Black pupils exclusion from schools.

Conference recognises that Black Caribbean pupils are significantly more likely to be permanently excluded from schools three times more likely than white pupils. Black pupils are routinely punished more harshly, praised less, told off more often and more likely than white pupils to be identified as having behaviour related to educational needs. Black pupils are […]

Career progression of Black workers

This conference believes that the level of career progression of Black workers is very low in most work places and is imperative that this is addressed. The Equality Act 2010 states that we should have equal opportunities for all. Conference believes that all Black workers should be supported, enabled and valued to progress into senior […]

Challenging hate crime and supporting victims

Conference is deeply concerned that there has been significant rise in hate crime cases in the UK. Hate crime of any kind, directed against any community, race or religion has absolutely no place in our society. Our diverse communities thrive precisely because of the rich co-existence of people of different backgrounds, faiths and ethnicities and […]

Unfair immigration policy

Conference believes the current immigration process leads to unfavourable treatment of Black workers who do not have full legal rights to reside in the UK. They face a large number of issues including: 1) Application Fees : The basic ILR (Indefinite leave to remain in UK – permanent stay) fee of £1875 per applicant is […]

Homeless Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) asylum seekers

Conference notes the continuing national housing crisis and the exponential rise in homelessness. Conference welcomes the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 which extends the previous 28 day period for ‘threatened homelessness’ to 56 days and makes clear that a valid Section 21 notice (Housing Act 1988) also constitutes being ‘threatened with homelessness’. For […]

Building on the success of the London Mayoral Election

This National Black Members Conference notes that whilst Jeremy Corbyn and Labour did not win the General Election on 8 June 2017 they far exceeded expectation and substantially damaged Theresa May and the Tories ambitions of a Tory overall majority. Labour won 40 percent of the vote nationally. This was due to an inspiring manifesto, […]

Blood donation

The National Health Service (NHS) Blood donation and Transplant reported that Black people make up just 2.7 percent of active blood donors, despite representing 10.4 percent of England’s population. Blood donation is required from all communities and ethnic backgrounds to meet the needs of all patients in England and North Wales now and in the […]

Zero hours and Black workers

In recent news it has reported that the number of unemployment has hit a record low. What these statistics do not report is that a large proportion of this is because of the increase in zero hours contracts. Employers have increasingly been turning to zero hours contracts as part of the general attack on staff […]

Hate crimes and mate crimes

Conference welcomes the work that has been done by UNISON thus far on hate crime. According to a report by the Equality and Human Rights commission called ‘Disabled people’s experiences of targeted violence and hostility’, Black disabled people are even more likely to be vulnerable to hate crimes. The report notes that ‘recognition of multiple […]

The United Families and Friends Campaign

West Midlands Black Members Self Organised Group (WMBMSOG) would like the National Black Members Committee to raise awareness of United Families and Friends Campaign (UFFC). UFFC is a coalition of families who have experienced the deaths of loved ones by the State. Whether by the police, prison or psychiatric settings. (Clinics, Hospitals). The Lammy Review, […]

Dementia the effects on Black people

Dementia is not a disease in fact; it is a group of signs and symptoms. Some of the symptoms may include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language and a person with dementia may also experience changes in their mood or behaviour. Dementia is caused when the brain is damaged by diseases, such […]

Black graduates and Black workers pay gap

Conference acknowledges that equal pay is an issue that affect not only Black graduates and workers. However, Black graduates and workers are more disproportionately affected. Conference notes that once upon a time it was said that Black people are not in the top earners because of a lack of opportunity in education. Whilst some progress […]

Creating, building and strengthening Black community links

Conference, notes the damaging decline in numbers and workplace density as a result of job losses across various sector groups, disproportionately in local government where we have had a high concentration of Black member employment. This has reduced our effectiveness in the workplace, impact in collective bargaining negotiations and most importantly member engagement. However, despite […]

The experience of Black people in Higher Education (HE) institutions

Conference notes with alarm and concern the steady decrease in numbers of first-time applicants to university which has decreased by 5 percent for United Kingdom (UK) students and 7 percent for the EU students. These figures are particularly concerning when broken down by age group where we will find the number of 19-year-old applicants has […]

Black members losing out

This Conference notes that UNISON’s equality survey 2017 saw 461 Black members who responded, which equals 4 percent of the total who participated. This Conference also notes that of those Black members, 50 percent said that their standard of living was worse than a year ago, compared with the overall survey which showed 43 percent […]