Securing a better future for key workers and the public services that have been supporting communities across the UK throughout the coronavirus pandemic is the aim of UNISON’S No Going Back to Normal campaign.

The campaign highlights how services like health, local government, social care and education need greater investment.  Unison wants the people who have been keeping everyone safe to be cared for and properly valued.

The No Going Back to Normal campaign is calling on the public to back UNISON’s demands to support key workers and rebuild public services by signing the union’s open letter to the government.

The letter asks for long term investment to employ and train more staff and to give public sector workers a decent pay rise.

The short film accompanying the campaign features images of people on the streets and in their front gardens supporting the ‘clap for carers’. It shows that while returning to ‘normal’ after Covid-19 may be a welcome step for many people, it is anything but positive for public services and the staff running them.

UNISON believes returning to ‘normal’ would mean going back to a culture of long hours, low pay, high levels of stress and poor morale. UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said:

The UK depends on key workers to keep public services running and everyone protected. But it has taken a pandemic for their worth to be properly recognised. Some even owe their lives to frontline staff who have tragically died protecting others.

Everyone is desperate to get back to normal. However, ‘normal’ cannot mean a return to low pay, penny-pinching and public services staff being under-valued.

The government must invest properly in public services and respect workers by paying them fairly and keeping them safe.

You can find out more about this campaign here.