- Conference
- 2013 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 16 October 2012
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes the disproportionate negative impact the Tory led cuts are having on our women members. This Tory led government feels that any job is better than no job but the simple fact is any job working any hours sometimes doesn’t pay the bills!
More women are suffering cuts to their contractual hours or are reduced to working in lower skilled jobs due to cuts in funding. Statistics show that in the UK 3, 299,765 people are under employed, a 42% rise since 2008, and in the North East, 132,105 people are under employed, an increase of 45% since 2008. Whilst the government may claim unemployment figures are dropping we all know the truth. We know the impact their draconian cuts are having on our female members and the figures are plain to see, an unacceptable number of females are under employed.
Research proves that if a person is left under employed for a period of time they are more likely to suffer from stress, depression, anxiety and a lack of self worth. We have talented women who are being under valued and under employed not being allowed to show their true qualities and abilities. We need to support these members in accessing training to allow them to access alternative avenues of employment.
Therefore we ask the National Women’s Committee to:
1) Raise the issue of the increase of women’s under employment and under valuing on a national, regional and branch level.
2) Encourage and support branches and regions to recognise where women are under employed or under valued and organise our members to make a difference to their situation.
3) Encourage the use of work place learning to recognise and improve women’s abilities and opportunities, and highlighting the benefits that Unison training can offer our female members.