Unison opposes ‘carve up’ of Environment Agency

(by Karma Loveday)

Unison’s Water, Environment and Transport (WET) service group conference in Brighton last week passed a number of motions to oppose the Government’s White Paper on water sector reform.

A key one was to oppose any proposals to “fragment, dismantle or carve up the EA.” The union said there was no clarity whether the proposed changes “will affect 400 or 4,000 jobs” as these are prised out of the Agency and subsumed into a new water regulator.

“This is the biggest issue facing WET in our trade union,” said Greg Marshall, chair of the EA sector committee. “Doing things differently doesn’t mean doing things better. This new vision for water is more of a damp squib. There can’t be anyone who thinks the Government’s vision, which is so heavily reliant on more private investment, will radically shift us away from current situation.”

Other motions were passed to challenge the shortcomings of the White Paper; to demand meaningful consultation with recognised trade unions; to protect members’ employment; and to ensure that any members transferred to other agencies under the proposals will continue to be represented by Unison. 

General secretary Andrea Egan added: “The carving up of the water industry and the Environment Agency are all putting more pressure on staff, increasing workloads and risking safety and wellbeing, at a time when the impact of climate change is being felt by workers daily."