In autumn 2004, the Prime Minister established a Women and Work Commission to look at how men’s and women’s education and skills affect which jobs they can get; promotion and career progression; women’s experiences in the job market, before and after having children and women’s differing experiences of working either full time and part-time. All […]
Conference motions
Conference recognises that average women’s pay has in recent years fallen below average men’s pay. In view of this, Conference welcomes legislation aimed at ensuring that pay is paid on the basis of what is done and the skills and knowledge required. Most of UNISON’s members are women, therefore for local government workers single status […]
Conference is concerned that throughout their lives issues related to homelessness disproportionately affect women. Conference recognises that homelessness is not merely a question of a roof over a woman’s head but reflects a woman’s right to control where and how she chooses to live. For young women this can be due to family circumstances including […]
Increasingly we read about public service workers being attacked, not only within the workplace but travelling to and from work. Women members who work within the community are particularly vulnerable when accessing the community, answering on-call and going to and from work at unsociable hours. Conference calls upon the National Women’s Committee to: 1)promote lone […]
Conference notes the horrific experiences that many women have of the immigration process in the UK and the role that the Dungavel detention centre in South Lanarkshire has played. Conference recognises that since the detention centre opened, over 100 children have been detained at the centre along with their families. This includes the Ay family […]
Conferences notes with concern the current interest in reviewing the law to reduce the time limits for abortions. The decision to have an abortion is a complex one, involving a range of personal, emotional, social and economical considerations. Conference does not believe that any review on the time limits for abortion should be purely based […]
Conference notes that this year’s conference location is Plymouth. Whilst recognising the restrictions on choice for the conference, due to the scale of the event, this meeting states its concerns with the location chosen. Whilst accepting that any location chosen should have a good standard of facilities we are concerned that the remote geographic location […]
It is estimated that one in ten children is a young carer in the UK today, saving the country an estimated £3 million per year. The majority of these children will be caring for their mother or enabling their mother to work by caring for another family member. The majority of young carers are girls. […]
Conference is pleased to see that UNISON’s national advertising campaign is putting women at the forefront of our recruitment campaign. Conference recognises that recruitment is a key priority for UNISON. It is therefore important that UNISON incorporates into its recruitment strategy work with schools and colleges to educate the next generation of potential members about […]
Conference notes that discrimination against women because they are pregnant continues in the workplace, despite being illegal under sex discrimination legislation. Recent investigations have found that many women are unaware of their rights during pregnancy and that employers, particularly in smaller organisations, were unaware of the law. The same investigation found that health and safety […]
Conference notes the recent ministerial statement encouraging women to produce more children at a time when the cycle of deprivation has yet to be fully addressed. Conference believes that it is irresponsible for the minister to send out this message when there is currently insufficient affordable housing or childcare provision. Conference calls upon the National […]
Conference applauds National Women’s Committee for involving the Women’s Environmental Network at last year’s National Women’s Conference through workshops and stalls. Grampian Health Branch delegates were greatly impressed and gravely concerned by much of the information obtained at last year’s workshop and have used it in our own branch. Conference considers that a national campaign […]
Conference recognises the excellent work done by the National Young Members’ Forum, many branches and colleagues in recruiting young members. Young women, juggling a career, caring responsibilities and further training, often on a low wage, require extra encouragement and support to become active in UNISON. In addition, Conference recognises and appreciates UNISON’s ability to deliver […]
Conference will recall motion 33 from National Women’s Conference 1998 which highlighted the problem of teenage girls being inappropriately placed in adult women’s prisons, in contravention of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which states that juvenile offenders should be separated from adults within the prison system, but that the British government […]
In 2003, National Women’s Conference resolved not to allow UNISON to forget its policy on proportionality. We called for National Women’s Committee to: 1)collate and publish statistics annually which monitor progress towards achieving proportionality throughout UNISON, and to present these annually to Women’s Conference; and 2)ask the National Executive Council to present these findings annually […]