These were motions proposed to the London & Eastern RISC in September 2025. They were amended and submitted to the Regional Committee, and Health National Industrial Sector Committee respectively.
The first motion proposes creating a case worker system for Unite to support members and regional officers with the increased load of casework, due to the decline in workplace reps in some sectors.
The second motion proposes a timeline for this years NHS pay campaign. Too often the union has waited months for the outcome of the PRB report, rather than taking the initiative and starting ballots as soon as a pay award is not granted in April, as the BMA has succesfully done.
Motion on creating Caseworkers for Unite
This RISC notes:
1. Unite has a duty to support its members both collectively through industrial action and campaigns, and individually through supporting their individual employee relations cases.
2. At present there is no system to support members with individual case work; if there is no active branch in a workplace the burden of case work falls entirely on Regional Officers.
3. In a situation where branch organisation is in decline across many sectors, and where Unite offers membership in completely unorganised workplaces, this places a huge burden of work on Regional Officers.
4. This workload prevents RO’s from being able to support members in the workplace and organise campaigns and industrial action, and leads to a poor service for members needing individual support.
This RISC believes:
1. To rectify the situation the union needs to invest in case workers to handle individual cases from workplaces where Unite is recognised, but without functioning branches, or from the unorganised workplaces where it offers individuals membership.
2. By investing in professional caseworkers, Unite will provide a better, more consistent service to members, resulting in member retention and increased subscriptions.
3. This investment will free up officer time which can be better spent supporting branches and taking forward industrial organising campaigns which will grow and strengthen the union, recruiting more members and increasing our strength in areas where the union has declining membership and organisation
This RISC calls on the Unite Executive to:
1. Urgently develop a plan for creating a caseworker department in every Region which can takeover the responsibility for individual casework from Regional Officers
2. Commit to invest the necessary resource to recruit and staff caseworker offices in every region, in proportion to the need for casework support.
3. Contact our sister unions which have caseworkers for advice and guidance on how to organise and structure this new function to provide the best service to members.
Motion: A timeframe for the 2026/27 NHS Pay campaign
The L&E RISC notes:
1. NHS members are set to ballot in September/October over the 2025/26 pay award. Strike action will not be able to take place till November or December.
2. This time frame has been forced upon us by the long delay in initiating the consultative ballot over pay, and the failure to submit a pay claim earlier in the year.
3. Unite Health needs to avoid falling into this situation again for future pay awards as it creates delay and an unnecessarily lengthy pay campaign, putting extra stress on reps energy and resources to maintain the momentum of the campaign.
The L&E RISC believes:
1. Unite Health should initiate a consultative ballot over pay as soon as the government has failed to agree a pay award on April 1st.
2. We cannot keep allowing the government to dictate the time frame and timescale of our pay campaign.
3. Drawn out pay campaigns waste precious time and energy, while the crisis in the NHS and the cuts and privatisations worsen with each month.
4. The BMA has show you can undertake a consultative ballot, and industrial action ballot prior to August, if you begin consulting members in April.
5. There is nothing to stop the union initiating a consultative ballot in April, regardless of the government having issued its formal pay award. Continuing the practice of waiting for the government pay award allows the government to delay our pay campaign, and leads to us wasting precious time.
The L&E RISC calls for:
1. All RISCs to undertake discussions at their Winter/Spring RISC, with the aim of submitting proposals for a 2026/27 pay claim to the Spring 2026 NISC.
2. The Spring 2026 NISC should discuss and agree a pay claim and submit to the government prior to March 2026. This pay claim should be communicated to members in advance of April 1st, and form the basis for our consultative pay ballot.
3. If the government does not agree a pay deal for April 1st which meets the demands of Unite Health members, the union should immediately commence a consultative ballot of members for strike action, with the aim of concluding this consultative ballot by the end of May.
4. Once the consultative ballot is concluded, Unite Health should initiate industrial action ballots, with the aim of concluding these by the end of July 2026.
