- Conference
- 2024 National Disabled Members' Conference
- Date
- 4 July 2024
- Decision
- Carried
Conference, over the past 10 years Unison has worked hard to push the agenda of a real living wage, challenging parity in pay by gender, ethnicity, and disability. The pay gaps in the UK are continuing to grow further and further apart. The covid pandemic has had an impact on this and is used as a cop out by our Tory government to cover up their systematic failures.
We are living in a society where people working 40 hours a week are needing to access benefits to be able to sustain themselves and their families. Given the 2022 – 23 energy and cost of living crisis, inflation being the highest in our lifetime, the cost of living continues being driven up despite falling inflation and many of our members are struggling to survive.
Conference, some of our members are still having to choose whether to use energy or to eat again! Each winter has the potential for more lives to be lost unnecessarily. No member working 40hr weeks, raising a family, or claiming in employment benefits from the government should be in this position. Members still continuing to use food banks to feed their family or themselves.
Statistics are showing that poverty wages in the public services sector for disabled members, are one of the reasons for leaving. The higher cost of disability shows that disabled can not afford to come to work.
Conference there has never been a more important time to push for change. The status quo is not good enough.
Conference asks that:
1) The National Disabled Members Committee, work with UNISON Welfare ‘there for you’ to develop a range of support resources and quick link sign postings for support and access to help for this coming winter. Ensuring this is accessible to all and presented in inclusive formats including BSL.
2) National Disabled Members Committee to work with Regional Disabled Members Committees to develop with branches, resources that assist branches to challenge employers and highlight the issues faced by our disabled membership.