- Conference
- 2005 Local Government Service Group Conference
- Date
- 25 February 2005
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference notes that some women still face discrimination in the workplace purely because they are pregnant. Each year, around 30,000 working women are sacked, made redundant or leave their jobs due to pregnancy discrimination. No woman should be penalised for being pregnant. An investigation recently found that some women are unaware of their rights during pregnancy.
Conference welcomes the opportunity in Local Government to improve maternity provision through the joint review of part 2 of the Green Book. The review is part of the 2004 Local Government Pay Settlement and will look at a number of terms and conditions including maternity and related provision.
Conference notes that the trade union side are starting the review from the position as set out in the 2004 claim which called for an increase in paid maternity leave and pay improved related rights.
However, Conference is concerned that the NJC employers want improvements to be self financing and that their preferred outcome would be a flexible package of terms and conditions that employees could tailor to their individual circumstances.
This Conference believes that achieving improvements to Maternity rights is a fundamental part of the struggle for women’s equality. Conference therefore calls upon the Local Government Service Group to:
1)Ensure that improved maternity and related rights are achieved in this review, but this must be at no cost to any terms and conditions of service for any of our members
2)Establish liaison between the negotiating bodies within Local Government in all parts of the UK to develop bargaining targets to improve maternity provision