Women and Pensions

Conference recognises the current crisis surrounding pensions and all our futures upon retirement. We also recognise that for women the situation is far worse than that of men and are, therefore, grateful for the work that UNISON continues to do with the Fawcett Society on the inequality for women in our pensions systems. Conference welcomes […]

Sexual Violence

Conference notes with concern the findings of the ICM opinion poll commissioned by Amnesty International which indicates that a third of people in the United Kingdom believe that a woman is partially or totally responsible for being raped. The Amnesty report Sexual Assault Research published on 21 November 2005 shows that 26 per cent of […]

OVARIAN CANCER

Conference is concerned at the increasing number of women suffering from ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is the fourth most common cause of death from cancer amongst women in the UK and is known as the silent killer. Every year about 6,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with this disease, the majority of these cases […]

HEALTHY MINDS AT WORK

Conference welcomes the decision of the European Social Fund equality programme to award £2.45 million to Healthy Minds at Work in Wales. Conference notes that UNISON Cymru/Wales are founding members of the development partnership. Research has shown that twice as many women than men in the United Kingdom have a diagnosis of a depressive illness. […]

Union/Life Balance

Conference welcomes the work carried out by the National Women’s Committee in promoting the need for a work/life balance and flexible working. Conference also believes that there is also a need for a union/life balance and notes with concern that at last year’s National Women’s Conference the black caucus was held at 6.00 p.m., one […]

Breast is Best

Conference notes and welcomes the drive to promote breastfeeding and to offer support to women who choose to breast feed. The health benefits of breastfeeding are well-known and the WHO recommends that babies are exclusively breast fed for the first six months. However, this increasingly means that the mother has returned to work before the […]

S.O.14 Limit of Speeches

Delete 14.1 and replace with: “The mover of a motion or an amendment shall speak for no more than five minutes, and each subsequent speaker shall speak for no more than three minutes.”

S.O.15 Points of Order

Delete 15.3 and replace with: “The Point of Order shall not be debated or amended, and the Chairperson shall make an immediate ruling under S.O.6.1.”

Rape

Conference is extremely concerned at the apparent increase in the incidence of rape and the concomitant decrease in convictions of men accused of rape. In recent months there have been alarming accounts in various national newspapers of women who pursued prosecutions with the support of the police, only for their alleged attacker to be acquitted […]

Chemicals and Breast Cancer Prevention

Conference congratulates the National Women’s Committee for its joint campaign with the Women’s Environmental Network for breast cancer month last year called the big see. The campaign raised awareness amongst many of our women members about the links between some toxic chemicals in everyday use and the rising incidence of breast cancer. Many hundreds of […]

Support for Pathways Participants

Conference is pleased to see that women still comprise two-thirds of the membership of UNISON. Conference is concerned that every support should be given to women to ensure that they are enabled to take an active role within the union. Conference is pleased that the Pathways course was included in the national education programme and […]

Women and Sport

Conference notes the success of Euro 2005, the EUFA (European Football Associations) women’s tournament played in England last summer. Conference applauds the BBC for its comprehensive coverage of the event, with both live matches and highlights on every evening games were played. This brought the women’s game to a much wider audience and at the […]

Increasing the Number of Motions Submitted to National Delegate Conference by Self-Organised Groups

Conference notes that at present the Self-Organised Groups (SOGs),as well as regions, the Young Members’ Forum and retired members, are only permitted to submit a total of two motions, including any rule amendments, to National Delegate Conference. Furthermore, a proposal to increase this to four motions was defeated at National Delegate Conference 2005. Conference believes […]

Access to IVF

Conference notes that the government recently carried out a comprehensive public consultation on the Human Fertility and Embryology Act. Matters subject to the review included: 1) access to IVF – at the time of launch of the consultation the government reiterated its view that it considered that it is in the best interests of a […]

Involving LGBT Women in Women’s Self-Organisation

Conference welcomes the successful rule amendment carried at last year’s National Delegate Conference introducing a LGBT self organised group into UNISON. Conference acknowledges the support given to the campaign by the National Women’s Committee, Regional Women’s Committees and Women members. Monitoring of attendance at Women’s Conferences and of the National Women’s Committee suggests that LGBT […]