{"id":1447,"date":"2014-09-20T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2014-09-20T07:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=1447"},"modified":"2014-09-22T09:54:31","modified_gmt":"2014-09-22T08:54:31","slug":"wales-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=1447","title":{"rendered":"The Wales effect"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

What has a Welsh devolved government ever done for workers?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How about, thousands of jobs for young unemployed people, free prescriptions and an NHS free from privatisation, tackling the scandal of blacklisting, protecting the pay of rural workers, and retaining the Education Maintenance Allowance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fifteen years after the Welsh Assembly first sat, and with a UK general election looming, Unite members and officials have been looking at the clear dividing lines between the policies and principles of governments either side of the Severn Bridge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For Hannah Blythyn, Unite’s political and policy officer in Wales, keeping the NHS free from privatisation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c expected to be a key battleground next May \u00e2\u20ac\u201c has been a major achievement.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prescriptions have been free to people registered with a GP in Wales since 2007, and parking is free in most hospitals (something which magically may happen in England before polling day).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pro-active industrial and workplace policies, often in close consultation with unions, has also been a feature of the administration in Wales, in stark contrast to the battleground that is Westminster.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unions have helped shape programmes to support workers and the unemployed, especially young people, in Wales, whereas in Westminster, they are usually confined to the streets outside Parliament, staging banner-waving protests.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“It is clear from the policies we’ve seen over the past decade or so that devolution in Wales has not only made a real difference to the lives of Unite members but has also demonstrated a commitment to a different approach and values when it comes to legislating,” said Hannah.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“In Wales trade unions not only have a seat at the table through formal social partnership but also opportunities to engage and influence the government and assembly business outside of this.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Such opportunities have resulted in real change in the interests of working people such as action on blacklisting, protection and support for agricultural workers in Wales and greater justice for victims of asbestos related disease and their families.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The decision in September 2013 to issue guidance on how public sector bodies in Wales could exclude blacklisters from bidding for public sector contracts was a huge boost to those who have been campaigning for years for justice for the thousands of building workers and others whose names were on a secret file.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Justice for victims of asbestos-related diseases, and their families, was also promised by legislation, through the recovery of medical costs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Many of the measures were introduced by Labour Assembly Members, many of whom are members of Unite, such as Ken Skates, a deputy minister in the Welsh government.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He has been strongly involved with Jobs Growth Wales and other initiatives to boost employment and training, especially targeting long term youth unemployment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nearly 5,000 companies have taken on young people through Jobs Growth Wales since the EU-backed programme began in April 2012.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“We have been able to keep at bay the horror story of long term youth unemployment in the UK and Europe, creating more than 14,000 jobs and investing record sums in apprenticeships,” he told Unite Live.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“We pay the cost of employing a young person for the first six months, which is enabling small companies to grow at a time when many have struggled to raise capital.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“We have also maintained EMA and have supported students with tuition fees. Unite has been hugely supportive of our programmes, meeting regularly with assembly members, and being represented on the Wales employment and skills board.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“The link between the Welsh government and Unite is very strong.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That link was crucial in maintaining protections for agricultural workers in Wales after the Westminster government decided to abolish the agricultural wages board, which had set the pay and conditions for over 100,000 workers for more than 60 years.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Moves were put in place to create an Agricultural Advisory Panel in Wales, leaving Unite and other campaigners to direct their anger, yet again, at Westminster.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another employment programme launched with backing from Unite was ProAct, which was designed to support Welsh companies affected during the economic downturn.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It provided valuable funding to upskill employees on short time working, who might otherwise have been made redundant.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The programme supported thousands of workers across Wales \u00e2\u20ac\u201c including Unite member Ian Smith at motor component firm Meritor in Cwmbran.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“We were one of the first group to receive ProAct funding from the Welsh Assembly Government whilst on short time working. If this was not available a lot of our members, not just here in Cwmbran, but across Wales would have been in very critical financial trouble.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“A lot our members across the water in England was very jealous of the funding we received.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bernadette Horton, a Community member of Unite from North Wales, believes free prescriptions have been a “lifeline” for many sufferers of illnesses such as asthma, that need lifelong treatment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She also pointed out that young people in their first jobs, often on zero hours contracts, know they can get free medicines if they become ill, and can return to work quickly as a result.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Many of the highlights make Wales the “envy” of the UK, she reckons.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unions have certainly been given a voice in Wales and Hannah Blythyn believes one of the principles of devolved government is bringing power and policies closer to the people.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She added, “Looking forward, the challenge for us all now is to ensure that more of the people of Wales, particularly Unite members, play a greater part and have a stronger voice in devolved politics.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Unite will be rising to this challenge, talking to members not only about where we are now \u00c2\u00a0after the first 15 years of devolved government in Wales, but what we want to see in the next 15 years.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What has a Welsh devolved government ever done for workers?   How about, thousands of jobs for young unemployed people, free prescriptions and an NHS free from privatisation, tackling the scandal of blacklisting, protecting the pay of rural workers, and retaining the Education Maintenance Allowance.   Fifteen years after the Welsh Assembly first sat, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[107],"wps_subtitle":"Unite and Labour in Wales together have made a real and lasting difference","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1447"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1447"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1452,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1447\/revisions\/1452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}