- Conference
- 2024 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 12 October 2023
- Decision
- Carried
Conference celebrates that we are at the beginning of UNISON’s the Year of LGBT+ Workers and welcomes the opportunity that this provides to promote UNISON as the union for LGBT+ workers, raise awareness of LGBT+ rights, challenge discrimination, and recruit and activate LGBT+ members.
The year highlights the important contribution our LGBT+ members make to the union, to improving employment conditions for LGBT+ workers and to campaigning more broadly on equality for LGBT+ people. But there is still much more to do.
LGBT+ women still face mental and physical health challenges at a higher rate than other workers, as well as discrimination in the workplace. This is even more marked for Black and disabled LGBT+ women. Trans women have become a target of serious abuse by the right-wing media, certain Christian groups, and elements from within the Conservative Government. Bi+ women are less likely to be ‘out’ to their families or at work and are more likely to experience domestic abuse. For some LGBT+ women, work may be the only place they can be their authentic self because of the animosity they face at home, and in wider society.
Conference recognises the UNISON has been key to campaigns to improve the rights of LGBT+ women within the workplace and wider society and has played an active role in the repeal of section 28, equalisation of the age of consent, and the introduction of civil partnerships and marriage for LGBT+ people.
As a trade union, we need to continue to encourage active recruitment and promotion of LGBT+ women in UNISON and strive for LGBT+ representation at all levels of leadership. By fostering diversity in leadership, we not only provide role models for LGBT+ members but also bring diverse perspectives to decision-making, benefiting the entire union.
To achieve this, all branches should be encouraged to support local LGBT+ Pride events and run awareness campaigns within the workplace and make UNISON’s LGBT+ materials visible.
Conference acknowledges that tackling systemic and ingrained discrimination against LGBT+ women will take more than one year. Conference further recognises the need to use the success of the year of LGBT+ workers to continue our work and embed the work on LGBT+ equality in all areas of our union.
Conference calls on the National Women’s Committee to work with the appropriate bodies within the union to:
1)Promote UNISON’s year of LGBT+ workers, including national and regional events;
2)Encourage regions and branches to use days in the LGBT+ calendar to promote the work that UNISON does for LGBT+ equality;
3)Continue to raise awareness of LGBT+ women’s rights and discrimination throughout the union;
4)Promote and participate in equality training, and in particular the trans ally training;
5)Promote and encourage the use of UNISON LGBT+ guidance, fact sheets and model policies in workplaces.