UNISON health delegates voted to “reject the Tory vision of the NHS” when conference got down to business in Liverpool this morning, calling for “alternative approaches to workforce engagement at a time of service change.”
“The Tory vision for the NHS is perpetual change with staff living in fear of their jobs,” head of health Christina McAnea said as she introduced the successful motion.
“We’re not against change, we support a better service,” she added, but “flexibility cannot be a one-way street”.
Liverpool nurse Mick McEwan told delegates that an alternative vision had to involve workers and communities.
“We have to reinvent the way our union is a community,” he said, “And we have to connect to the communities we live and work in, to have community engagement.”
Conference agreed and called on the service group to work with the rest of the union to make sure the NHS features heavily in the general election campaign and to continue campaigning against attacks on the workforce, including pay, terms and conditions.
