In her first address to Scottish Council, since her election as UNISON General Secretary, Christina McAnea asks activists: “Don’t lose the passion”.
Christina reminded us that most of us became active in UNISON because we saw something happening in the workplace or in government that was just wrong. UNISON, she said, can change lives.
UNISON’s Priorities
Christina said the number one priority for the trade union was to support our members through this pandemic. The vast majority of UNISON members had worked the whole way through this pandemic doing vital jobs to keep our society going.
She stressed that we must keep pressure on governments across the UK to ensure they don’t forget the contribution – and the sacrifices – that those delivering public services have made in the fight against Covid19.
She said, it was great to see that the Scottish government had not bought into the UK government public sector pay freeze, but reminded us that ‘we are still to see the colour of their money’.
She continued: “90% of the what happens to our members is dependent on the Scottish government, and we must ensure that the UK government do not go back to “their old favourite: let’s cut public services”.
She said that it is vital that branches have the resources they need to represent their members. Listen to more of her speech below: