Ethical care

Conference notes that many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are less able than others to rely on family support in old age so may be more reliant on home care services. Conference is concerned about the quality of such services and whether they address the needs of LGBT people. Conference also notes that […]

Intersex members

Conference welcomes the adoption in June by the Australian Parliament of a Bill extending the provisions of the country’s Sex Discrimination Act so as to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status in areas including employment, the provision of goods and services, and education. This is the first time […]

Equal Treatment for LGBT Asylum Seekers in the UK Asylum System

Conference notes that consensual acts between same-sex adults are criminalised in 80 United Nations member states and homosexuality results in the death penalty in 6 of these countries. Of the 54 states in the Commonwealth, homosexual activity remains a criminal offence in 41 of the 54 nations. Conference further notes that the picture for transgender […]

Equal Pension Rights for LGBT Couples

Conference welcomes the intention of the Scottish Government to ensure that there is equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) couples when it comes to pensions that are under Scottish control. Hence LGBT teachers, local government workers, NHS staff and police and fire service personnel will have equality in pension provision in Scotland. As […]

Winter Fuel Allowance

Conference is very concerned that the Coalition Government’s Budget on 21 March 2013 did nothing to help pensioners who are unable to cope with high winter fuel bills. The Winter Fuel Allowance was reduced in March 2011 by £100 (down from £400 to £300) for the over 80’s households and by £50 (down from £250 […]

RETIRED MEMBERS ORGANISING IN UNISON

Due to the Coalition Government’s twin track to on the one hand selling off as much of the public sector as they can, and on the other hand frantically slashing any services and budgets they still control in order to cut their way out of the recession caused in part by their policies in the […]

Liverpool Care Pathway

This Conference notes that the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) has been the subject of emotive reporting across all media recently. These reports have included allegations that NHS staff are using the LCP to justify prematurely ending the life of older people who are bed blocking and/or costing too much to treat. It has also been […]

Carer’s Allowance

Conference believes that as many older people as possible who need care and support should, where practicable, be able to remain in their own homes. Conference believes that both the current and proposed means tested Carer’s Allowance is inadequate and results in many people choosing not to be carers to family or friends because they […]

UNISON Website – Retired Members’ Page

Conference notes that, in contrast to the rest of the UNISON website, the Retired Members’ page is sparse, seldom revised, badly out of date and has been so for a long time. Conference believes this reflects poorly upon UNISON. Conference instructs the National Retired Members’ Committee to seek to have the page maintained to the […]

UNISON Charter for Older People

Conference recalls the UNISON Charter for Older People which was, it found, useful material to retain members at retirement and to promote UNISON, its Retired Members’ Organisation and trades unionism generally to old people and their organisations. Conference is disappointed that the charter is long out of print and there are no plans to re-issue […]

Pension Credit

Conference notes that: 1)there are two kinds of Pension Credit, Guarantee Credit which sets a minimum income for everybody over the qualifying age, and Savings Credit, which seeks to ensure that people over 65 who have saved a modest amount for old age are better off as a result; 2)four in ten pensioners qualify for […]

One in Eight – Make it Count!

Conference notes that of UNISON’s membership of 1,306,500 at 30 September 2012, over 160,000, nearly one-eighth, were Retired Members. Conference also notes that the general management and control of the union between National Delegate Conferences is vested in the National Executive Council (NEC) which has full power and authority, subject to the rules and National […]

INFLUENCING THE NEW NHS

Conference is aware that health and social care are areas of major concern to retired members and that the changes to the NHS arising from the Health and Social Care Act 2012 will impact on the services provided to older people. Conference notes that UNISON fought a hard battle against the government’s Health and Social […]

CANCER TREATMENT IS BEING DENIED TO OLDER WOMEN

Conference is very concerned that women aged 70 and over are being denied adjuvant (ie, additional treatment) chemotherapy in the treatment of breast cancer – the standard of care in younger patients according to a new study. Researchers from Brighton & Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, found that only 14% of patients over 70 […]

AMENDMENT TO STANDING ORDER 6 – TELLERS

Delete “Tellers will be appointed from amongst the members of staff present” And insert “Conference shall appoint delegates to act as tellers”.