Conference is deeply alarmed at the rise in visible, expressed racism over the past year. Across the UK, racist attacks on Black communities and those perceived to be of migrant backgrounds rose dramatically in the aftermath of the EU referendum result. This legitimisation of public displays of prejudice has led to UNISON’s migrant worker members […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that the triggering of Article 50 in early 2017 is a decision that affects working people, their families and communities in the UK, in the European Union and broader Europe. The Exiting the EU negotiations require that the government both seeks to leave the EU but also negotiates a new relationship and trade […]
Conference notes that outsourcing and privatisation constitute a failed economic model for local government services. It only serves to reduce our members’ pay, terms and conditions and maximise profits for contractors, consultants and shareholders. Conference also notes that services get worse following privatisation and outsourcing. Private companies have a legal duty to reward shareholders, so […]
Conference, there are three areas of concern. The crisis in Social Care, the underfunding of our NHS and decimation of our Community Care services, all combine to create a perfect storm. The scale of the problems now faced by adult social care providers are enormous, and are the direct result of massive Government cuts to […]
Conference recognises that the social care system is in crisis. Council spending on social care fell by 9% in real terms between 2010 and 2015 due to huge funding cuts from central government. The number of pensioners receiving care from their local council fell by 26% over that period. The King’s Fund estimate that the […]
Social care plays a vital and growing role in our society. Yet increasing demand, falling real terms funding, and increasingly complex care needs has put the sector under significant strain. Social Care workers are often the people who are at the sharp end following cuts in public services elsewhere – dealing with clients who cannot […]
The neverending UK housing crisis means that millions of workers and their families live in expensive, overcrowded and insecure homes. Often these homes are long distances away from work or family and involve many hours of daily commutes. Conversely UNISON research has shown many families have grown up children living with them not out of […]
UNISON takes pride in being a member-led, democratic union. It is in this spirit that conference notes with concern the decision taken by our Higher Education Service Group Executive (HESGE) to overturn the democratic decision taken by our members in the 2016 ballot over pay. This decision also overturned the mandate set at this conference […]
Conference notes that members in Higher Education have lost the equivalent of between £1,585 and £8,248 over the last six years, while at the same time having to deliver a professional service despite severe cuts, redundancies, reorganisations and increased workloads. Members continue to carry out their duties even though their pay has failed to keep […]
This generation is facing a housing crisis that is supporting ‘generation rent’ and the ‘boomerang’ generation. The majority of young women, the low paid, and those on a fixed income (including disabled and/or retired women) are struggling to find acceptable and affordable housing as private rental costs continue to rise. Between 2014 – 15 (Guardian […]
Research continues to show that the significant disproportionate negative impacts of the government’s austerity policies fall on women, particularly Black women and women who are low paid and/or from low income households (in which women dominate) despite government claims that the burden would be shared equally. Women are the primary carers for children and the […]
A report published by the Institute of Fiscal Studies into the gender wage gap has found that women experience a gradual but continual rise in the gap once they have their first child. The study also found, on average, that the hourly wages of female employees are currently about 18 per cent lower than men’s. […]
Safe travel for women Conference will be aware that there has been some discussion regarding safe travel for women in the past year, in particular there have been concerns about the removal of train guards on some journeys placing females at an increased risk of unwanted attention and in more serious cases physical and sexual […]
UNISON was formed in 1993 and at that time, proportionality was a radical and hotly contested inclusion within the rule book. UNISON rules state: 2.12.2 “Proportionality” is the representation of women and men in fair proportion to the relevant number of female and male members comprising the electorate. UNISON women’s membership is currently at 77% […]