Impact of benefit cuts on disabled women

Conference is well aware that disabled workers are paid £3,700 less than non-disabled workers. But conference notes that disabled women are paid even less than disabled men. According to TUC analysis, disabled women face an even bigger pay gap of over £7,000 a year. The gap also increases as women age. Conference recognises that there […]

Workplace Sexual Harrassment

Workplace Sexual Harassment Numerous surveys run over the course of the pandemic have demonstrated an increase in workplace sexual harassment, with most experiences being online. Homeworking has left women workers unsafe and unprotected from sexual harassment at work. Current protections are clearly not enough. Women have experienced harassment on various online platforms and felt unable […]

Baby Loss Policies – The bare minimum should be a floor not a ceiling

Please note, in this context, when we refer to Women, the term encompasses women and pregnant people. Conference notes that there is currently a disparity around attendance management policies for pregnancy losses of less than 24 weeks gestation when compared to pregnancy related illness in an ongoing pregnancy. Our members can unfairly fall through the […]

New Rights for Pregnant Workers and New Parents

Conference notes and welcomes the new protection from redundancy for pregnant workers and new parents. Conference thanks Dan Jarvis MP for working in support with UNISON on the new law – the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill – to prevent employers from laying off expectant mothers and new parents, by extending redundancy […]

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

Conference – with the publication of the Casey review, and with the first national Police National Database (PND) vetting of all staff and officers recently completed, the omission of the requirement to declare masonic membership still manages to duck the bullet. All staff and officers have to regularly complete vetting forms and declare membership or […]

MARCH WITH PRIDE

Conference notes with concern the decision in 2022 by London Pride that the Metropolitan Police could not march at Pride in uniform, and the decision in 2023 by Brighton Pride that Kent Police would not be welcome to march this year. However, Conference also notes the Baroness Casey Review into the Metropolitan Police reported “institutional […]

AN ANTI RACISM CHARTER FOR ALL

Conference notes that on the 7th June 2023 the East of England Probation area signed up to UNISON Eastern Region’s Anti-Racism Charter. Whilst the Probation Service has a comprehensive work plan in relation to actions identified in a joint union employer survey on race, the feedback from members has been that the actions have taken […]

ORGAN DONATION

Conference notes that many thousands of people are waiting for life changing and life saving organ donation. Since 1 June 2023, the law around organ donation has changed from an opt-in to an opt-out system. It is hoped that this change will increase the number of organs donated. Whilst the majority of organs used for […]

AGENCY STAFF CONTRACT REFORMS

Evidence has emerged that the Probation Service has spent and continues to spend millions of pounds on agency staff. Whilst it is acknowledged that agency staff are an asset that is vital in managing the work of the service, it is noted that a significant proportion of the money spent on their employment is taken […]

POLICE STAFF GRIEVANCES

Conference notes that analysis and scrutiny of grievances raised by Police Staff is not currently undertaken by the Service Group Executive (SGE). Conference believes that the SGE should have an overview of key issues raised by police staff through the grievance process to inform the national bargaining agenda. The SGE should have access to data […]

Harassment – It’s Not Part of the Job

Conference notes the findings of the 2018 Trades Union Congress (TUC) report into third party harassment of young workers titled “Not part of the job”, the 2016 TUC report into sexual harassment at work titled “Still just a bit of banter?”, TUC research into experiences of sexual harassment of Black workers (2017), young workers (2017), […]

We Need to Talk About Palestine

Conference welcomes the comprehensive Amnesty International report, Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime against Humanity, which sets out how massive seizures of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer, drastic movement restrictions, and the denial of nationality and citizenship to Palestinians are all components of a system which amounts to […]

Ethnicity Pay Gap

Conference believes that the ethnicity pay gap (EPG) is a major cause of in-work poverty experienced by Black workers and the cause of severe intergenerational inequality in Black communities. Conference welcomes the moves made by the National Black Members Committee (NBMC) to highlight and campaign to close the gap. The EPG is as high as […]

Equality is UNISON Business

Conference notes that one of UNISON’s main aims is, as per UNISON’s rule book, “to seek to ensure equality of treatment and fair representation for all members and to work for the elimination of discrimination on grounds of race, gender, sexuality, gender identity, disability, age or creed”. To achieve this, UNISON seeks for branches to […]

Cost of Living Crisis and Black Workers

Conference notes that everything is going up fast – 12 percent now but forecasts of upwards to 22 percent. However, the pay of many UNISON members has been effectively frozen for almost 12 years. We can’t make ends meet! We have a cost of living crisis because of the decisions made by political leaders and […]