Library news

• Labour in Libraries

  07-07-2024 16:13 via publiclibrariesnews.com
  
  EditorialWow, so that was a quite a victory for Labour. With such a majority, they have five years now to do what they can before the next election and, given the volatility of the electorate, the possibility of another change in government. There are huge challenges for Labour, including a distinct lack of money and economic weakness, and promises about not increasing taxation made pre-election. This will make it very difficult for them to follow the impulse, more natural to them than the Conse
  
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• Conference highlights impact of COVID on Black health workers

  04-09-2024 15:05 via unison.org.uk
  
  UNISON and the TUC held a joint conference yesterday evening to explore the experience of Black health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  Held at Doughty Street Chambers – a barristers’ chambers particularly known for its work on human rights and civil liberties – the aim of the event was to discuss the current UK-wide public inquiry into the pandemic and to ensure that the experience of Black workers in the healthcare sector is heard and acted upon.
  Surveys and research hav
  
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• Action on Grenfell recommendations needed immediately

  04-09-2024 13:00 via unison.org.uk
  
  Commenting on the report of the inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire published today (Wednesday), UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:
  “No words can ever fully capture the horror of that night and the years of pain for everyone touched by the tragedy.
  “This report, and the harrowing testimony it contains, makes for excruciating reading. It shows the awful cost of slashing public services and cutting corners.
  “Lessons need to be learned immediately and that means remo
  
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• Local government employers must improve pay offer to avoid strike threat

  04-09-2024 01:27 via unison.org.uk
  
  More than 360,000 council and school support staff across England and Wales will begin voting today (Wednesday) on whether to take strike action over pay, says UNISON.
  The 2024/25 flat rate pay offer of £1,290 from local government employers falls short of what council employees need and has also been superseded by the deals achieved by some other public sector workers, says the union.
  This year’s pay deal was due from April, but the disappoint
  
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• Colchester Hospital support staff vow to keep striking against outsourcing

  02-09-2024 13:00 via unison.org.uk
  
  Health members on the Colchester picket, 19 August. Image: James Rodie
  Hundreds of cleaners, porters, housekeepers and other Colchester Hospital support staff are to continue their strike action this month, in what has become a tense battle to keep their jobs within the NHS.
  The UNISON members first staged a week-long strike between 19-23 August. The action also hit several community sites run by East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), whose  senior managers are planning
  
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• Overdue, presumed lost, despite reminders

  01-09-2024 13:27 via publiclibrariesnews.com
  
  EditorialThere are clearer and clearer signs that the new Labour government is not going to provide extra funding to, well, pretty much anyone. This is includes local government and, apparently, public libraries too. The new minister – I couldn’t remember his name as he’s not turned up in any article about the sector but apparently it’s Chris Bryant – who includes public libraries amongst his large portfolio, does not appear to be all that bothered and even his boss
  
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• Council and school staff industrial action ballot opens

  30-08-2024 11:14 via unison.org.uk
  
  UNISON’s industrial action (IA) ballot for council and school staff over the 2024 pay offer opens today, Wednesday 4 September.
  The union’s sector (NJC) committee is recommending that members vote ‘Yes’ for strike action and are urging them to return their ballots as soon as possible.
  Members who are eligible to vote should receive a purple envelope (see below) in the post over the coming weeks. It will contain your ballot papers and a free-post envelope to return your vo
  
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• UNISON enters into recognition agreement with EDF Renewables

  29-08-2024 14:04 via unison.org.uk
  
  UNISON, together with Unite, Prospect and GMB, has entered into a recognition agreement with renewables energy developer EDF Renewables UK and Ireland.
  The agreement will cover the company’s 633 staff, who work in five offices, eight service centres and 44 renewable energy sites across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
  The new agreement commits the trace unions and the company to work collaboratively to develop and grow the business and to provide high-quality jobs and a positive empl
  
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• Public libraries in the public eye

  25-08-2024 14:36 via publiclibrariesnews.com
  
  There were two big national news stories concerning libraries this week. The one is the number of requests to school libraries to withdraw books, with many ending up being removed. This is strongly reminiscent of what is happening in US public libraries, although on a far smaller and less organised scale. The big difference is that a major political party here isn’t supporting such censorship, although I suspect Mr Farage wouldn’t be against and also parts of the Conservative Party.
  
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• UNISON votes to renew political fund

  20-08-2024 17:23 via unison.org.uk
  
  UNISON members in England, Scotland and Wales have voted overwhelmingly to retain the union’s political fund, which enables UNISON to take part in political activity.
  Of the 187,598 members who participated, 96.7% voted to keep the political fund.
  UNISON’s political fund has two sections: Labour Link and the campaign fund.
  Labour Link takes the union’s campaign objectives into the Labour party and supports members to become MPs and councillors.
  The campaign fund provides a
  
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• Sussex Police signs up to UNISON’s Anti-Racism Charter

  20-08-2024 12:53 via unison.org.uk
  
  Sussex Police has signed up to an anti-racism charter promoted by UNISON, becoming the first public sector employer in the South East to do so.
  The charter promises to tackle racism in its workplace and promote a diverse workforce.
  Ben Priestley, UNISON national officer for police, probation and Cafcass, said: “It’s great news that Sussex Police has signed up to UNISON’s Anti-Racism Charter. Congratulations to our Sussex Police branch and the force for achieving this.
  
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• Labour shortage: will austerity continue?

  18-08-2024 10:27 via publiclibrariesnews.com
  
  EditorialIt was great to see the public response to the idiotic attack on Spellow Lane Library last well but, as Frank Cottrell-Boyce points out, another kind of vandalism has occurred in British libraries on a far larger scale. Due to the general hopelessness of official statistics on library closures, the exact figure since 2010 is hard to say but it’s commonly see as 8-900ish. So Spellow Lane, which got such coverage and even a book donation from the Queen, represents about one-tenth of
  
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• Lancashire County Council – Social Care Support Worker Strikes

  16-08-2024 15:52 via unison.org.uk
  
  The Chair of the Social Work Forum has sent a message of support to staff in social work teams across Lancashire who are taking a second round of strike action over salary grades and working cover. It reads:
  As Chair of UNISON’s National Social Work Forum, on behalf of the Forum, I am writing to offer you a strong message of solidarity for the action you are taking and to send you our best wishes.
  No one wants to go on strike, but Lancashire County Council’s obstinate refusal to
  
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• UNISON urges branches to speak to employers about Mpox

  16-08-2024 11:39 via unison.org.uk
  
  UNISON activists are being urged to start discussions with employers to make sure that actions put in place following an Mpox outbreak in 2022 remain in place to protect staff and the public.
  Mpox is caused by a virus in the same family of viruses as smallpox, although it is much less severe. It is a rare infection.
  UNISON has produced a guide for branches so that they can discuss Mpox with employers to ensure that appropriate support in terms of guidance for staff, appropriate PPE pro
  
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• Working together will be a change for the better

  14-08-2024 15:49 via unison.org.uk
  
  Commenting on the making work pay meeting with Angela Rayner and Jonathan Reynolds today (Wednesday) aimed at boosting the economy and strengthening workers’ rights, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:
  “Britain’s problems are best solved when governments, unions and businesses work together. Lifting standards and making work pay will drive the economic growth to deliver proper investment in essential services.
   
  “The fair pay agreement promised in care wi
  
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• TUC COVID-19 survey – please add your experiences

  13-08-2024 15:14 via unison.org.uk
  
  The COVID-19 public inquiry reconvenes at the start of September.  Public hearings will examine the effect of the pandemic on the NHS – and how the NHS responded.
  UNISON will be giving evidence on behalf of the TUC. Please feed in your experiences using the questionnaire link below.
  This will help UNISON and the TUC to use real and lived experience when giving evidence. Information provided can all be treated confidentially. The survey only takes six minutes.
  Thanks in advance for you
  
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• 239,000 reasons to hope

  10-08-2024 17:39 via publiclibrariesnews.com
  
  EditorialThe library week was dominated by first the horror at the setting ablaze of Spellow Lane Library during the far-right/racist/opportunist riots and then by the hope caused by a huge local, national and international response to a fundraiser for it. Famous authors and celebrities donated large amounts of money (the largest being £5,000 from author Matt Haig) as did loads of library lovers and locals. The result was that, as of now, £239,000 has been raised compared to the init
  
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• In pictures: UNISON joins the anti-racist counter-demonstrations

  08-08-2024 16:33 via unison.org.uk
  
  UNISON members join hundreds at a counter-demonstration in Bristol
  Last night, UNISON members from across the UK took to the streets to counter the 100+ far-right rallies planned at immigration centres, lawyers’ offices and charities.
  Most of the counter demonstrations were organised by Stand Up To Racism.
  At every site across the UK, anti-racists outnumbered the far-right.
  Belfast
  Fantastic trade union support at the @irishcongress anti-racism rally outside the Parliament Buildings at Sto
  
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• Government scraps anti-strike laws on ‘minimum service levels’

  07-08-2024 12:12 via unison.org.uk
  
  The government has announced it will repeal anti-strike laws that mandate ‘minimum service levels’ during industrial action.
  The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act was passed in July 2023 by the former Conservative government. It gave employers in ambulance, fire and rescue and border services new powers to force people to work on strike days by issuing controversial ‘work notices’.
  Since its introduction, UNISON has criticised the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act f
  
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• Record water fines expose the stench of scandalous sewage failures, says UNISON

  06-08-2024 15:15 via unison.org.uk
  
  Record fines levied on three water companies don’t go far enough and more investment is needed to stop sewage spills and tackle corporate greed, says UNISON today (Tuesday).
  Responding to the announcement that industry regulator Ofwat is proposing to punish three privatised water firms with a record combined fine of £168m for their failure to invest and for illegal pollution releases, UNISON head of environment Donna Rowe-Merriman said:
  “Ofwat has finally woken up, but the
  
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• Good riddance to a bad law, says UNISON

  06-08-2024 15:13 via unison.org.uk
  
  Commenting on the announcement that the new government is to repeal the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023, which threatened to worsen industrial relations across essential services, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said today (Tuesday):​
  “This was a terrible law. It’s great the government is ditching it so early on. Good riddance to a bad law.
  “This legislation should have never reached the statute book. No one wanted minimum service levels, only a spitef
  
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• Check your benefits entitlement

  06-08-2024 10:35 via unison.org.uk
  
  The government has announced that, due to the state of the public finances, some pensioners will no longer receive the winter fuel allowance.
  For retired members who are concerned about the impact of this, UNISON has a calculator to check your benefits, which includes finding out if you are entitled to pension credits.
  The National Pensioners Convention, to which UNISON is affiliated, has launched a campaign on the issue, as has Independent Age.
  The article Check your benefits entitlement first
  
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• Opinion: UNISON will stand up to the politics of hate

  05-08-2024 18:18 via unison.org.uk
  
  By Christina McAnea
  The racist rioting and violence led and organised over social media by the far right last week and over the weekend has horrified many of us.
  Sickening scenes of mobs laughing and cheering as buildings housing vulnerable asylum seekers were set on fire were both terrifying and shameful.
  The homes of those judged to be immigrants were attacked street by street. People were targeted and beaten up solely because of the colour of their skin.
  Mosques were attacked and besieged. Is
  
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• Communities must come together to reject extremism and hatred, says UNISON

  05-08-2024 16:24 via unison.org.uk
  
  Responding to the riots which took place over the weekend, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:
  “The overwhelming majority of people will be appalled by the scenes of violence, racism and looting inflicted by far right thugs in towns and cities across Britain.
  “Those who co-ordinated these so-called protests have exploited the tragic events in Southport to incite misplaced fear, division and hatred – often at a distance through social media.
  “The vile thug
  
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• Probation pay campaign sees award re-opened

  05-08-2024 11:22 via unison.org.uk
  
  UNISON is pleased to report that the joint probation unions’ campaign to re-open the three-year pay award to give probation staff more pay has been successful.
  The unions submitted a claim to get more pay back in 2023, which His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) rejected in April this year.
  However, after consultative ballots in UNISON and the National Association of Probation Officers (Napo) showed strong support for taking industrial action, combined with the change of
  
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• Rioters set fire to Spellow Lane Library

  04-08-2024 22:11 via publiclibrariesnews.com
  
  EditorialRight-wing thugs decided to set fire to Spellow Lane Library in Liverpool last night. Unlike Greggs, which was looted, it appears that no books were stolen in the attack. Not even Mein Kampf, presumably because it had too many words.Liverpool's Spellow Lane library torched last night. What could be more 'patriotic' than destroying a centre which serves the local community? pic.twitter.com/QNPRv9UWcC— Carl Hendrick (@C_Hendrick) August 4, 2024
  The saddest thing about this, and ther
  
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• Solidarity appeal for healthcare assistants on strike this summer

  30-07-2024 12:08 via unison.org.uk
  
  Healthcare assistants on strike in Huddersfield in 2023
  Healthcare assistants (HCAs) at five hospitals across Leicester and Northamptonshire will be on strike throughout August, escalating a dispute over back pay that has already led to 19 days of strike action.
  The employer refuses to negotiate, focusing instead on breaking the strike, including threatening leaders with disciplinary action.
  Despite these tactics, UNISON members remain steadfast in their fight for fair back pay, seeking recognit
  
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• Latest pay rise must just be the start of turning NHS fortunes around

  29-07-2024 19:10 via unison.org.uk
  
  Commenting on the announcement by the chancellor today (Monday) that the government is to accept the pay review body recommendation of a 5.5% wage rise for all NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts in England for 2024/25, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:
  “This is a government thankfully prepared to act quite differently from its predecessors. 
  “The NHS cannot begin to turn around its fortunes and eliminate delays unless it keeps the staff it has, and
  
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• Petitions, computer problems and Carnegies

  28-07-2024 10:54 via publiclibrariesnews.com
  
  EditorialThe power of local public protest to cuts in public libraries never ceases to amaze me. A campaign to save libraries in Lanarkshire managed to get 8,500 signatures, which is quite amazing by the way, resulted in Cambuslang staying open and smiling pictures of local people in the newspaper. Kirklees also has a petition in the thousands but it’s less clear if there will be a happy ending there for the 47 library staff who may lose their jobs if the cuts go ahead. But if there’
  
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• UNISON Nelson Mandela Award 2025– (open to all Black people in conjunction with UNISON’s defining Black)

  26-07-2024 10:12 via unison.org.uk
  
  UNISON 2015 Black members’ conference resolved to establish a Nelson Mandela award that embodies his attributes and becomes an annual feature of the conference.
  Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first Black president saw in democracy after decades of apartheid rule which for Black people meant living with years of racial segregation and systemic oppression. His vision was for a truly united South Africa, and he became a powerful global figure of resistance.
  Our union is proud to have m
  
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