- Conference
- 2025 Water, Environment & Transport Conference
- Date
- 14 February 2025
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference believes that customer facing workers are a vital lifeline for customers both in the field and the call-centres. However, with the high cost of living, customers are concerned about being able to afford bills and our members who work in customer facing roles can bear the brunt of this both on the phones and in customers homes.
Conference recalls the motion from the 2023 WET conference around LGBT+ members in field-based roles, which outlined the danger felt by LGBT+ members in the field, who enter customers’ homes, often alone, to carry out their job. LGBT+ members have shared concerns where customers have assumed a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity based on their rainbow ID lanyard or the mannerisms of the worker, or how their voice is perceived on the phone. The member can be subjected to anti-LGBT+ remarks, abuse or threats in homes they are required to visit to carry out their work. This experience can lead to mental health issues, as LGBT+ members feel unable to bring their whole selves to work.
A 2024 TUC report on Bullying, harassment and discrimination of LGBT+ people in the workplace which found over half of respondents had experienced at least one form of bullying or harassment at work in the last five years. Around one in five respondents (19%) had been exposed to verbal abuse about LGBT+ people in the workplace. And one in 20 respondents (5%) said they had experienced physical violence, threats and intimidation because they are LGBT+.
Conference calls on the WET Service Group Executive to:
1)Urge branches to review the lone working policies of their employer and seek to negotiate improvements where necessary which reference UNISON’s ‘Working Alone’ health and safety guide.
2)Promote LGBT+ bargaining factsheets to branches and LGBT+ policy checklist so branches can assess whether existing workplace policies are inclusive for LGBT+ members.
3)Encourage branches to work with employers and engage with LGBT+ UNISON members to identify and address barriers to reporting LGBT+ abuse and to provide information about support available.