- Conference
- 2003 Local Government Service Group Conference
- Date
- 20 February 2003
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that a large proportion of the 6% of Black and Minority Ethnic Workers (BME) who work in the public sector work directly for or indirectly with local Government and believes that the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 (RRAA) provides UNISON with an opportunity to improve the recruitment and organisation of black members.
Conference further notes that the results of the Stephen Lawrence Branch Survey revealed that: –
1)Most of the branches (97%) said their employer had an equal opportunities policy, however, in a substantial minority of cases, UNISON is not involved in the formulation or review of these policies
2)Three-quarters of the branches (74%) said that their employer did have a current policy on racial harassment, but in only a minority of cases (33%) had the policy been adapted in the light of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and very few policies (just 18%) had a separate complaints procedure for dealing with issues of institutional racism
3)In most branches the proportion of ethnic minority employees was less than 5% but nearly seven in ten respondents (67%) also said that ethnic minority workers were under-represented in their workplace. Despite this very few branches (just 18%) had taken up cases of discrimination in recruitment
4)Fewer than one in three branches said that their employer had systems in place to monitor promotion and only an extremely small proportion (8%) had, to their knowledge, set targets for promotion
5)Most representatives have not received training in the workplace
Conference recognises that if the RRAA is going to have an impact in Local Government then branches need to be proactive in pushing forward an bargaining agenda on Race with their local authorities.
Conference welcomes the `UNISON Guide to Branches on the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000′ but believes that if UNISON is going to be able be at the forefront of pushing for race equality in the workplace it must make the fight for race equality an important part of the local bargaining agenda.
Conference therefore calls on the Local Government Service Group Executive to:
a)Work with the national local government employers to ensure that implementation of the RRAA 2000 becomes a priority for local authorities;
b)Seek agreement with the national local government employers on the production of joint advice to ensure that consultation on the implementation of the RRAA takes place with local branches
c)Encourage local government branches to discuss with their authorities the race equality schemes and how it will impact on the members
d)Encourage local government branches to consult their black members groups on an agenda for improving race equality in their workplaces or call meetings of black members to discuss the implications of the Act if a branch group does not exist
e)Ensure that proper consultation and UNISON involvement takes place on any programme of action arising out of their authorities Race Equality Scheme.