- Conference
- 2008 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 22 October 2007
- Decision
- Carried
This Conference notes with alarm the scourge of gun crime across Britain.
This Conference believes that whilst gun crime impacts onto all citizens of the UK and workers providing public services – health, housing, education, social services – it has a disproportionate impact on women members, both in their role as providers of public services and as mothers.
This Conference believes that as with tackling racism this is a trade union issue, and that the trade unions must give and take the lead in resolving it.
We also believe that in tackling gun crime, associated problems of social deprivation have to be highlighted: inadequate and failing education, unemployment, inadequate and poor housing, low wages, inadequate skills and training, poverty, drug and benefits dependency culture etc.
This Conference therefore calls on the National Women’s Committee to draw up a programme of action to tackle this issue by:-
a)Working with the NEC to establish a forum with community organisations, local trade union branches, police, Home Office etc to highlight the issue and establish a campaign of an educational and organisational nature to raise awareness to end this scourge.
b)Working with all service groups regionally and nationally, branches and employers to raise the issue as a workplace issue similar to the tackling racism initiatives.
c)Calling upon Labour Link to assist with this strategy as a work priority.
d)Working with the NEC and General Secretary to examine initiatives to firmly place UNISON and the broader trade union movement (TUC) in the vanguard of tackling this scourge.
e)Reporting back on progress and update the women in UNISON via our representatives.
f)Affiliating to ‘Mothers Against Guns’