Unison RVH Branch

🛑 URGENT ACTION 🛑
It has been reported to our office that some of our members have been threatened and intimidated by the racist thugs on our streets either coming into work or trying to get home from work....
The office will be open if anyone wants to come and speak to a representative or if you want to phone 02896151286 Unison RVH Branch & Unison Northern-Ireland representatives will be on the ground at the front entrance to the new building and around the wards , anyone regardless of what union you are a member off , come and speak to the representative make them aware of your situation and how we can help you 💜💚
PLEASE SHARE AS SOME OF YOUR WORK COLLEAGUES MAY NOT BE ON THIS PAGE

📰UNISON PRESS RELEASE📰

𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗜𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗦 - 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠 𝗢𝗨𝗧 - 𝗡𝗢 𝗘𝗫𝗖𝗨𝗦𝗘𝗦

Today our union is helping displaced families and terrified workers through yet another racist trauma. This is even more widespread than the attacks in 2024 and 2025.

It is time to call out the dangerous people, many outside our society, who are manipulating some sections of our society for their own political ends and putting an entire section of this society at risk.

It is also time for a unified approach by ALL our political leaders to stand up to this manipulation and growing racism. There can be no excuses for what happened yesterday. From the outset it was clear that it was a rallying call to violence.

On Monday, at a dignified UNISON rally, the valuable contribution of black and migrant workers to our health and social services system was publicly acknowledged by the Health Minister and some political parties at Stormont.

Yesterday, following a vicious attack in North Belfast, hate speech against the entire black and migrant community resulted in violence against some of the same workers and their families.

Our union concentrated our efforts on reassuring workers and meeting with employers to secure protections in work and coming to and from work. Today we have a terrified section of the workforce.

We have reports of:
• workers being followed to and from work,
• viable threats to health facilities with overseas workers
• workers being stopped by vigilantes to check their ethnicity
• workers facing racism in work
• workers being intimidated from their homes
• workers and their families afraid to leave home.

They are care workers, nurses, classroom assistants and a host of other occupations delivering key public services.

They are here because our government and public services invited them to fill the critical shortages in these vital services.

The hypocrisy of those behind the hate campaign is stunning.

Sadly, North Belfast is no stranger to hundreds of brutal murders and attacks during and post conflict. The exploitation of this incident because of the ethnicity of the assailant is obscene and must be called out for what it is. This is not legitimate protest.

Unison RVH Branch IN SOLIDARITY
Please complete the Survey
Last night as racism and hate spread across our streets, children were left terrified and families are now homeless as a result. One thing was apparent though, the goodness and kindness of humanity. We also had reports of neighbours evacuating families, strangers dropping off provisions or offering help, people painting over racist graffiti and women pushing through the barricades to rescue families being burnt out.

Many UNISON members, particularly those in community organisations, were at the forefront. The offers of help are growing. Many more UNISON members are reaching out to offer help and support. At the same time, the list of requests for assistance grows.

With this short survey we hope to coordinate the efforts across our union and the wider trade union movement and show what solidarity in action looks like. If you want to stand in solidarity with those facing racist attacks, simply let us know what you can do and where you are based.

UNISON Solidarity in action UNISON Solidarity in action .

UNISON members – we won’t give in to racist fearmongering!

UNISON branches yesterday rallied to support our Black And Migrant members as we took the UNISON Fair Visa Campaign to Stormont. Our pride as we came together to celebrate the wonderful contribution of our overseas workers has been overshadowed by the reaction to a horrific violent attack in North Belfast last night. As a union with an outstanding track record on pursuing Peace and Justice, we hope for the recovery of the victim, we commend the speedy response of the community and emergency services, and we call for the full force of the law against the attacker.

We are also very concerned that this recent attack is being cynically used by some groups in our society that continue to sow division. A particular mission of these groups is to incite race hatred. That has already had a detrimental impact on our Black And Migrant members, particularly on our nurses and care workers. You are already aware that many of our members from different ethnic backgrounds have been subject to verbal and physical assault and some have been intimidated out of their homes. Racist agitators are now trying to blame entire communities for the violent actions of an individual.

We are urging all our members to take a stand against racist and anti-immigrant fearmongering. Challenge hate, reach out to your friends and neighbours who may be living in fear and remember that our union works together for the dignity and equality of all people.