Getting away with murder

Conference notes the recent report ‘Getting Away With Murder’ from the UK Disabled People’s Council (UKDPC) endorsed by the TUC and Crown Prosecution Service, which looks at all aspects of disability hate crime and follows recent cases of violent attacks and deaths of disabled people. Whilst these attacks have been targeted specifically at disabled people, […]

Delivering local government services without prejudice

Conference notes that whilst an Employment Tribunal ruling does not set legal precedent, widespread publicity for the judgement in the case of Ms Ladele v London Borough of Islington (2203694/2007 July 2008) added to the false impression that local government workers can claim their religion or belief as a reason for discriminating against lesbian, gay, […]

Pride is a Protest

Conference recognises that Pride events are a celebration of the lesbian, gay, gisexual and transgender (LGBT) movement’s successes and achievements over the past 50 years. Conference also recognises that pride is a protest, an opportunity for our movement to organise and promote the cause of LGBT people, as well as a prime opportunity to engage […]

Criminalisation and enforced testing of people suspected of being HIV positive in Egypt

This not only violates the most basic rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and people living with HIV, it also threatens public health, by making it dangerous for anyone to seek information about HIV prevention or treatment. The most recent arrests occurred after police followed up on information coerced from men already […]

Equality Training

Conference welcomes the progress made in raising the profile of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) participation in our union. UNISON has been at the forefront of the equality agenda and we can be proud of our achievements in continuing to support and encourage self organisation at all levels. We would like to encourage representatives […]

Freedom of Information : Disproportionate Funding

The Freedom of Information Act (2000) provides a context within which details of public service expenditure can be made public. The Freedom of Information Act applies to all ‘public authorities’: – this includes 1central and local government; 2the Health Service; 3schools, colleges and universities; 4the Police; 5many other non-departmental public bodies, committees, and advisory bodies. […]

Out in the Country – Addressing the Needs of Rural LGBT People

Conference notes that life for many of our members can be difficult. In addition to the challenges of heterosexism, homophobia, bipobia and transphobia, for many LGBT people rural living presents added difficulties including social and geographical isolation, transportation problems, and lack of basic resources, facilities and services. To address the social exclusion and isolation of […]

Gender Reassignment and Workplace stress

Conference welcomes the partnership work between the Scottish Transgender Alliance and UNISON which has resulted in the creation of a new Guide for UNISON Reps on Supporting Transgender Members at Work. Conference also welcomes that the UNISON Bargaining Factsheet on Negotiating for Trans Workers’ Rights was updated in May to take account of the new […]

Confusion around Gender Recognition Certificates

Conference recognises that human rights must be universal, not conditional, and therefore all trans people must have their dignity upheld and their gender identity and privacy respected regardless of their physical anatomy or legal gender. Conference welcomes that the Gender Recognition Act 2004 makes it a criminal offence for someone who acquires information in an […]

Playing Our Part – Mainstreaming Recruitment within our Self Organised Group

Conference notes that trade union membership density in most employers where UNISON has members has been falling in recent years and that less than one in two public sector workers are members of UNISON. Conference recognises that we need to grow in numbers and density to grow in influence with employers and the government and […]

Taking Our Place in Public Life

Conference notes that despite some high profile achievements, the participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in public and political life remains low. Stonewall’s 2008 “Serves you Right” report found that there were no openly gay or lesbian people in the British cabinet, the Scottish cabinet or the Welsh cabinet. There were only […]

Homophobia in Sport

Conference welcomes the initiative launched by The Premiership and Football League in trying to rid football from homophobia. Whilst recognising that this is a good starting point, conference believes that more work is needed to ensure the campaign develops in success to the levels achieved by UNISON involvement in campaigns such as ‘Show Racism the […]

Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and LGBT Equality

Conference welcomes the creation of the EHRC whose job is to provide support to equality and human rights in England, Scotland and Wales, while in Northern Ireland (NI) the NI Equality Commission has existed for some time. Conference welcomes the fact that one of the areas prioritised by the Commission has been to litigate in […]

Increasing Effective Participation of Low Paid LGBT Members

Conference welcomes the new UNISON Equality Scheme which, in addition to covering the statutory equality streams of gender, gender identity, race, disability, sexual orientation, age and religion/belief, also seeks to ensure equality within the union on the grounds of low pay. Conference acknowledges that although the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) self organised group […]

Working in Solidarity

Conference welcomes the progress made in raising the profile of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) participation in our union. We can be proud of our achievements in continuing to support and encourage self organisation at all levels of our union. Most of us take it for granted that we can organise and meet to […]