Mike Short

4 workplace guides every UNISON rep and member should read this month 👇 New statutory rates and rights are coming into force. These guides help you check what should be changing at work and how to make sure your employer gets it right. 🧵

Actor David Schwimmer speaks out on Kanye Wests’s appearance at Wireless Festival - calling his apology “words on paper”. Below is the full post thread - and it’s worth reading it all 🧵:

📣 Council and school staff deserve more funding in the sector and a fair pay rise to cope with the pressures of rising living costs and demands of their jobs. Watch UNISON’s general secretary @AndreaEganGS discuss this issue and how you can get involved unsn.uk/4kFeEcS

🚨 Council reorganisation must empower staff to deliver better services. UNISON head of local government Mike Short: “There should be no compulsory redundancies or erosion of employment rights and benefits." Read more ⬇️ unsn.uk/4su0ZcR

For those unfamiliar with Tariq Ali's antisemitic speech to that rally:

🏆 As part of #ChampionsInOurColleges we’ve just opened our Nominate a Champion prize draw! This is your opportunity to recognise the amazing contributions of support staff working in colleges. Find out more and nominate today 👉 unsn.uk/3ZQpvbB @UNISON_FE

@Ashleyesson @UNISONinLG @unisontheunion Pay talks are taking place next week, Tuesday 24th. We'll update members ASAP after that.

@UNISONinLG Some kind of update or prediction on when you expect to be able to give an update would be great. Even if just a suggestion that meetings, negotiations, pressure for a response, something is happening @unisontheunion @MikeShort8

NJC 2026/27 pay update: Claim was submitted 1 Dec 2025. We’re seeking £3,000 or 10% on all pay points, £15/hr min, shorter working week and more annual leave. National employers are consulting local authorities and we expect a pay offer to follow soon. #NJC #LocalGov

'Only the superhuman efforts of staff pulled the NHS back from the brink during the pandemic.' Sara Gorton from UNISON on the Covid Inquiry report into the NHS response to the pandemic.

📚❌ As the UK marks the National Year of Reading, a new UNISON report shows libraries across England are suffering after years of austerity. Staffing has been severely cut and opening hours reduced, leaving communities without vital support. Read more ⬇️ unsn.uk/4ruMXpY

University of Bristol staff are on strike today - solidarity with those taking action ✊ Staff salaries have dropped by 20% in real terms over the past decade and no pay uplift has matched inflation since the financial crash in 2008 - 18 years ago. unsn.uk/3PrcVgG

UNISON statement on NEU vote to withdraw from school support staff agreement.

Whatever your role, you are stronger in UNISON 💜 As the largest school support staff union we have the best chance of winning on the issues that affect you most – teaching unions like the NEU cannot negotiate nationally for support staff unsn.uk/3Ov5Yeh

UNISON tells the DfE to ‘articulate more clearly what role teaching assistants are expected to play’ in SEND reforms @UNISONinSchools @unisontheunion twinkl.co.uk/l/di05u

Our final words at @The_TUC in the Covid-19 Public Inquiry. Solidarity then, now and always in our commitment to remember the dead and fight like hell for the living.

What’s missing from SEND reform? A clear, national strategy for #teaching assistants. Without defined roles, training, funding & boundaries with health, #inclusion risks becoming unsustainable, says @Joladeda @UNISONinSchools writing in SecEd: buff.ly/Tg5Z6Qd #schools

“It was the lower-paid schools support staff that were keeping schools open.” One teaching assistant described the lack of proper infection control as ’terrifying’ Mike Short, head of local government giving evidence to the Covid-19 inquiry. @UNISONinSchools

The COVID-19 inquiry today is looking at the impact of the pandemic on key workers. Mike Short is representing the experiences of UNISON keyworkers, including those in local government, education and police and justice. Hearing starts 10.30 am. Watch here #broadcastStatus" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">covid19.public-inquiry.uk/#broadcastStat…

School support staff in UNISON campaign for better pay, conditions, funding & working hours at all levels and across all school types. We are part of national negotiations on these issues which teaching unions like the NEU cannot take part in 💜 Learn more unsn.uk/3Ov5Yeh

Teaching Assistants and SEND Reform: The Missing Strategy sec-ed.co.uk/content/blogs/…

For any respectable people who still quote Craig Murray (and there, amazingly enough, are some) I present you this, his endorsement of the idea that 9/11 was a “Cohencidence”.