Why we do international work

Conference notes UNISON’s long, proud history of internationalism. UNISON is known here and globally for its internationalist perspective on all areas: from organising and fighting privatisation to defending employment and trade union rights. The neo-liberal economic model behind privatisation and outsourcing, cuts in public spending and taxation, the driving down of workers and trade union […]

Don’t let the Tories get away with it again!

Conference notes the extent to which the political landscape changed on 8 May. With its Westminster majority, the Tory government has wasted no time in implementing swingeing budget cuts and deeply regressive policies and laws that were partly tempered when it was in coalition. These include a renewed zeal for public sector ‘pay restraint’; attempts […]

Strengthening branch LGBT self-organisation

Conference notes that self-organisation is at the heart of our union. However, there can be challenges in bringing together members into self organised groups (SOGS) where the employer is dispersed over a wide geographical area, in smaller branches and employers, in multi-employer branches and in fragmented workplaces. Working together with other branches within our towns […]

Raising the bar on bargaining for LGBT equality

Conference believes collective bargaining has a central role in delivering equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers. The visibility of UNISON’s work on LGBT equality in turn benefits recruitment and organising. The Tory government is attacking our rights as workers and as trade unionists. We must strengthen our skills around the bargaining agenda […]

Tory Housing Policy and its Impact on the LGBT Community

Conference believes that it is a human right for everyone to have a safe, secure and affordable home. Conference notes with alarm that the Tory Emergency Budget in July was a horrendous attack on the most vulnerable and poorest in our society. It shows that the Tories are celebrating their small majority Government with a […]

Attacks on Facility time

Conference notes that the Trade Union Bill is just a start on a wide scale attack on trade unions and activists. Clause 13 of the bill includes a reserve power which can permit the government to introduce a cap on the amount of money spent on facility time in the public sector. This, in addition […]

Fighting against the cuts

Conference notes the election results in May and that the Tories will take the opportunity to push through ideological cuts to public services. Over the last five years, branches have seen that training budgets and funding for equality and diversity are amongst the first to be cut. This means that employees have less training or […]

Trans Health Matters!

Conference notes with serious concern the recent report of waiting times for National Health Service (NHS) gender treatment could reach twelve years in some parts of the United Kingdom (UK) unless urgent action is taken. For example, a recent Freedom of Information request by UK Trans Info revealed that by the end of April 2015 […]

Giving young trans people a decent start in life

Conference notes the widespread lack of awareness about young trans people and the issues they face, including within schools. This is made worse by the impact of austerity cuts to specialist and mainstream youth services, to community and support groups and to health services. Conference believes that giving young trans people the information, support and, […]

Raising Awareness for LGBT Police Staff

In many police stations across the country police staff who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) have a working life which is overshadowed by the fear of exposure and ridicule, be it by an accidental or deliberate act. Rural districts are sometimes traditionally conservative communities and their understanding of LGBT issues coloured by […]

Improving services for bisexual people

Conference notes that of all the main sexual orientation groups, bisexual people are the most invisible and least provided for in terms of dedicated or fully relevant and inclusive services. Lack of evidence on bisexual people and services is both a symptom and a cause of wider bisexual invisibility. Conference therefore welcomes the survey report […]

Bi not binary

Conference notes the myths and prejudice that surround bisexuality and bisexual people and how this impacts on people’s working lives. Conference believes that this is partly based on the dominant perception that gender identity and sexual orientation are binaries – woman or man; same sex attraction or opposite sex attraction. This leads to the non-inclusive […]

LGBT and sex worker organising and the fight against HIV

Conference recalls that 2010 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Conference adopted the resolution “Protecting sex workers and tackling prostitution” which recognized there are divergent views within the LGBT group on the issue of criminalising those who purchase sex acts and acknowledged “a need for continuing dialogue, especially where these issues affect men and trans […]

Pride in our past and our future

Conference notes the contradictory situations faced by Pride events in 2015. On the one hand we celebrate the fact that in this year, 30 years after the Miners’ strike, Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) participated in many Pride events across the country – as well as in other trade union events such as […]

Building the challenge to the Tories and UKIP in our regions and nations

Conference notes that the majority Conservative government will have been in power in Westminster for a year by May 2016. The local, regional and devolved nation elections on 5 May will mark a first test of the Conservative’s electoral support and offer a chance to challenge their power at a local and regional level. Conference […]