The cost of living crisis is affecting everyone, with the inflation rate, hitting 10% last month, the highest levels in 40 years. The energy prices have rocketed and daily household expenses have also increased but wages are just rising by a maximum of just 5.2% (according to the Office for Budget Responsibility), with benefits increasing […]
Conference motions
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, 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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Conference is concerned about the level of discrimination that disabled women are subjected to every day. Conference is further concerned at the government’s continuing failure to implement Section 14 of the Equality Act 2010 which offers protection against dual and multiple discrimination. At 14%, the Disability Pay Gap is the UK’s biggest pay gap and […]
Conference notes that the decision to seek an abortion is never an easy one for a woman, and is a very stressful time of life. Conference also notes the recent attacks on Roe Vs Wade in the USA have given encouragement to anti-choice protesters and activists internationally. Such protests frequently take the form of picketing […]
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 […]
Conference believes that everyone deserves to be paid a real living wage. We call upon the National Higher Education Service Group Executive to ensure that in the next round of The New Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff (JNCHES) negotiations a pay spine is proposed and promoted by UNISON representatives in which the lowest […]
Conference believes it is time that Universities actively participated in 4-day work week trials. Universities are centres of research and innovation and many want to be ‘employers of choice’ (employers that people actively want to work for). They are the perfect institutions to try new approaches to work. Findings suggest that a 4-day week enhances […]