Branch members join hundreds to celebrate May Day and march for equality, social justice and workers rights

Branch members joined more than five hundred people from trade unions and campaigning groups, including a number of key local politicians and friends of the ATUC, to march along Union Street on Saturday 2nd March to celebrate International Workers’ Day and to call for an end to austerity.

Led off by the Guarana Drummers, the march was both colourful and noisy as banners and placards were held aloft and marchers moved to the beat of the drums.

Passersby stopped to watch, wave and to take photos, and to show their support for the marchers. Somewhere along the route, the sun came out and the weather stayed fine and Springlike as marchers gathered for an outdoor rally at the Castlegate.

Branch Chair and Vice President of the ATUC compered the Rally where speaker after speaker called for an end to austerity and solidarity across borders.

Click here for a full report of the march and rally on the ATUC site

Click here to see more May Day pics on picasa

Workers' Memorial Day - We owe it to the memories of those who have died to fight for the rights of working people

Branch Chair, Kate Ramsden and our two Health and Safety Officers, Richard Lawrence and Tricia Morrison attended the Workers' Memorial Day Service at Persley Gardens, Aberdeen on 28th April where they joined other Trade Unionists, politicians and citizens in a poignant ceremony.

Kate, in her role as Vice President of the Aberdeen Trades union Council, led the ceremony and also spoke on behalf of the ATUC.

Click here for a full report of the service.

STUC Congress 2015 - Branch activists again take key role at STUC

Branch Chair, Kate Ramsden and Assistant Branch Secretary, Susan Kennedy were both elected as UNISON delegates to this year's STUC Congress in Ayr from 20-22 April and both spoke in the debate.


All reports of UNISON speakers in the debate can be seen on the UNISON Scotland website and blog.



Susan Kennedy

House building and living rent to fix housing crisis
UNISON Scotland’s Susan Kennedy, backing the USDAW, UCATT and North Lanarkshire and Aberdeen trade union councils’ motion, said Scotland has a ‘housing crisis’.

Susan also spoke on the importance of additional support for learning in tackling disadvantage and the report will be made available as soon as possible.

Kate Ramsden

End 1 in 5 children living in poverty in Scotland
UNISON Scotland's Kate Ramsden supporting an USDAW motion said that that the STUC had highlighted as far back as 2010 that cuts and austerity would lead to a rise in the numbers of children in poverty.

Kate, in her role as member of the Scottish Communications and Campaigns Committee, also wrote many on the STUC reports on the UNISON Scotland website and blog.

Join us at the Aberdeen May Day March and Rally on Sat 2nd May 2015 - Austerity doesn't work

Celebrate International Workers Day on Saturday 2nd May. Join with us in a family friendly march down Union Street to demonstrate your opposition to austerity, which the past five years have shown just doesn't work for ordinary people or for the economy. Only the already very rich are doing well.

The 2015 May Day March and Rally will gather at Rubislaw Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen at 10.30am.

Organised by Aberdeen Trades Union Council (ATUC), it will march off at 11.00am down the full length of Union Street, to a Rally in the Castlegate at 12 noon where there will be a variety of speakers including trade unions, politicians and community activists.

Come along to the Workers' Memorial Day Tuesday 28 April 2015 1pm

This year's Workers Memorial Day Service, will be held at 1pm (gather from 12.30pm) at Persley Gardens, Persley, Aberdeen. All are welcome to attend.

What is Workers Memorial Day?
International Workers Memorial Day (IWMD) takes place all over the world on 28 April each year.

The purpose of IWMD is two-fold. Firstly it is about not forgetting those who have died, been injured, or made ill by their work. Secondly it is about ensuring that tragic loss and suffering are used to reinvigorate the campaign for healthier and safer work.

The campaign slogan is "Remember the dead, fight for the living."

The number of people killed at work in Scotland has been rising in recent years, according to official figures. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said 20 workers lost their lives north of the border in 2014-15. Although this has been fairly consistent over the past few years it remains 20 too many.
In this time of austerity, it is ever more important to protect our Health and Safety legislation, which is constantly under attack.

The Service will last for approx 30mins.

UNISON welcomes decision in Edinburgh social work contempt of court case

UNISON Scotland today welcomed the decision by the Court of Session that the conduct of social workers in Edinburgh City Council did not amount to contempt and that the decision of the Sheriff is quashed.

John Stevenson of UNISON’s City of Edinburgh Branch said:

"The court has recognised complex and difficult decisions social workers have to take in their work in protecting the welfare of children. We hope this decision will assist in providing some clarity for them in exercising their duty in good faith to hold the child's interests as paramount".

"UNISON backed our members from the beginning and we are glad that the long months of uncertainly are now over for them. We have already briefed our members throughout Scotland as this process has continued and we will further brief them on any implications for practice arising from this judgement. We would also acknowledge the support and assistance the City of Edinburgh Council gave to our members throughout this matter”

1. The full decision of the Court of Session can be read here https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/search-judgments/judgment?id=63d8cea6-8980-69d2-b500-ff0000d74aa7

2. UNISON’s statement at the time of the decision setting out our concerns over the Sheriff’s decision http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/news/2013/novdec/1216.htm

Branch to the fore at special conference as fight for fair pay goes on

Branch officers played a key role as UNISON local government delegates from across the UK met at a special conference in London.

The conference was called primarily to debate the lessons of the recent pay campaign in England and Wales and agree a set of strong proposals to increase member engagement and democratic participation in every aspect of future pay campaigns. However Scotland had an important part to play as we shared the lessons from our own pay campaign.

Delegates backed two motions from Scotland. The first called for our bargaining and industrial strategies for fair pay to be allied with a consistent, sustained and coherent political strategy, aimed at addressing the “30 years trends of suppressing wages...”