Conference notes that Domestic Abuse is a workplace issue, with 1 in 3 women reporting domestic abuse at some point in their lifetime. Conference further notes a sharp increase in reported cases of domestic abuse throughout the pandemic. The cost of living crisis now means that the situation has deteriorated even further. It had previously […]
Conference motions
Conference notes the significant changes to working patterns and practices that have happened since the pandemic, including a large rise in remote and hybrid working. Conference believes greater flexibility should be welcomed where this works for staff – for example, some disabled workers may find more home working is a useful adjustment, and workers with […]
Conference notes the December 2021 government policy paper ‘Our Vision for the Women’s Health Strategy for England’, published after 100,000 women shared their personal experiences around the way the health and care system listens to women. The document looked at the approach to women’s health by putting women’s voices at the heart of this work. […]
Conference notes that: • Abortion has been legal since the Abortion Act in 1967. • There are very strict conditions that must be met for two doctors to agree to facilitate the process whether it is via medical or surgical conditions. • Abortion legislation was devolved to Scotland in 2016 and the issue remains a […]
Conference notes that the exponential rise in energy costs, the highest interest rates in decades and the staggering increases in the cost of food are having a massive impact on our members’ standard of living. Following a decade of austerity, below inflation pay awards and pay freezes, in work poverty is soaring. Poverty in the […]
Conference, the company, PwC, who are leaders in economic analysis in public and private sectors, recently highlighted in their Women in work index (https://www.pwc.co.uk/services/economics/insights/women-in-work-index.html) a fact that we already know – that Women raising children pay a ‘motherhood penalty’ in underemployment, slower career progression, and lower lifetime earnings. The increased burden of unpaid childcare, borne […]
Conference believes the cost of living crisis has had a gendered impact, with the persistent effect of the gender pay gap and the higher likelihood that women are in part time or low-paid work. Conference notes the March 2022 research by the Living Wage Foundation which found that in addition to these inequalities, women are […]
Conference, on energy strategy, the government is leaving women in the cold. Women will shoulder some of the worst effects of soaring energy bills. Why doesn’t the government’s energy security statement do more for us? How much do low-income people spend on electricity and gas? According to an analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, low-income […]
Conference is concerned that UN Women’s data report in 2020 estimated women’s equality to be at risk of being set back 25 years due to the pandemic, and therefore reaffirms its commitment to improving women’s working conditions in order that we combat this rollback on progress. Conference notes that Close the Gap has reported that […]
Conference notes with extreme concern the continuing pressures women are facing as the cost-of-living spirals out of control, with the inflation rate hitting 10.1% in July 2022, this was the highest reading since 1982. Conference, Women are more vulnerable to the impact of the cost of living rises as 69% of low paid or insecure […]
Just as UNISON’s women members were getting to grips to working longer due to the increase in pension age (brought in to provide gender equality) we find that a woman’s working career is beset with hidden pitfalls that seem designed to wide gender inequalities and deny us our hard worked for pensions. A recent report […]
Conference notes that in recent statistics published by the Office for National Statistics, in England and Wales rates of suicide amongst women aged 24 and under has seen the largest increase since records began in 1981. Although the reasons for this increase are not clear, conference notes that in an article by Mind, published in […]
Conferences notes the cost of living crisis which will disproportionately impact disabled women. Even before the pandemic, disability related expenses or the ‘disability price tag’ was on average £583 extra per month compared to non-disabled people, according to the 2019 Scope Disability Price Tag report. One in five faced extra costs of more than a […]
Yorkshire & Humberside Regional Women’s Committee believe free, community-based provision of sanitary and incontinence products should be available for all women and girls. A 2022 Action Aid UK Survey, as part of the Menstrual Hygiene Day; showed that in the UK 12% of women are now struggling to purchase sanitary products. They are now using […]
“UNISON has approximately 5,000 Health and Safety representatives across the union working hard to defend members’ health and safety at work. Over the past few years health and safety has emerged again as critical for protecting members’ rights at work. However, the gender balance of Health and Safety representatives in UNISON does not reflect the […]