No Hate at Pride

Conference is appalled by the trans exclusionary radical feminist protestors from Lancaster Resisters who decided to march at the front of the Manchester Pride parade in August this year. Reports suggest that they covered about half of the parade route before exiting the parade after engagement by Police and Pride Officials. Following the event, a […]

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Conference notes that the deadlines for submission of motions and of amendments this year were 12th June and 7th August respectively. Conference also notes that the Report of the National Retired Members Committee (the Committee) including action arising from 2018 Retired Members Conference (the Report) was published on the Retired Members pages of the UNISON […]

[NDC MOTION] DEFENDING AND PROGRESSING LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER PLUS (LGBT+) INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Conference welcomes the introduction of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Plus (LGBT+) inclusive relationship education in primary schools and relationship and sex education (RSE) in secondary schools, which forms part of the Department for Education’s statutory guidance. Conference notes these guidelines cover disabled pupils in mainstream schools, Additionally Resourced Provision (ARPs) and extend to special […]

Brexit

Conference is aware that UNISON and the National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Plus (LGBT+) Committee and Self Organised Group have consistently expressed concerns about the Government’s policies on Brexit. For disabled LGBT+ members, the prospect of a no deal exit from the European Union (EU), and the impacts as outlined in the “Yellowhammer” report, […]

[NDC MOTION] DECRIMINALISATION FOR SAFETY

Conference notes that UNISON’s policy on sex work, adopted in 2010 on the basis of a motion from women’s conference, is to support proposals which decriminalise the selling of sexual services while introducing a ‘sex buyers law’ criminalising those who purchase those services. Conference recognises that the great majority of sex workers are women. Conference […]

CELEBRATING OUR LGBT+ DISABLED MEMBERS SELF- ORGANISATION AND DIVERSITY

Conference believes that self- organised groups (SOGs) are the equality life blood of UNISON. The core to trade union organising is bringing people together who share a common experience at work. That is why we organise members who share a common workplace experience of oppression and discrimination due to gender or race or because they […]

LGBT+ DISABILITY ACTIVISM IN ILGA-EUROPE

Conference welcomes the fact that ILGA-Europe have organised a “Gathering for D/deaf and disabled LGBTI activists in Europe and Central Asia” which takes place 21 – 24 November 2019 in Brussels and that UNISON will be part of that gathering. The gathering provides the opportunity for D/deaf, disabled lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) […]

Palestine

Conference notes: a)2019 commemorates the 52nd anniversary of the occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza b) In 2017 research by War on Want showed that HSBC had invested over £800 million in, and provided syndicated loans worth up to £19 billion for, companies providing weapons and equipment to the Israeli military. These […]

Equal Pensions

Conference notes that: 1)The Supreme Court decision in Walker v Innospec in July 2017, that upon John Walker’s death his husband should get the same pension as would a wife had he married a woman, relies upon European Union (EU) law and sets aside a provision of the United Kingdom’s Equality Act 2010 that permitted […]

Mental Health and Suicide Awareness to Support Young LGBT+ members

Conference applauds the National Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender plus (LGBT+) Committee for the work undertaken to date to highlight the effects of austerity measures on LGBT+ workers, the services we provide and the knock-on effects of the reduction in those services. Conference further notes that a range of governmental bodies, statutory services and civil […]

Forced sterilisation in exchange for gender recognition

Conference notes its outrage that the rights of the trans community remain under sustained attack around the world. It is still the case that in many countries there are laws in place which force transgender people to be sterilised before changing their gender. In January 2019 the Supreme Court of Japan upheld ‘Law 111’ which […]

Ethical procurement

Conference recognises that modern slavery is usually hidden and that there are high risks of slavery linked to the global supply chains of the goods and services we procure. Conference applauds UNISON’s commitment to ensuring there is no slavery or human trafficking within any part of its business or its supply chains. This is an […]

Access to Abortion

Conference notes the tightening of abortion access in states such as Alabama in the United States of America (USA) with despair. Abortion is a health issue and disproportionately affects people in poverty, the working poor and people living in rural areas Despite recent Parliamentary intervention in the absence of a Stormont Assembly, access within the […]

Inclusive Language

This conference would like to acknowledge and give thanks to the essential work carried out by UNISON on respecting and promoting reproductive rights, tackling period poverty and raising menopausal awareness. However, in many of the motions produced around these issues, we continue to see a use of exclusionary language. Motions often make reference to “women […]

ENGAGING BRANCHES IN LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER PLUS RECRUITMENT AND ORGANSING

Conference welcomes the successful campaign to seek a rule change to become a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Plus (LGBT+) Self Organised Group at this year’s National Delegate Conference (NDC). This change would not have been possible if it had not been for the work of our activists sharing the reasons for this important change […]