- Conference
- 2024 National Black Members' Conference
- Date
- 16 September 2023
- Decision
- Carried
Conference following the success of UNISON’s Year of Black Workers 2023 (YOBW23), the NBMC wish to place on record our thanks to all of our activists who have driven this success throughout our union. Throughout the year we saw a renewed and focussed approach to challenging racism in the workplace and the experiences of Black workers in the workplace and wider society.
UNISON’s long history to create and ensure the structures of representation in UNISON, was established as we highlighted the important contribution our Black members make in the union, to improve pay and conditions through our ethnicity pay gap campaign and our anti-racism charter which continue to call for improved equality rights for Black workers.
Conference acknowledges that tackling systemic institutional racism, which is ingrained in many workplaces and wider society, continues to cause serious, life changing harm and mental anguish to Black members, will require more than one year to address.
As 2023 came to a close, Black members recognised that the renewed energy infused with the Year of Black Workers that it was vital that the level of activity from 2023 is not diluted as we move into the next phase of initiatives and campaigns in UNISON in 2024.
Conference, we need to ensure the activism created amongst members in UNISON continues and Black members are more visible at all levels of our union to ensure the mission statement of ‘establishing legacy to generate change’ is a reality and not a figment of our imagination.
We therefore call on the National Black Members Committee to:
1. Work with regional Black members self-organised groups to fully evaluate the success of the 2023 Year of Black Workers with an indicator of where activity has taken place and the range of stakeholders involved.
2. Work with regional Black members groups to establish a programme of continued activity to build on the achievement of the YOBW23.
3. Follow up on motions passed at previous service group and SOG’s conferences to deliver the bargaining agendas for Black workers.
4. Engage with the regional groups and national Labour Link Committee to establish a programme of continued activity to secure the mandatory reporting on ethnicity pay gaps across employment sectors.
5. Publicise ongoing work, campaigns, and achievements of regional Black Members groups via Black Action, social media and the UNISON website, which will be disseminated across all regions and as many branches as possible in the union.
6. Report back to the National Black Members Conference in 2025 through the annual report on the continue activities, initiatives, and bargaining campaigns.