is reported to have said in an internal force message of a ‘need to calm the horses’. This is very welcome news for UNISON’s police membership and a fillip for the union’s newly launched campaign to stop police privatisation: http://www.unison.org.uk/stopPolicePrivatisation/

Herbert faces sword of Police & Justice

The Coalition Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice Nick Herbert was given a rough ride yesterday at the first conference of UNISON's reconfigured Police and Justice service group held in Chester.

UNISON Nottinghamshire Police members strike today

The refusal of force management to respond to longstanding staff concerns about job cuts, management of change procedures and redundancy selection has led to the whole UNISON membership at Notts Police taking 24 hours strike action today: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-14712416

Conference: Our Chance to Show that Our Opposition is Serious

#uNDC11 Well you have packed the mac and the wellies, reset the Sat Nav for the North rather than the South, (or less far south for some of us) and packed the supplies of paracetamol and gaviscon. It can only mean one thing. UNISON is meeting in Manchester.

Brain hurts: £900m bankers’ bonus ‘fair’ while £5k cut for police staff ‘good deal'

Justifying £900m in bonuses, the RBS’s Stephen Hester told the BBC yesterday that, “Along with my staff, I want to be treated fairly”. Well, Stephen, so do thousands of police staff in Scotland who are facing up to a £5,000 a year cut in wages which is described by the employers as a ‘good deal’.

Police services are being undermined by cuts says Chief Inspector‏

Con Dem cuts of more than 12% to police budgets in England and Wales will undermine effective policing according to the Chief Inspector of Constabulary. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10691052