FRAN HEATHCOTE believes that while the the Chancellor outlined some positive steps, the government does not appreciate the scale of the cost-of-living crisis affecting working-class people, whose lives are blighted by endemic low pay
ALMOST 35 years after the principle of equal pay for work of equal value became law, more than 8,000 workers — mostly low-paid women — had to go the lengths of taking strike action against Glasgow City Council to actually make it a reality.
The workers were predominantly care employees, learning-support workers in schools, nursery staff, cleaners and catering workers.
The strike in October was the biggest equal pay strike in the UK. This was a dispute that had been running for more than a decade and there had been many attempts — both through legal and industrial action — to resolve it. But that final push, with thousands taking strike action, was the key to securing a settlement.
Roger McKenzie talks to general secretary of Unison CHRISTINA McANEA about the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on members, the local government funding emergency and the threat of Reform UK
Reversing outsourcing is the pre-election promise the government must honour, says Unison general secretary CHRISTINA McANEA



