Women Supporting Women: Feminist Leadership

We embrace the increasing number of women in leadership roles within society and we hope to see this trend continue, given that men are still disproportionately represented in senior decision making roles. However, there are sadly many examples, including our women Prime Ministers to date, of women failing to advance the equality of women when […]

Health & Safety Testing – A world built for men

For too long, women have been forgotten in the design process. Criado Perez�s recent book �Invisible Women� explains how men�s dominance of the design industry has had a major impact on women�s health and safety.Not only do less women than men work in the design industry, designs are generally created with men in mind, and […]

Ending the Hostile Environment for Pregnant Women

In the UK, everybody has a right to free medical treatment in instances of accident and emergency, however, the legislation around who can receive non-emergency medical treatment and whether, and when, payment is required depends on two things:;The patient�s immigration status,;The urgency of the treatment requiredFor UK citizens ordinarily resident in the UK and for […]

Menopause – A workplace issue

Roughly half of UK workers are women, all of whom will experience the menopausein some form. The office of National Statistics Information informs us that there are currently 3.5 million women workers over the age of 50 in the UK which is almost half (45%) of the over 50 workforce. UNISON is a union of […]

Early Miscarriage Misery

Women�s conference notesEarly miscarriage happens in the first trimester of a woman�s pregnancy.Many employers do not recognise early miscarriage under their sickness procedure.Figures gathered by the Miscarriage Association show that 250,000 women in the UK suffer from a miscarriage. This equates to 1 in 4 women.The signs of a miscarriage differ to each person but […]

IMPACT OF THE GENDER PAY GAP ON WOMEN

50 years since the introduction of the Equal Pay Act in the UK, there is no sector in the economy where women are paid the same as men. In 2019 the median pay gap was a shocking 11.9 per cent. In the public sector the pay gap is a shocking 16.7 per cent, an increase […]

Disproportionality in The Treatment of Women Suffering Heart Attacks

Conference notes with great concern research conducted by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) confirming that 50% of women were more likely to receive wrong diagnosis when suffering heart attacks and that over 10 years 8,200 women in England and Wales died needless after a heart attack. The BHF report highlights that each year around 35,000 […]

Producing a Women’s Magazine

Conference is concerned that there is a section of the women�s membership that don�t have access to computers, including low paid women or those who may not be computer literate. As a consequence, they are losing out on vital information pertaining to issues that directly affect women, for example the menopause or maternity/parental rights etc.Conference […]

OUR NHS – NOT FOR SALE, NOT A BARGAINING CHIP IN TRADE DEALS

The NHS was created over 70 years ago. It is the jewel in the crown of Britain and a radical achievement of the Labour Party. Established just 3 years after the end of World War ll. Aneurin Bevan�s ambition was to build a health service based on 4 principles: Free at the point of use, […]

Employer with Heart Charter

Conference notes that:Women who give birth prematurely, currently have the same amount of maternity leave as a woman whose pregnancy goes full term. A woman who has a premature baby would have to start their 12 month maternity leave from the day of the birth, regardless of whether they are already on maternity leave.Babies born […]

The reality of social care – unfunded increase in pay

Conference notes with concern the continuing pressures on council-funded social care services. Social care services and the NHS both face increasing demands and new challenges including an ageing population, lifestyle changes, public expectations and new and emerging medical and digital technologies.Conference is aware of the need to develop a long-term workforce strategy in partnership with […]

Women on the Cliff Edge

Conference notes with alarm the proportion of women forced into poverty by changes to the benefits system. Rather than providing a safety net for women when they need it, the way that the current system and in particular Universal Credit is structured causes in work poverty rather than challenging it.In August 2019, it was reported […]

Sexual Harassment – where are we now?

Conference, in 2017 a motion was proposed to this conference following the publication of a report by the TUC in 2016 entitled ��Still Just A Bit of Banter��. This report highlighted the ubiquitous sexual harassment that was going on in our workplaces, and even more concerning, the lack of reporting of this harassment to employers […]

Equal Pay

“This Conference notes:2020 is the 50th Anniversary of the introduction of The Equal Pay Act.Conference celebrates the successes of UNISON in using the legislation to achieve equal pay for large numbers of its low paid women members, in particular those in local government. Conference welcomes that in 2017 the Government introduced compulsory gender pay gap […]

Women In Leadership

“Conference notes that the gender pay gap figures produced on 31 March 2019 stated that the current gender pay gap has risen slightly to 14.2% from 14% the year before. Whilst the public sector pay data is 4% lower than the overall pay gap across all sectors, it is concerning that it is rising in […]