Negotiating Priorities for Women

National Women’s Conference welcomes the new legislation on improving maternity and paternity rights. However, women recognise that this is a starting point only for improving parents’ and carers’ rights in the workplace. Linked to this is negotiating enhanced national childcare provision looking beyond the statutory limit and seeking to campaign for a right to flexible […]

Women, Discrimination and the Union

Conference recognises that women who are active in the union have a commitment to supporting, encouraging and developing women members to enable them to deal with the many and varied problems arising from work. Conference also recognises that in providing a quality service to members, women activists are often discriminated against at branch and regional […]

Domestic Violence and Legal Aid *

Conference notes the Government’s recent consultation paper on domestic violence entitled Safety and Justice. Conference welcomes the paper as a basis for discussion on improving responses to domestic violence. However, Conference believes that the paper does not go far enough in recognising the financial difficulties experienced by women who are ineligible for legal aid but […]

Women and Peace

Conference applauds a recent initiative between Palestinian and Israeli women to participate in the fragile peace process in the Middle East. The women believe they can have an impact on what is happening and that the perspective they will bring will be radical in terms of Middle East politics and could offer a solution to […]

The BNP and Women

Conference is appalled to learn that the British National Party (BNP) has been recruiting women as activists in an attempt to sanitise its image and present itself as a wholesome, family loving organisation. This seems to be part of a growing trend in the far right to recruit and involve more women with a view […]

Achieving Proportionality for Women at Non-Women only Conferences

UNISON is committed to achieving fair representation for women at all levels in the union. To achieve this, the rule book requires all elected bodies to achieve proportionality for women. This means women should be represented on the various UNISON committees and structures at least in proportion to the percentage of women in membership. Because […]

Ten Years of Women in UNISON

July 2003 saw the tenth anniversary celebration of the formation of UNISON. One of the founding principles is proportionality and fair representation. However, it appears that this principle is not adhered to in many of our branches and women are not being fairly represented amongst branch officers. Our present system does not facilitate women to […]

Safety and Justice/Domestic Violence

On 1 July 2003, David Blunkett presented Safety & Justice, the Government’s consultation exercise and proposals on tackling domestic violence. Whilst Conference broadly welcomes many of the proposals, we condemn the proposed changes to the legal aid process. Conference believes money should not be a factor when considering the protection of women and children from […]

Campaign to Legalise Prostitution

Conference recognises the discrimination and exploitation against sex workers who are mainly women. Conference also recognises that some sex workers are a vital sector in preventing the spread of HIV/Aids. It also believes a more open approach to commercial sex would also help protect children from abuse. When sex workers are treated as second class […]

Work-Life Balance

UNISON’s leaflet on Work Life Balance is probably one of the most important documents produced by UNISON, especially for women. Balancing work and family is one of the most important issues facing women today in the 21st century. The norm of yesterday is not always consistent with the reality of today and possible future trends. […]

Relaunching Raise the Roof *

Southern Region brought their Raise the Roof Campaign to National Women’s Conference in Harrogate in 1999. National Women’s Conference sent the motion to the National Delegate Conference and it became UNISON policy. A successful campaign was launched, a lot of work has been done, but there is still a lot to do. Southern Region is […]

Promoting UNISON – 10 years on

It is ten years into UNISON and still a lot of women members do not know the opportunities open to them within UNISON. The wide spread of workplaces and diversity of membership means that women members, especially those working in small units or alone, never get to know what UNISON can offer. Conference calls upon […]

Crisis in Care

Conference welcomes the work being done nationally regarding crisis in care within the Right to Care campaign. Conference condemns the cost-cutting culture of some local authorities, which results in the elderly, mostly women, being uprooted from what is recognised as their home. They are moved to another establishment based only on cost. An example is […]

Female Genital Mutilation

Conference acknowledges it is a national disgrace that female genital mutilation continues to be carried out in the United Kingdom today. Estimates suggest that up to 7,000 girls each year are subjected to this abhorrent practice. A Private Members Bill, designed to stamp it out, proposes two measures: 1)tighten the loophole whereby some parents are […]

Domestic Violence *

Women are most commonly the victims of violence and abuse, some on a daily basis. Historically, violence against women has not been treated as real crime. Evidence to support this is shown in the lack of severe sentencing or incarceration of perpetrators. Abuse is behaviour used to establish power and control over another person through […]