- Conference
- 2024 Water, Environment & Transport Conference
- Date
- 22 February 2024
- Decision
- Carried
In 2016 WET conference agreed to look at increasing Black member participation in the service group. When looking at measurements of engagement such as representation on branch and national committees and attendance at service group and Black members’ conferences activism levels of Black members in WET remains an area of concern.
At its conference in 2015 conference resolved to undertake a mapping exercise to better identify the representation and engagement levels of Black members in the WET service group and further to identify how many branches have Black members self-organised groups.
Conference notes that UNISON is committed to achieving equality for all and one of the ways the union promotes equality is through self-organisation. Self-organisation brings together members from certain groups that face discrimination and helps the union identify and challenge discrimination and build equality.
Conference commends the work in other service groups and regions in the union that have seen branches come together to organise regional or geographical cluster groups for Black members where union membership has been persistently low and it has been more challenging to organise.
Conference therefore asks the Water, Environment & Transport (WET) Service Group Executive Committee to look at utilising this good practice to support WET branch Black member self-organisation by:
1. Undertaking a further mapping exercise to identify the representation and engagement levels of Black members in the WET service group.
2. Compare this data with that collected in previous surveys to identify areas where Black members from various branches with low levels of Black membership can come together in cluster meetings where geographically possible.
3. Working with regions to facilitate these meetings and ensure that they are properly resourced.
4. Reporting on this progress at the next WET conference in 2025