- Conference
- 2019 National Black Members' Conference
- Date
- 14 September 2018
- Decision
- Carried
“Conference – we are all aware that Local Government and local services are at a crisis point. Demands and expectations of services are increasing year on year while central government funding is reducing. Liverpool Council will have lost 68 per cent of government funding from 2010-2020, the Council has prioritised frontline services, protecting vulnerable adults and children, but drastic cuts have become inevitable, with the Council shedding staff to make savings, but workers doing far more for much less. With the increase in austerity measures imposed by this insidious Tory government, Black staff have borne the brunt, with more Black staff identified for redundancies, or their post’s downgraded, recruitment has reduced significantly again this has impacted on Black staff, with evidence suggesting that most Local authorities are not employing Black staff that’s reflective of the communities in which they serve. Liverpool has a long established Black community with a Black population of 13.5% and yet the Council only employ 6% of Black staff. The Government’s own Race Disparity Audit identifies how Black staff are significantly under-represented across all Government departments, this should not be happening, as Black workers we need to have access to the same equality of opportunities as our White counterparts.
We therefore call on the National Black Members Committee to;
1)Work with Regional Contacts and NEC Black representatives to scrutinise workforce monitoring data have this included on relevant forums;
2)Work with Local Government service group to raise awareness of the race disparities that exist and to develop campaigning tools to deliver effective change;
3)Support UNISON’S work of tackling racism in the workplace.”