- Conference
- 2008 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 23 November 2007
- Decision
- Carried
Widely reported is the fact that fewer than 50 per cent of breast cancer cases can be attributed to the ‘officially recognised’ risk factors understood to increase a woman’s susceptibility to breast cancer – for example late onset of menopause, body weight, diet or late age pregnancy.
A growing mountain of research points the finger at chemicals in the environment and in everyday products we use on a daily basis, such as cosmetics, toiletries and household cleaners. The 2005 report: Breast cancer – an environmental disease: the case for primary prevention, sets out the evidence to show that breast cancer is preventable rather than inevitable.
UNISON’s ‘Big See’ and ‘Think before you Pink’ campaigns have gone a long way to raising awareness amongst women members in UNISON of the potentially harmful affects of using, for example deodorants, shampoo, washing up liquids, to name a few, on a daily basis. The ‘Big See’ campaign in the South East brought home to many women members the lack of product choice within large supermarkets, and where they were available were often far more expensive than their usual brand.
Campaigning to persuade large retailers to stock a wide range of affordable, safer cosmetic and cleaning products is a longer term goal. Conference believes that we can work towards enabling our women members to access ‘safer’ products easier and cheaper by negotiating with environmentally sound companies to offer a discount to a customer base of potentially one million women members. Conference also believes that this would be a very attractive additional benefit to the ‘union card’ for young members and could possibly be a good recruitment tool.
Conference asks the National Women’s Committee to:
1)Work with the NEC, NoMoreBreastCancer Campaign and other agencies to negotiate with environmentally sound companies, for example ‘buyOrganics’ to offer UNISON members a discount on their products.
2)To launch this additional benefit to members during October 2008 – Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
3)Continue to lobby large supermarkets and retailers who offer very limited ranges of environmentally sound products.