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Susan Kennedy
"Tribunal fees aren’t
about deterring frivolous claims
– they are about pricing
people out of justice."
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Congress pledged to continue its high
profile campaign against welfare cuts
and austerity and will press the UK and
Scottish governments to take steps to
improve employment protections, including
the abolition of employment tribunal fees,
and an end to poverty pay.
UNISON’s Susan Kennedy condemned
austerity as a “a political choice,
not an economic necessity” as she
supported a call from USDAW, the Chartered
Society of Physiotherapy and Aberdeen
TUC for a range of measures to tackle
poverty and the cost of living crisis
in Scotland.
She told Congress that austerity isn’t
about cutting the deficit or saving public
money “because you don’t do
that by throwing people on the dole and
draining demand out of the economy.
“No what austerity is about is
funnelling ever greater sums of money
toward those who already have far more
than their fair share. So never mind the
fact that the economy has struggled back
into some sort of growth.
“If you want to see where austerity
has worked and who it has worked for look
at the Sunday Times rich list. At the
1000 richest people in the UK. Austerity
has had a real impact on them alright,”
slammed Susan, “Why last year they
had to struggle by with a tiny 8% rise
in their already enormous fortunes.
“They are now worth three times
the deficit that George Osborne is keeping
the rest of us poor in order to deal with.”
Susan also condemned the introduction
of fees for employment tribunals UNISON
has questioned the legality of the move
and Susan told Congress that although
this challenge was defeated UNISON will
be appealing that decision.
“The fees aren’t about deterring
frivolous claims – they are about
pricing people out of justice,”
she said.
