Racism is real

Conference in the climate of the rise of the far right, Brexit and the real impact of racism in our society we know that racism is real. UNISON’s previous objectives included the statement ‘including Racism’, but at the 6th December 2018 NEC meeting the NEC approved the 2019 objectives with this wording removed. Conference, the […]

Non-binary inclusion

Conference welcomes the work initiated by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) group to make UNISON’s organisation, events, policies, systems and good practice advice inclusive of non-binary members. Non-binary people are people whose gender identity is not solely male or female. They may define themselves as both, neither or something different. While non-binary people […]

Black Members Mentoring Scheme – young Black members to be paired with more experienced activists

UNISON has about 63,000 young members, of whom approximately 8 percent are Black members. However, there is a noticeable and worrying shortage of young Black members and activists in UNISON. More needs to be done to recruit young Black members and to encourage them to become involved at all levels of the union. Young Black […]

Black members and the +

Conference notes that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) self-organised group (SOG) works with inclusive, umbrella definitions of bisexual and transgender. Its bi network is for all members who feel attraction to more than one gender. Its trans network is for all types of self-identifying trans people and for members whose gender identity does […]

“Local government cuts and impact on Black staff”

“Conference – we are all aware that Local Government and local services are at a crisis point. Demands and expectations of services are increasing year on year while central government funding is reducing. Liverpool Council will have lost 68 per cent of government funding from 2010-2020, the Council has prioritised frontline services, protecting vulnerable adults […]

Immigration Costs – Impact on Black Members standing for Local Council

Conference congratulates UNISON Labour Link for its work in supporting Black activists in standing for elected positions within the UK Labour Party. Conference notes at the 2013 Census of Local Authority Councillors, there were roughly 20,000 councillors across the UK. Conference further notes that our elected representatives should reflect the communities they seek to serve, […]

Support to Complete Slavery Memorial in Hyde Park

Conference notes Memorial 2007 is a registered charity with no paid staff, run entirely by volunteers. They have been working since 2007 to erect a permanent memorial to remember enslaved Africans and their descendants. Conference welcomes the donation of £7000 made to the campaign in October 2017 by UNISON and UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis […]

Defending free movement of people and immigrant rights

Conference notes: 1)The rights of immigrants has become decisive to the direction of our society. 2)Unison’s 2018 NDC rightly adopted a motion on Brexit from the National Executive Council that committed the union to defending the free movement of people to live, work, study and join their families in Britain; 3)The Brexit referendum was dominated […]

Access to immigration advice and representation to recruit and organise new members

All Health Trusts in our region have recruited new nurses from the Philippines. Our activists have been working hard to try and recruit them and include them in UNISON. One of the most useful tools to attract migrant workers has been our immigration advice clinic. On top of the Joint Council for the Welfare of […]

Institutional discrimination in mental health services – the impact on Black disabled workers

Conference notes that Black people in the UK are disproportionately more likely to be detained against their will as a result of mental ill health. The United Nations Committee for the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) 2017 report expressed concerns about the high number of Black disabled people compulsorily detained and treated against their […]

Disabled Black Workers and the Disciplinary Process

Conference notes that Disabled Black workers are disproportionately targeted when it comes to disciplinary processes, which is often linked to racism and discrimination as well as a lack of understanding and support for the barriers faced by disabled people, including those with non-visible/non-apparent disabilities. Black disabled people are also over-represented when it comes to capability […]

Black Children and Exclusions

Conference we all know that as Black people we are disproportionately represented within all aspects of society, this includes education and particularly, exclusions of Black pupils. The number of permanent exclusions across all state-funded primary, secondary and special schools has increased from 5,795 in 2014/15 to 6,685 in 2015/16. This corresponds to around 35.2 permanent […]

Bargaining and campaigning for race equality

Conference notes that The Race Relations Act came into force on 8th December 1965 in Britain, to promote non-discrimination and equality however fifty one years after its creation we note a lack of significant progress in society as members continue to cite numerous blatant examples of racism in our society and workplaces. The equality act […]

Black Women and WASPI

Conference this Government has done a great injustice against all women who were born in the 1950s. By increasing the age of women’s state pensionable age and not informing them of the true impact this would have on their lives. At a time when they would be planning for their retirement in the last 2 […]

Black members and workplace mental health

Conference notes that employers are failing in their duty of care towards all staff with mental health issues, and this has a particular effect on Black Workers. Recent UNISON research found that 25 percent of local government workers in Scotland had experienced mental health issues at work, and the figure for Black Workers was 50% […]