- Conference
- 2025 National LGBT+ Conference
- Date
- 23 July 2025
- Decision
- Carried
Conference welcomes the great strides that UNISON has made in supporting plus (+) members within the LGBT+ Self Organised Group (SOG) and the wider union, particularly for those that identify under the asexual (ace) and aromantic (aro) umbrella; referred to as a-spec within UNISON. It’s amazing that UNISON is the first major trade union in the United Kingdom to create an a-spec network and it’s important that we continue our momentum and that we are seen as leading this much needed change.
Conference notes the early success of UNISON’s a-spec awareness training, which has already shown positive engagement and creating awareness of some of the “+” identities.
The network has grown to over 100 members in just 2 years. The network has produced a factsheet which is available on the UNISON website. It has also produced awareness training and have trained some of the a-spec network members on how to deliver that training. The network has had articles in various UNISON magazines and has been successful in promoting the network in regional LGBT+ SOGs. However, the uptake of training is unfortunately low outside of LGBT+ regional groups.
Conference acknowledges there are many a-spec individuals who do not feel they have a place in the LGBT+ community and a-spec-phobia is, unfortunately, present within our workplaces and trade union.
Therefore, guidance for branches on how to update their equality policies, and other relevant policies such as harassment and dignity at work policies to ensure a-spec individuals in the workplace are protected.
Conference is aware that there is very few official statistics or information on the needs of a-spec individuals. Therefore, conference recommends that the National LGBT+ Committee consider the feasibility a membership survey is carried out, with the aim of using this feedback to plan our actions beyond 2025 and keep the momentum of our a-spec network building.
Conference we call on the National LGBT+ Committee to:
1)Continue to promote our a-spec factsheet and ally training to all regions, branches, and service groups.
2)To produce model guidance for branches on how to update equality policies, and other relevant policies such as harassment and dignity at work policies to include a-spec workers.
3)Work with the a-spec network to develop a range of communication materials to share a-spec members’ stories to increase awareness and understanding amongst the wider membership.
4)To assess the feasibility of a membership survey to learn more about the unique challenges and needs of our a-spec members to inform the future work.