- Conference
- 2011 National Black Members' Conference
- Date
- 6 September 2010
- Decision
- Carried
This conference strongly condemns the brutal attacks on the Public Sector by the Con Dem Government and the disproportionate effects it is having on Black people and Black communities. Black unemployment, already high before the recession, has increased sharply.
·For African-Caribbean people it has risen from 13% in 2002 to 15.4% by June 2010.
·For African people, from 13.9% to 15.3%
·For Pakistani people from 17.9% to 18.8%
·A slight fall for Bangladeshi people from 21.4% to 16.4%
These figures are likely to worsen as public sector cutbacks take effect.
The Government’s policies will see the biggest and most sustained cuts in public spending since the Second World War. These cuts will also affect the voluntary sector, including those parts of the voluntary sector that serve Black communities. Specialist services provided by the Black voluntary sector are already under threat and it is likely that many Black community groups face extinction as a result of cuts to grant funding.
·January 2010 – analysis of the latest jobless figures by Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) revealed that nearly half (48%) of young Black people (between the ages of 16-24) are unemployed. This compares to the rate of unemployment among young white people of 20%.
·Black children already have a 50% chance of living in poverty.
For Black trade unionists, our families and our communities, public sector cuts means lost jobs, depleted services, and the devastation of the Black voluntary sector, fewer rights and a new era of hardship.
The 2010 National Black Members Conference (NBMC) sent as one of their two motions to National Delegates’ Conference a motion alerting the union on the need to organise around race equality in the face of the recession. It is imperative that this is built on given the extreme vulnerability of Black workers and their communities in the face of the Government’s plans to attack public services.
Defending public services, service provision and the jobs of UNISON members will be critical issues for all members.
·It is vital that when defending public services, race equality is at the heart of UNISON’s organising, bargaining and campaigning agenda.
·It is essential that we use what powers exist to hold public authorities to their legal duty not to discriminate. The Public Sector Duties is a key tool. They can also be used to ensure that particular groups of employees are not being disproportionately targeted during reorganisations.
·‘Challenging Racism in the Workplace’ (CRW) is a key UNISON priority, responding directly to the lived reality of its Black members. It puts race equality on the mainstreaming bargaining table and ensures that we are bargaining and negotiating for all our members – protecting them from unfair discrimination.
·With the impact of the recession, UNISON’s campaign to defend public services and CRW is more important than ever. They are interlinked. Public services support the most vulnerable communities during hard times. Black workers play an important role in delivering public services but are now at risk of being disproportionately affected by reorganisations and cutbacks.
Conference calls upon the NBMC to work with the National Executive Council:
1.To ensure ‘Defending public services’ is a critical focus for ‘Challenging Racism within the Workplace’.
2.To organise, bargain and negotiate on race equality.
3.To ask branches and regions to ensure that Equality Impact Assessments are used to challenge public service cutbacks and highlight its discriminatory effect both on public service employees and on service provisions.
4.To ensure regions monitor and provide feedback to the NBMC and 2012 National Black Members’ Conference on their CRW work.
5.To take forward community organising within campaigns around cuts in public service provision.