Misogyny and hate crime is on the increase in society. In 2016 Nottinghamshire police were the first force to re-classify wolf whistling, cat calling and other misogynistic harassment as hate crime and handled 30 cases in 5 months. Following on from that 15 other police forces are now looking at following Nottinghamshire Police’s lead. In […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that women’s conference 2017 carried motions 29 – Safe travel and Motion 30 – Driver only trains deny accessible support for disabled women. The survey of women members that was subsequently undertaken showed that women-only carriages were very low priority for the women who replied and that improved safety on current provision including […]
More than half of UNISONs women members meet the criteria in terms of being classed as low paid however these women are not always represented throughout our union structures. Women make up three quarters of the union’s membership yet this figure does not translate when looking at senior positions – 49% of Branch Secretaries are […]
Conference notes that Nottinghamshire Police, supported by Nottingham Women’s Centre made history in 2016 by becoming the first force in the country to recognise misogyny as a hate crime. The additional category applies to a range of incidents reported to the police, from street harassment through to physical intrusions on women’s space. This is defined […]
According to statistics from Wise campaign research shows that at GCSE level engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects has a broadly similar gender split. At this level female students are achieving higher or equal average A*-C grades compared to males. In addition according to the Women’s Education Society, at A Level this […]
This Conference believes that sexism in the workplace is still prevalent, despite being challenged by women organising against it predominantly through collective action. This Conference also believes that young women face double-discrimination through sexism and discrimination against them on grounds of age. This is manifested through bullying, harassment – and sexual harassment in particular. It […]
This Conference welcomes annual UNISON’s equality survey as a way of getting statistical information to support our equality bargaining agenda, and also organisational information. This Conference notes that this year 248 young women members responded to the survey questionnaire, approximately 4% of all women members that participated. This proportion is in line with their representation […]
Conference notes with concern that in Rules G2.4.1 and Rule G4.1.1 Women’s officer is not listed as a general branch officer, meaning that some branches will not include this post in the list of positions that they seek to fill. Given that the majority of UNISON members are women, conference believes that the role of […]
1 in 8 adults or 6.5 million people in the UK are carers according to carers UK with this figure set to rise to 9 million by 2037. Every day 6,000 people take on a caring role and 58% of the careers are women. In 2011, females were more likely to be unpaid carers than […]
Conference notes: 1)By the end of 2017, members in Higher Education will have lost the equivalent of one fifth of their pay since 2009/10. 2)At the same time, Senior Managers have seen their salaries consistently increase above the rate of inflation, with twenty-three Vice Chancellors taking an increase of 10% or more last year. Conference […]
The last general election saw thousands of young people registering to vote for the very first time. Youth engagement with politics led to a change in the political landscape. Subsequent debates amongst MPs has shown them that the issues important to them will be taken up by politicians when there is strength in numbers. While […]
Colleagues may recall the lacklustre support by the UK Universities for any position during the Brexit Referendum despite UNISON’s call to Vice Chancellors (VCs) to take a position to support EU staff and students. There are 45,000 EU citizens working in the Higher Education sector in the UK (11% of the Higher Education (HE) workforce) […]
Conference believes that there is an inherent unfairness in the way in which our universities are being run, and the way in which the most senior staff are being rewarded whilst UNISON members and staff working in support services are paying the price. Recent research in the Guardian revealed that among 17 university heads who […]
Conference welcomes the high level of engagement of Higher Education (HE) members in UNISON’s second equality survey, conducted summer 2017, which gives useful insight into their experiences and involvement in UNISON. Conference also notes the responses from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members (LGBT), which reinforce the findings from the 2016 survey that LGBT members […]
1)UNISON has a proud history of international solidarity and supporting our members in HE to create a welcoming atmosphere for international students from around the world. 2)UNISON is affiliated to the Cuba Solidarity Campaign (CSC) and has been since 2002. 3)CSC is campaigning against a recent decision by the Open University (OU) to allegedly bar […]