International Lesbian & Gay Association

Conference condemns the homophobic position of countries that voted to reject the International Lesbian and Gay Association’s (ILGA) application for consultative status to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations on 30th April 2002. Conference notes that at least two thirds of these countries operate laws criminalising same-sex relationships. Conference is appalled that […]

LogOUT – The UNISON Local Government Lesbian & Gay Network

Conference urges Regional Lesbian and Gay Groups/Committees each to appoint a regional contact for the Local Government Network.

Britannia Building Society

Conference recalls resolutions of earlier conferences expressing concern whether the UNISON PLUS partner companies offer UNISON members a consistently non discriminatory service. It recalls particularly the resolution of the sixth conference which instructed the National Lesbian and Gay Committee to work with the National Executive Council to remind companies of the importnat that their policies […]

Campaign for Reparation

Conference is appalled that the current Government refuses to recognise slavery as a crime against humanity, claiming it was “legal at the time”. Conference condemns the current Government for opposing reparation at the United Nations’ Anti-racism conference in Durban, South Africa last year. Conference recognises slavery as a heinous crime against our Black brothers and […]

Religious Schools and Other Religious Employers

Conference notes: 1.That the Church of England controls about a third of English schools despite having the active support of only about 3% of English people. 2.That the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, which applies in England and Wales, enables governing bodies of religious schools to employ teachers who have a commitment to the […]

Sex Discrimination Act

Conference notes that the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 outlaws discrimination against somebody on the grounds they are maaried but not on the grounds that they are unmarried. Conference calls for an amendment to the act so it provides equal protection for married and unmarried people.

UNISON’s 10th Anniversary

Conference notes that 2003 will be UNISON’s 10th Anniversary. This will be a milestone anniversary of the coming together of the original 3 unions (COHSE, NUPE and NALGO). These 10 years have seen many achievements that UNISON should be proud of. Therefore this anniversary should be an opportunity to reflect on our achievements and renew […]

Joint Scotland & Northern Ireland Training Event

Conference recognises the valuable experience that regional training offers to groups and individual members. This training is further beneficial when it involves more than one region, and in April of this year UNISON Scotland hosted a joint event with our colleagues in Northern Ireland. This event was a reciprocal event following on from the success […]

Recognition of our Families and Partnerships

Conference welcomes the broadening of the debate on recognition of lesbian and gay partnerships. Conference notes that the Government has set up a team in the Women and Equality Unit to look into the issue of civil partnership registration and its associated rights and responsibilities and welcomes the participation of UNISON members in a survey […]

Procurement and Equalities

Conference notes that the Audit Commission recently raised concerns on the performance of local authorities in respect of equalities, particularly in service delivery. Conference therefore welcomes the amendment to the Local Government Act 1988 part II powers, which removes the restriction preventing equality considerations from being taken into account in the awarding of contracts when […]

Term of Office on National Lesbian and Gay Committee

Conference instructs the National Lesbian and Gay Committee (NLGC) to increase the term of office for NLGC representatives from one to two years.

Freedom of Access to Libraries and Information

This Conference notes that despite the fact that visually impaired and deaf people pay for library services through their council taxes many are unable to access the services provided. In order to resolve this problem we call for: 1)Local authorities to maintain expanding collections of audio, large print titles and subtitled videos; 2)Operation of a […]

Discrimination at Interviews

Conference requests that UNISON, through its structures, uses its powers to stop the discrimination against the disabled members of this union when they go for interviews. They are at present being made to do extra qualifying points because they declare that they are disabled. We wish for this discrimination to stop and UNISON to use […]

Equalities Commission*

This Conference notes with concern the Government’s proposal to merge the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Commission for Racial Equality into one Equalities Commission. We believe this would be detrimental to the interests of disabled people. The DRC was formed in 2000 and it has already made significant progress against […]

Pensions

Conference is appalled at the changes taking place in pension provision, involving movement from final salary schemes towards money purchase schemes across the public, private and voluntary sector. Conference notes that disabled people are usually in lower paid jobs and have shorter working lives than other workers due to a culture of enforced early retirement. […]