- Conference
- 2016 National Black Members' Conference
- Date
- 23 September 2015
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes with concern that the TUC report “Living on the Margins”, published in March 2015, identified a 12.7% increase in the number of Black workers in low paid jobs between 2011 and 2014.
37.6% of Black workers are in occupations which are traditionally low paid and dominated by women – cleaning, care work and catering, compared to 29.6% of white workers. These occupations are also among those most adversely impacted by the increase in the casualised workforce and the use of zero hours contracts, both factors which drive down pay.
Conference welcomes the recent European Court of Justice decision that time spent travelling to and from a worker’s first and last appointments should be regarded as working time, under the European Working Time Directive. This decision has the potential to raise wages for care workers, however, conference is concerned that employers will seek to recoup the costs in other ways, to the detriment of both our members and those they support.
Meanwhile, those who do seek to challenge employers’ unfair practices frequently find themselves unfairly dismissed or otherwise penalised, with their access to justice restricted by the introduction of employment tribunal fees and cuts to legal aid. Conference therefore welcomes UNISON’s continuing legal battle to force the government to withdraw employment tribunal fees.
Conference calls upon:
1)the national Black members’ committee (NBMC) to work with the national women’s committee (NWC) and NEC to raise awareness of the disproportionate impact of low paid work on Black women
2)the NBMC to work with the NEC, appropriate committees and Labour link to campaign and lobby for the EU legislation to be honoured in the UK
3)the NBMC to encourage regional representatives to work with their regional women’s committees in raising awareness and campaigning on this issue
4)the NBMC to work with all appropriate bodies in UNISON to promote the UNISON Ethical Care Charter.