Union help stretched

Public services union UNISON is being inundated with requests for welfare help from members facing financial crisis.

The union’s charity arm, UNISON Welfare, has revealed a 78% increase in members contacting it for support to declare themselves bankrupt. (It provides support for legal costs for members filing for bankruptcy or debt relief orders.)

“Many of the members forced to file for bankruptcy are low-paid women who borrowed money to buy goods and services, but are unable to pay back because someone in the family has lost their job,” the union says. It predicts a further rise in requests as the cuts lead to more lost public sector jobs.

UNISON Welfare was also forced to close a new school uniforms grant scheme early, due to the high demand, after it had been extended several times.