- Conference
- 2022 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 22 February 2022
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference notes with alarm the rise in discrimination and harassment in society and the workplace.
Reported hate crimes have risen sharply across the UK. Compared to 2019/20 Police recorded figures for 2020/21 showing a 9 percent increase in England and Wales and a 6 percent increase in Scotland. Northern Ireland saw a 6 percent increase in sectarian hate incidents and crimes increased by 5 percent. In the same year racist incidents increased by 6 percent.
Workplace discrimination is also on the rise. A 2021 study by CIPHR showed that 36% of UK adults experienced workplace discrimination. Other research has shown that the pandemic has caused greater inequality for women and Black people and that online bullying and harassment has increased notably for women and disabled people.
Further the Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo campaigns have raised awareness of endemic race and sexual discrimination and harassment across society.
UNISON has been at the forefront of raising awareness and campaigning to eradicate discrimination and harassment. To better combat workplace discrimination we need to build our union, support our activist base and encourage all members to engage and participate.
UNISON recognises that education plays a vital role in empowering members to fight discrimination. We have a duty to ensure that our activists are trained and equipped to recognise workplace discrimination and harassment, and have the confidence to challenge it. That duty extends to ensuring that our member learning programmes educate, politicise and inform members to take up the fight against bigotry, prejudice, discrimination and harassment.
The new UNISON College will play a key role in achieving this. UNISON needs clear training pathways so all activists, whatever their role, are trained to a standard where they understand the importance of equality and are empowered to challenge discrimination and harassment.
Conference calls upon the National Executive Council to:
1)Make resources available to review and refresh UNISON’s member learning and activist equality training courses and materials, working with self-organised groups and utilising new ways of delivering education for all to increase our reach and influence;
2)Require all UNISON representatives (including stewards, health and safety reps, union learning reps and equality reps) to attend the appropriate induction training for their role within one year of appointment;
3)Require all UNISON representatives to attend equality training within two years of completing their induction training;
4)Require those UNISON representatives and branch officers who undertake representation and negotiation to attend the Challenging Racism in the Workplace course and other appropriate equality training, such as UNISON’s advanced employment equality law courses, within three years of appointment;
5)In circumstances in which UNISON representatives work for hostile employers who will not release them for this training, make resources and materials available that will support them to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to undertake their duties as qualified reps;
6)Make resources available to create training materials and resources that support members involved in the self-organised or the young members’ groups to engage in wider union activism;
7)Make resources available to work with the regions, to review and refresh the current suite of organising courses that support UNISON campaigns combating discrimination and ensure organising around equality is embedded in these materials.