“People are having to make real
decisions every day based on what money is in their pocket,” says Lyn Marie
O’Hara, a cleaning supervisor in Glasgow, who is currently seconded to UNISON’s
national executive council.
The cost of living is currently a
critical issue for most of UNISON’s members. Public sector pay – as well as the
pay of privatised or outsourced counterparts –- has lagged behind
inflation for almost a decade, shrinking pay packets in real terms.
As energy bills, rocket and inflation
spikes, applying enormous pressure on food, clothing and essential everyday costs, the cost of living has come into sharp focus and the government’s
response has been too little, too late.
On 18 June, trade unionists from
across the country and across industries will take to London’s streets as one
to ‘Demand Better’ at the TUC’s march and rally.
Among the crowd, UNISON’s ‘sea of
purple and green’ – no doubt in good numbers and voice, will be declaring that
‘Together We Rise’ – is the latest step in the union’s campaigning in response to
the cost of living crisis.
Together We Rise
Together We Rise will also be a theme
of UNISON’s national delegate conference in Brighton the week prior to the
march and, moving forward, the campaign will provide a cross-service group underpinning bargaining, negotiating and pay claims, involving the public and pressing
the UK government for fair pay and better support.
Alongside the national campaign,
regions and branches will be provided with toolkits to allow them to use the
campaign, locally, in the way that best suits them.
In the run-up to the rally, we spoke
to three UNISON members who are going on the march, to find out how the cost of
living is affecting them, why they’re marching on 18 June and what they want the rally to achieve.
Lyn Marie will be marching proudly
beside the Glasgow UNISON branch flag before she takes to the stage to speak
at the rally in Parliament Square.
“I’m really looking forward to
speaking,” she says, “It’s [speaking publicly] a skill I developed through
UNISON that I never knew I could do before. I think, if you have the passion,
you just get up there and say what you have to say because you’re part of it.
You’re not talking down to anyone, or across anyone, you’re talking to people.”
Lyn Marie goes on to talk about the
impact the cost of living is having on members she represents. She represents a
lot of low paid women who work ‘small hours’ jobs, “So they end up doing two or
three jobs in a day.
‘Is it worth the
extra shift?’
“In Glasgow we have some of the
highest bus fares – these workers are now having to make decisions about
whether they can afford to go between jobs, asking – is it worthwhile doing the
extra shift just to pay the bus fare to get there?
“People are actually struggling to
get to work. This is the workforce that always turns up, the
caterers, the cleaners, and the janitors among many others. This is shocking in 21st century
Britain – we’re not a poor country.”
When asked why she’s taking part in
the march, Lyn Marie says, “For me, it’s important that I can go back and look
members in the eye and tell them that I was at the rally, even if they couldn’t
be, and that I represented them and made their voice heard.”
Kev Standishday, convenor of the
Northamptonshire Children’s trust, is also marching on June 18 and sees the
same problem in his area. “I’m hearing from a lot of our lower-paid members
that they can’t actually afford to get to work,” he says. “That’s absolutely
ridiculous.
“For people who haven’t got an extra
tenner, let alone hundreds, a month to spare, it’s obscene what’s being forced
on them. Not just gas bills, but the actual inflation rate.
“We’ve got staff we know are using
foodbanks. We’ve got staff in the children’s home who are now resigning because
they can’t live on the wage anymore – they go to work in warehouses because the
wage is better. The same with admin workers.”
Standing up to the
government
On why he thinks it’s important to
march, he says: “Because we need to stand up against this government. People
are going to die this winter. People are terrified of what’s coming and they
can’t afford to absorb this sort of cost.”
Alan (who didn’t want to be
identified) is a low paid member in Kev’s region. He works as a family tie
supervisor and, on the 18 June, he’s also marching because: “People deserve
better pay, better sick pay and more money in their pocket at the end of the
day.”
In terms of how it is affecting him,
he emphasises how much he’s having to ‘penny pinch’, concluding: “There is just
less money in my bank account at the end of the month”.
But Alan also sees the effects in his
day-to-day job. “It’s difficult to put into words. I see the difference in
poverty people are experiencing.
“I find a lot of parents trying to
get all the money which they’re entitled to, so sometimes they’ll be on the
phone trying to get hold of a social worker trying to get the £2.50 they were
due for the bus fare, because over time that adds up to £7.50. For them, that
£7.50 is a couple of meals for the family.”
Lyn Marie, Kev and Alan all emphasised
how close many of the lowest-paid public sector workers are to a tipping point
and, for them, it is absolutely vital that a strong presence on 18 June lets
the public and the government know that Together We Rise In UNISON.
Original Article https://magazine.unison.org.uk/2022/06/07/18-june-together-we-will-rise-in-unison/
