Unite is calling for long-term and
sustainable funding for the Community, youth workers and not for
profit sector.
The creation of an effective system of funding for
Community, youth workers and not for profit organisations is one of
Unite's most crucial campaigns in the sector. Poor funding systems
are the underlying problem to many other issues that
exist in the sector. Everything from bullying, and poor
training to pensions and short term contracts can
be attributed to the problem of funding in the
sector.
Click the links below to read some of the work that Unite
has done on the issue.
Act local campaign
Having successfully launched our national campaign on funding
and the workforce, it is essential that we also act locally, as
many decisions about the funding of organisations takes place in
your local council chambers.
Unite has led the way in Edinburgh, where it launched a
successful campaign involving sector staff, service users and the
community to defeat the council in outsourcing service to
vulnerable adults. The case study lends itself as a good guide of
how to engage the officers in your local authority, and also how to
put pressure on your local politicians, councillors.
Many councillors will not understand the impact of their
decisions on the workforce until you tell them. There is no time to
be passive on this, as your actions could make a massive difference
to the future of services as it did in Edinburgh.
Unite branches should also focus on how to ensure that
commissioning processes do not lend themselves to your jobs, terms
and conditions being cut.
For more information on how to campaign against damaging
tendering processes, contact your local regional officer, or Des
Loughney who led the campaign in Edinburgh. See details of the
Edinburgh case study.
Rachael Maskell, Unite national
officer
