Women’s Right to Choose – The Time to Act is Now

Conference is concerned that a woman’s right to access safe and legal abortion is increasingly coming under attack. Pro Life, a misleadingly titled anti-choice organisation which aims to criminalise all abortion, is gaining media time and coverage. They have already influenced and encouraged an Early Day Motion which commits Parliament to a review of the […]

Violence Against Women

Conference welcomes the recent report of the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) entitled “In-Depth Study on all Forms of Violence against Women” which acknowledges the role of violence against women (VAW) in perpetuating the subordination of women in all societies throughout the globe. The UN report specifically states that strengthening efforts to achieve […]

Free Immunisation Against Cervical Cancer

Conference believes that all girls and women should, by right, have access to free immunisation against cervical cancer as soon as the vaccine is licensed. Conference also believes that it is obscene that a vaccine that it is known will save lives is likely to be made available on an ability to pay basis. Conference […]

Increasing LGBT Women’s Participation in Women’s Self-Organisation

Conference welcomes the work carried out by the National Women’s Committee on involving LGBT women in women’s self-organisation. Conference notes that it is now nearly two years since the rule amendment was passed that introduced the LGBT group and enabled bisexual and transgender women to self-organise on the grounds of their sexual orientation and gender […]

LGBT Women Asylum Seekers

Conference notes that people seek asylum for many reasons but that women can face additional persecution on the grounds of their gender, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation. This persecution often includes physical and sexual violence. Conference further notes that the Refugee Convention of 1951 does not specify gender and sexual orientation as specific […]

Women’s Access to Justice and Revision to Civil Legal Aid

Conference is committed to UNISON’s campaign to tackle domestic violence as a trade union issue. The government’s initiative “A Fairer Deal for Legal Aid” led to the Carter Report which was out for consultation until October 2006. Conference is concerned at the revision to the Civil Legal Aid Scheme in respect of dispute resolution. The […]

Women’s Pensions

Conference believes that the proposed changes to the state pension have a disproportionate impact on women for the following reasons. The number of years which have to be worked to ensure a complete contribution record entitling a woman to a full state pension, discriminates against women who have taken time out from the workplace to […]

Term Time Working

Conference believes that term time working is an issue that affects predominantly women, as many women choose jobs in educational establishments to fit in with their child care commitments. Due to social security legislation they are excluded from claiming benefits in the holiday periods, which means that they have either no income or are forced […]

Post Office Closures and Post Office Card Accounts

Conference notes that Ministers have announced that the Department for Work and Pensions will not extend the contract for the Post Office card account beyond 2010 despite the fact that 2.3 million pensioners use the card as a way of collecting their state pension. When the Government ended the use of pension books in 2003, […]

Pensions White Paper and Restoration of the Link

Conference notes that on May 25th 2006 the Government published a Pensions White Paper setting out how it planned to implement the recommendations of the Turner Report. The White Paper contains some positive proposals intended to increase the value of the state pension in the light of the decline of many occupational pensions and include […]

Retired Members’ Forums

The South East Region Retired Members’ Committee strongly objects to the resolution passed at the National Delegate Conference 2006 apparently down grading retired members’ committees to the status of forums, without consultation with retired members at any level. Conference instructs the National Retired Members’ Committee to vigorously seek to regain the original status for retired […]

Workforce Modernisation and “Jobs for the Boys”

Police staff welcome the increased ‘civilianisation’ of roles in the Police Service that workforce modernisation has brought. Less welcome is the inequitable way appointments to these new posts are often handled. On too many occasions the successful ‘candidate’ for a newly civilianised post is the recently retired police officer who carried out that role, pre-retirement. […]

The Collapse of Police Reform

Conference is concerned at the sudden collapse of the Police Force restructuring process. UNISON Police Staff recognise that Home Office plans to address issues identified in “Closing the Gap” were ill-thought out and underfunded. Little consideration was given to the implications of our members future employment and terms and conditions. Forces have been asked to […]

Best Value and PFI

Conference notes with great concern the lack of work done by the Service Group Executive, in campaigning at all levels within the Service, to retain the management and operation of Custody Suites in the Public Sector (Motion 15 Conference 2005) This Conference notes that with the collapse of the restructuring process of Police Forces in […]

Sickness Policy

This Conference calls upon the Police Service Group Executive to negotiate through the Police Staff Council a sickness policy that can be introduced in all Police Forces. The current sickness policies used by Police Forces are not deemed suitable or indeed fit for purpose by Police Forces. Most of the policies used by current Police […]