- Conference
- 2017 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 17 January 2017
- Decision
- Carried
Conference reaffirms its policy of a zero-tolerance approach to bullying and harassment.
Conference welcomes the development of the work by UNISON’s young members to raise the issue of bullying and harassment of young workers, and notes the disturbing results of the survey of young members conducted in October/November 2016 on this issue which revealed:
1)Nearly 40% of young workers have been bullied or harassed in the past;
2)Nearly 10% of young workers are currently being bullied or harassed;
3)A third of those bullied have had to take time off work because of it;
4)One in eight needed medication because of bullying/harassment;
5)Three young workers were hospitalised as result of bullying/harassment.
The survey also showed that there is a shocking lack of knowledge about employers bullying and harassment policies, and that reporting the issue made no difference in over half of the instances.
Conference believes that it is time to step up our campaigning against bullying and harassment which affects not only many young people, but is an issue that affects the entire workforce and service delivery, and is also often found to be particularly directed at workers who are women, Black, disabled, lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender.
Conference calls on the National Executive Council to:
a)Commission a research project into this issue to identify the scale and impact of the problem as well as any good agreements, and policy and practice by employers;
b)Report the findings to National Delegate Conference 2018 and hold a specific fringe meeting on the issue at that Conference;
c)Develop a strategic response to the issue that addresses the need for:
i)Support of members who experience bullying or harassment;
ii)Provision of education and training for activists on dealing with cases of bullying and harassment as individual matters and as an organising issue;
iii)Appropriate information and support to those seeking to negotiate improved polices and practices with employers and their organisations.