26.09.16
Campaign aims to deliver thank you for public service champions
Public sector services and staff will be celebrated in a new campaign by Unison, launched today at a fringe event of the Labour party conference.
‘Public Service Champions’ will encourage members of the public to register their thanks to staff in health, education, home care and other services who have helped them on an interactive map.
Unison described it as the first stage of a campaign to remind the government of the importance of public services funding in the run-up to the Autumn Statement.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said: “From frontline staff, to the support and technical workers who keep our NHS, schools, police forces and town halls going, our public service workers are champions to so many people. Their work saves lives, educates children, cares for older people and ensures that our society flourishes.
“I’m proud of the job done by our public services workers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. I hope lots of people use our website to thank the whole of the UK’s public service team.”
However, he added: “Too many staff feel that they and the services they provide are undervalued by ministers, and that higher demand and the absence of proper funding means they are constantly trying to do more with less.”
Unison warned earlier this year that local government staff are being “worked into the ground” because of spending cuts and increasing workloads.
Prentis said that if Theresa May and Philip Hammond, the new prime minister and chancellor, continue with the previous government’s “wicked” programme of public spending cuts, some services would “almost certainly collapse”.
‘Public Service Champions’ will be advertised on billboards, trains, the Tube, newspapers, the radio and Facebook.
To join the campaign, click here.
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