- Conference
- 2008 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 22 October 2007
- Decision
- Carried
Conference joins with the Fawcett Society in welcoming third-wave feminism, and in so doing recognises that as the largest women’s union in the UK, UNISON, has a significant role to play in the new feminist struggle.
UNISON women belong to a global sisterhood fighting oppression the world over, from Tabitha Khumalo risking her own safety to find dignity for the women of Zimbabwe, to Aung San Suu Kyl, sacrificing her own liberty to win freedom for the people of Burma.
UNISON women belong to a proud trade union heritage, standing up against racism, homophobia, islamophobia and misogyny. We are at the vanguard of the fight to end violence against women in all its forms, and to continue to defend a woman’s right to choose, despite an increasingly hostile press and amid sustained attacks from the religious right.
In this struggle, UNISON women stand in proud feminist tradition with those who have gone before; from Millicent Fawcett and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, to the suffragettes and the Black Country chain-makers, those whose dedication to the cause of women’s rights secured us the vote and released us from domestic servitude.
Conference is aware, however, that within women’s self-organisation there has been a reluctance to identify as feminist, for fear of alienating those who are unable to see beyond the stereotype, and Conference believes that this reluctance must be overcome if future progress is to be made. Conference also believes that through a concerted campaign of consciousness-raising and women specific training and education programmes, not only will we reclaim the f-word, but future leaders of the women’s movement will be identified.
Conference therefore instructs the National Women’s Committee to:
1)Liaise with Unison Learning and Organising Service and UnionLearn to produce materials for an activist course on women in the trade union movement and our feminist heritage.
2)Liaise with regional women’s officers and produce an action plan outlining how this new education programme will be disseminated to women activists.
3) Work with the National Women’s Officer and regional women’s officers and produce an action plan for mentoring women activists beyond their branch structures.
4)Work with Unison Labour Link and the NEC to lobby MP’s and call on the Government to designate International Women’s Day a public holiday.