- Conference
- 2025 National Black Members' Conference
- Date
- 9 September 2024
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes the widespread impact of mental health problems on young workers, and in particular the specific impact of racism and discrimination in the workplace on young Black workers’ mental health.
For example, the 2021 report by the City Mental Health Alliance, “Mental Health And Race at Work” found that:
“A significant number of respondents from all Minority Ethnic backgrounds have experienced racism at work – 45% of Black, 26% East Asian, 23% South Asia, 24% Mixed Race people [and] of those that have experienced racism at work, 65% Black, 59% Asian and 48% of Mixed Race people surveyed reported it negatively impacted their mental health and wellbeing to a very large, large or moderate extent.”
Similarly, the April 2023 report ‘Deconstructing the System’ from young people’s mental health charity Young Minds found that experiences of discrimination and inequality were widespread among young Black people and had a serious impact on mental health: “49% of Black and racialised young people reported struggling to cope, compared to 41% of white young people.”
Conference welcomes the launch of the campaign by UNISON’s National Young Members Forum, Young Members Mental Health Matters! The campaign provides the materials and information to start essential conversations with young members and young workers in public services about the actions that trade union branches can take to improve mental health in the workplace and the importance of being a union member.
Conference believes UNISON has a key role to play in improving mental health for workers, in particular by addressing discrimination and racism in workplaces, by bargaining for better terms and conditions, and by addressing systemic inequality.
Conference asks the National Black Members Committee to:
1)Promote the National Young Members Forum’s campaign on mental health to Black members in UNISON;
2)Promote UNISON’s guide to bargaining on mental health to Black members and regional and branch Black members’ self-organised groups;
3)Consider producing further guidance on the mental health impact of racism in the workplace, and the need for branches to negotiate robust anti-discrimination policies to address this;
4)Work with UNISON’s National Young Members Forum to highlight the specific experiences of young Black workers and mental health at work.
