- Conference
- 2009 Local Government Service Group Conference
- Date
- 18 February 2009
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes the continuing and pervasive nature of racism experienced by Black members in local government workplaces across Britain.
Conference further notes the abundant evidence that has been generated as a result of monitoring under the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000) to show that Black people continue to be under-represented in the workplace, and that this gets worse the higher up you go in the occupational scales.
Conference believes that Black workers continue to be vastly over-represented in the statistics of workers subject to disciplinary action, redundancies and dismissals. UNISON Black members that are women, disabled, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender or from religious community groups or particular age groups face multiple layers of discrimination in addition to racism.
Conference believes exit interview records, disciplinary records and the denial of opportunities for training and career progression all point to an almost criminal waste of the human and intellectual potential of the significant Black population.
Conference further believes that the evidence of Black workers’ experience of discrimination is not a matter of accident but actually confirms the systemic and institutional nature of racism in the workplace.
Conference therefore welcomes UNISON’s Challenging Racism in the Workplace project and the many opportunities that it has created for members to become active in negotiations with their employers.
Conference also welcomes the Challenging Racism in the Workplace course, materials and toolkit that have been devised and which are being rolled out to all of UNISON regions and service groups.
Conference instructs the Local Government Service Executive to work with the National Black Members’ Committee to:
1)Work with local government branches and the regions to engage with and deliver training on the Challenging Racism in the Workplace project within a clearly identified timescale;
2) Work with local government branches and the regions to collate examples of types of racial discrimination in the workplace and publish this information via regional websites and newsletters, as well as on the national Challenging Racism in the Workplace website;
3) Promote the Challenging Racism in the Workplace toolkit within branches and regions to become involved in this excellent initiative;
4)Report back on progress of the Challenging Racism in the Workplace project to the Local Government Conference in 2010.