- Conference
- 2006 National LGBT Conference
- Date
- 25 July 2006
- Decision
- Carried
This Conference acknowledges the campaign contribution of ILGA as an expression of international solidarity for LGBT communities across the world and as the only genuinely world wide LGBT affiliation based organisation which has for a number of years been a core focus of our international solidarity work.
Conference further recognises that our work with ILGA allows for significant developments both in terms of our work with international bodies (European Union, Council of Europe, International Labour Organisation (ILO), UN and the UN Human Rights Council) as well as enabling us to work internationally within a trade union context (for example developing the work of Labour Internationals such as Public Services International (PSI) and Education International (EI) and global trade union bodies such as the European Trades Union Congress (ETUC) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)).
Whilst such work can often be more long term in nature Conference believes that it can be of vital importance in sharing good practice, developing international links and pushing international bodies to develop work to address discrimination within international bodies as well as expressing our solidarity with LGBT groups working with human rights abuses and discrimination on a daily basis.
In this context Conference is particularly alarmed at attempts to curtail basic freedoms of assembly and expression, for example in recent attempts to ban Pride marches in Poland, Latvia and Russia and in legislation going through the Nigerian Parliament which would make it a criminal offence to belong to an LGBT organisation, participate in a public demonstration in favour of LGBT equality or any positive portrayal of same sex relationships. Conference believes that an injury to one is an injury to all and that our response to these threats must be to renew our international solidarity.
Conference therefore welcomes the active campaign launched during National Delegate Conference 2006 to publicise and garner further support for ILGA’s work.
Conference therefore commits the National LGBT Committee to work with the NEC to:
1.Launch a high profile campaign of support for ILGA, asking members to join in an individual capacity and seeking to raise funds for ILGA;
2.Seek to continue the high profile of UNISON’s international LGBT work and to encourage the development of international trade union LGBT work, including the need to identify LGBT aspects to UNISON’s wider international work;
3.Seek to continue to participate in ILGA World and ILGA Europe Conferences to showcase positive examples of LGBT work in conjunction with other trade unions working on LGBT issues worldwide;
4.Continue to support the work of ILGA as the only worldwide international LGBT organisation, encouraging regional LGBT groups to affiliate and asking branches to affiliate or make a donation to support ILGA’s ongoing work;
5.Pursue longer term perspectives of developing recognition of the issues of gender identity and sexual orientation in international labour bodies (Labour Internationals and Global Federations) as well as bodies such as the EU, United Nations Human Rights Council and the International Labour Organisation, working with bodies such as ILGA and the TUC;
6.As well as calling on our branch and regional groups to affiliate to ILGA, seek to encourage other UK trade unions to affiliate to ILGA in order to promote a high profile involvement of trade unions at ILGA Conference;
7.Seek opportunities to assist emerging trade union movements to develop LGBT perspectives in their work, both nationally and using regional international links.