- Conference
- 2003 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 24 October 2002
- Decision
- Carried
Conference welcomes the work done by the National Women’s Committee to promote UNISON’s equal pay campaign. Conference is pleased to note that the campaign for equal pay remains a priority area for UNISON nationally, which means that it should be prioritised for action in all service groups and regions.
Conference also welcomes the announcement of further government funding for the TUC Equal Pay Pilot project, enabling it to continue for a further year, and to train more equal pay representatives. Conference notes that the purpose of this training programme is to equip union representatives to approach management to carry out equal pay audits, and to develop action plans to tackle any pay discrimination that is revealed.
Conference also notes that many women face double disadvantage in pay systems – including black women, disabled women and part time workers. Conference also notes the requirement placed on public bodies by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 to promote race equality, and that this should include tackling any race discrimination in pay systems. This should give UNISON branches a strong lever to encourage local management to include the issue of race discrimination in pay audits.
Conference calls on the National Women’s Committee to continue to give a high priority to the equal pay campaign and to work with service groups to:
1)Encourage branches to send representatives on the equal pay training;
2)Ensure that pay audits also audit for race, disability and part time status;
3)Monitor the success of approaches to local managment to carry out equal pay reviews;
4)Raise awareness about the gender pay gap and its causes.