Unite is “Deadly Serious” About Halting Cuts to Voluntary Sector Funding in Scotland

LONDON - LONDON, March 17 /PRNewswire/ –

When: 11 am, Tuesday 17th March
Where: Scottish Parliament, outside the main entrance, Edinburgh, EH99
1SP.

Unite members will today (Tuesday) gather outside the Scottish Parliament
dressed in black and accompanied by a horse drawn hearse, to mourn the loss
of key jobs and services in Scotland’s voluntary sector due to funding cuts.

They will warn that more losses are sure to follow, if government does
not act soon to implement a fairer funding system. This action will be held
jointly with Unison the other main union representing voluntary sector
workers in Scotland.

The demo will coincide with the launch of Unite’s shocking “Death By a
Thousand Cuts” report, which will form the basis of Unite’s lobby of MSPs and
evidence to the Public Petitions Committee later in the day, when Unite will
join with a range of partners in calling for a framework of fairer funding
for voluntary sector organisations that deliver key public services.

The “Death by a Thousand Cuts” report highlights the real costs behind
the funding cuts to voluntary sector organisations, as well as calling for a
framework for fairer funding. It is based on responses to a consultation
carried out across Unite’s membership working in the sector. Unite has also
circulated 10,000 condolence cards to its members in the sector to send to
the Finance Minister John Swinney, calling on him to implement a fairer
funding framework, or face losing all that is good about the sector in
Scotland.

John Quigley, Unite Scottish Regional Secretary, said:

“The Death by a Thousand Cuts report is our way of giving a strong voice
to our members in the sector and ensuring that their message is heard at the
highest level. We want to expose Scotland’s decision makers to the reality at
the sharp end, for both workers and service users, and the real human cost of
these cuts, which are seriously impacting on their lives.”

Unite Senior Regional Organiser and author of the report, Roz Foyer,
said:

“Many of the comments from our members contained in this report raise
very serious issues about the way that cuts are negatively impacting on key
services to some of the most vulnerable members of our society. Unite is
clear that this climate of cuts within the sector has become unsustainable.
We believe that the pay and conditions for workers in the sector has reached
crisis point and that standards of care are being adversely affected.
Something must be done to halt the erosion of these services - before it is
too late.”

“Our campaign for fairer funding in the sector is aimed at forcing the
Scottish Government, Health Boards and Local Authorities to take
responsibility for the pay and conditions of employment of the workers that
they contract to deliver these services. They need to understand that quality
costs; that expecting low paid workers to subsidise services is not an
option; and that parity of pay with directly employed public service workers
should be implemented across the board, for all employees contracted to
deliver key public services.”

Notes to Editors:

Main photo-call: The funeral march style demo will take place outside the
Scottish Parliament main entrance between 11 am - 12 noon on Tuesday 17th
March. Demonstrators will be dressed in black and gathered around a horse
drawn hearse to mourn the loss of key jobs and services.

Unite will be holding a lobby of MSPs between 12.30 pm - 1.45 pm on
Tuesday 17th March in Rooms SG20 - SG21 of the Scottish Parliament, where the
union will launch its report entitled “Death by a Thousand Cuts”. This report
contains testimony from Unite members on the ground about the impact of
funding cuts on the services they provide.

Unite’s consultation on funding cuts was carried out over the first 3
months of 2009. Consultations were sent to thousands of our members across
the sector in Scotland, asking them to tell the union about their views and
experiences. Unite received 319 responses covering 58 different employers
across 18 of Scotland’s local authority areas.

Of the responses to Unite’s widespread consultation:

- 97% stated that their employer is contracted to deliver a public
service
- 88% felt that their employer was under increased financial pressure
this year compared to previous years
- 80% had witnessed negative effects on service users as a result of
funding cuts or re-tendering
- 73% had experienced negative effects on their working conditions and
/or their pay and benefits as a result of funding cuts or re-tendering

Unite bargains on behalf of over 40,000 employees across Scotland’s
voluntary sector. The voluntary sector in Scotland is worth just under
GBP4.1bn and employs around 130,000 professional paid staff, more than
employment in Financial Services, and the Electricity, Gas & Water Supply
industries.

Unite collected over 2000 signatures for the Public Petition that it is
putting to Parliament alongside key partners, Unison, the Scottish Trades
Union Congress, Community Care Providers Scotland and Scottish Council for
Voluntary Organisations.

Source: Unite the Union

For further information contact Roz Foyer on +44(0)7958-729-181 or Ashraf Choudhury in the Unite Press Office 020 7420 8914 or +44(0)7980-224761.