- Conference
- 2026 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 16 October 2025
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference notes:
There is still gender inequality affecting our women members in a number of areas according to latest research including the following:
Economic
? Gender Pay Gap: While the gap has narrowed, women still earn less than men, with the overall gap in median hourly pay for full-time employees being 7.0% in April 2024.
? Pensions: Women tend to have lower state and private pensions, a gap that was particularly pronounced for older generations.
? Occupational Segregation: Women are more likely to be in lower-paid roles within the caring, secretarial, and administrative sectors, contributing to the pay gap.
Unpaid Work and Care
? Disproportionate Burden: Women carry out a significantly larger share of unpaid work, such as cooking, childcare, and housework, which can limit their ability to participate in paid work or pursue higher-paying careers.
Leadership and Representation
? Political Representation: Less than a third of members of Parliament are women, and gender equality in local councils is not expected to be achieved until 2077 at the current rate.
? Corporate Leadership: Only a small percentage of board members at large, publicly listed companies are women.
? Education Leadership: In secondary schools, men are more likely to be headteachers and heads of department, even though women form a larger proportion of the teacher workforce.
Violence and Safety
? Higher Victimisation Rates: Women are more likely to experience domestic abuse, stalking, sexual assault, and harassment compared to men.
? Systematic Under-Reporting: There are ongoing issues with the systematic under-reporting and unsatisfactory recording of sexual violence and domestic abuse by the police.
Women’s health
Gender inequality in women’s health remains a critical issue that affects our members both in and outside the workplace. Women often face institutional barriers to accessing timely and appropriate healthcare, from underfunded reproductive services to disparities in research and treatment for conditions that disproportionately affect women. A 2025 UNISON survey on women’s health found that these inequalities are compounded by workplace challenges such as inadequate sick leave policies, lack of support during menopause, and limited provisions for pregnancy-related health needs.
In the North, the picture is even bleaker!
The findings of the ‘Women of the North Report ‘Report (2025), showed vast and entrenched inequalities faced by women in the North—including a £132 million weekly wage gap, £10 billion in unpaid care annually, and the lowest healthy life expectancy for girls in England.
It also revealed that women in the North experience the highest rates of domestic abuse, female imprisonment, and reproductive health deprivation.
Gendered inequality in the North is systemic, intersectional, and exacerbated by austerity, regional underinvestment, and workplace cultures that undervalue care and wellbeing.
Considering the ‘Women of the North Report’ Newcastle City Branch decided to survey our women members and seek their views and experiences of how they were being impacted by gender inequalities in the workplace. The results of our survey showed widespread experiences of unpaid work, harassment, care-related burnout, and barriers to progression.
Our women’s voices were heard and as a result we have put all their concerns and recommendations in one place by creating our ‘Draft Working Women’s Charter.’ These outline a call for secure work, safety, representation, and investment in public services.
Secure Fair and Equal Work- Ban zero hours contracts, Enforce pay transparency, Close pay gaps, Implement a new living wage.
Rights from Day One – Provide sick pay, Parental leave, Unfair Dismissal protection from day one, Strengthen pregnancy protections.
Flexibility & Work Life Balance – Make flexible working a right, Support carers, manage workload to prevent burnout.
Safety Respect & Wellbeing – Zero tolerance on harassment, introduce menopause and mental health policies, Create trauma-informed workplaces.
Representation & Leadership – Champion women’s leadership promote networks and mentoring, Ensure women shape workplace policy.
Public Services & Infrastructure – Invest in services women rely on, improve pay in public sector (including Triple SNB), Provide universal childcare and housing.
Local Action National Change – Build solidarity locally, Campaign for better transport and services, Hold employers / policy makers accountable.
None of these issues are new and a lot of work is already in progress with existing campaigns both locally in workplaces and at a national level. However, a Working Women’s Charter would bring these together in one place. This would enable us to see through a combined lens the contributing factors that result in inequality for women workers highlighting the impact of the unfairness lived by women every day.
Some employers may have policies and protections in place already, however, many do not, and the charter would aim to improve consistency across workplaces and a standard for employers to work towards with our women members voices negotiating the change. The Charter could therefore be used with individual employers in our workplaces but also to campaign for the necessary changes to National Government policy.
Unison have been pro-active in developing our Anti Racism Charter and the Disabled Employment Charter raising awareness of issues faced by these groups of workers putting Equality at the heart of what we do and fighting discrimination and unfair practices.
Unison is a union of one million women in the workplace and hold a critical role in challenging Gender Inequality and supporting women workers, through our bargaining, campaigning, and building and increasing activism.
Our Women’s voices, especially those from marginalised and working-class communities, must shape the solutions.
We therefore call on National Women’s Committee to work with relevant structures in UNISON to:
1)Encourage consultation with women members about how gender inequality impacts them at work.
2)Work with Labour Link to advocate for laws that ensure fair healthcare access for all women.
3)Encourage branches to negotiate workplace support for all women experiencing health challenges
4)Using an evidence-based approach to develop and embed a Unison National Working Women’s Charter that captures what it is like for women working in the twenty-first century and aims to make a change.
5)Work with all the relevant structures in our union, including labour link to get support for the Charter.
6)Develop policy guidance within the Charter for employers to ensure that women in the workplace are treated fairly and with dignity and respect.
7)Share the Charter with branches and regions making it available as a tool for campaigning and bargaining.
8)Report back on progress of the Charter as part the Year of the Women Worker 2027.
