- Conference
- 2024 National Community Conference and Seminar
- Date
- 16 November 2023
- Decision
- Carried
Organising to win for LGBT+ Members in Community
Conference welcomes the initiatives taken to date by the Community Service Group Executive (CSGE) to improve the participation and inclusion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender plus (LGBT+) members in our structures and democratic decision-making processes.
Conference further welcomes the recommendations contained in the national Organising Recruitment Strategy Development (ORSD) project and linked Organising, Recruitment and Retention Plans adopted at 2023 National Delegate Conference which seek to achieve:
Disaggregated membership targets of 1% growth in each regional service group;
A 10% increase on 2022 levels of recruitment of stewards, Health & Safety reps and UNISON learning rep roles;
Appropriate training and development for any elected role undertaken as set out in the National Executive Council (NEC) scheme of accreditation.
Conference believes that Self-Organisation and our Community members who identify as LGBT+ can play an important role in meeting these strategic objectives especially within the Community Service Group where many of us work in LGBT+ specific charities, deliver services to LGBT+ communities and also identify as LGBT+ ourselves.
Conference further believes that Self-Organisation is a crucial tool for empowering LGBT+ members and other under-represented intersectional groups. It enables us to come together, share experiences, collectively address the challenges we face and feed into the overall negotiating and bargaining agenda of the Community Service Group.
Conference considers it an imperative for UNISON to reinvigorate the self-organisation of LGBT+ members at branch, regional, and caucus levels to maximise their participation, achieve a lasting legacy from UNISON’s Year of LGBT+ Workers and enable our LGBT+ members to play a full and active role within our branches and service groups.
Conference additionally believes that a reinvigorated LGBT+ self organised group (SOG) provides a real opportunity to recruit members and get them active in the many roles available throughout UNISON’S structures, particularly within the Community Service Group.
UNISON has successfully recruited at national and local Prides and Community events across the UK and encouraged greater activism. The campaign on Trans equality has trained over 2000 members to be Trans allies in the workplace. The National LGBT+ Committee’s Young LGBT+ worker campaign continues to grow, with over 150 young LGBT+ members in a network who are now getting involved in their branch and regional self-organised groups and respective Service Groups.
2024 is Year of LGBT+ Worker in UNISON and provides us with the opportunity to recruit, develop, and organise our LGBT+ members in Community, and to ensure that our joint negotiating and bargaining agendas are reflected in our collective work.
Conference therefore instructs the Community Service Group Executive to work with the National LGBT+ Committee and Regional Community Service Group Executives/Committees to:
1.Encourage LGBT+ Community members to participate and stand for election in their respective branch and regional Service Group Executives/Committees and as workplace Stewards and other representative roles.
2. Encourage branches and regions with Community members to promote Community LGBT + activists within branches and towards leadership roles.
3. Encourage Community branches to fill the role of LGBT+ officer and offer training.
4. Encourage Community branch LGBT+ SOGs to engage with employer LGBT+ networks
and community Pride events as an opportunity for recruitment.
5. Publicise and promote the work of branch and regional LGBT+ SOGs and
caucuses, who are establishing and building on relationships with LGBT+
community organisations and groups where Community members work.
6. Actively encourage regional Community Service Group Executives/Committees to collaborate with their respective Regional LGBT+ groups and share best practice in recruitment and organising LGBT+ members in Community.
7. Support UNISON’s priority bargaining initiatives – such as the adoption of UNISON’s trans equality model policy in workplaces.
8. Actively promote the Year of the LGBT+ Worker in UNISON through all appropriate Community media.
