Conference notes that despite surrogacy being legal in the United Kingdom the intended parents have few legal rights unless they happen to be male. An intended father can gain shared parental responsibility as soon as the child is born by the child being registered in his name, with him named on the birth certificate as […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is wanted in Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault. Conference further notes that a UK Court approved the extradition of Assange to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault, but that he has now been granted asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in […]
Conference notes UNISON’s proud record on working towards equality both in its internal structures and in its bargaining and campaigning agenda. Conference notes that one of the key strategies for UNISON to achieve equality of representation and engagement within UNISON has been proportionality. Proportionality is defined as “the representation of women and men in fair […]
This conference is aghast at the negative and relentless attacks on women perpetrated by this Tory led coalition government. Women face attacks on their employment, their terms and conditions, increasingly unaffordable costs of childcare, cuts to working families tax credits, housing, welfare provision, and sure start to name but a few. In addition, the National […]
This Conference notes: Domestic Abuse takes many forms. However, the issue of Forced Marriage and Honour Based Violence places women, children and vulnerable adults at risk of rape, physical and mental harm and can end in murder. There is a huge difference between Arranged Marriages and Forced Marriages and we must be able to ensure […]
This Conference notes: The strategy by the Con Dem coalition to reduce the deficit is having a detrimental effect on the whole of society; however, the main impact of these cuts affects women. The proposed changes to Welfare Reform will see family slide further into poverty, women will find themselves in the predicament of either […]
Conference notes the disproportionate negative impact the Tory led cuts are having on our women members. This Tory led government feels that any job is better than no job but the simple fact is any job working any hours sometimes doesn’t pay the bills! More women are suffering cuts to their contractual hours or are […]
This conference notes The current Tory led coalition’s cuts to the public sector have had a significant impact on women working in the public sector. The cuts Impact on the ability of women to remain in employment and those that do come under enormous pressure to over perform. Government ministers have openly said that if […]
Conference believes that under the pressure of the austerity policies adopted by management of both public and private sector organisations, women workers are being victimised by the unsympathetic enforcement of sickness absence procedures for short term absence. Women experiencing menstrual and menopausal symptoms continue to feel the pressure and prejudice of having ‘women’s problems’ which […]
Conference will be aware that at the Tory Party Conference in October 2012, the announcements were made to extend attacks on facility time in the public sector. Britain has a tradition of progressing industrial relations through a joint approach with the trade unions. Public sector employers recognise the worth in having facility time as a […]
UNISON is proud to be the leading trade union for women. We have a solid history of women being at the heart of the union; through enshrining self organisation into our rule book along with proportionality. As a union which is majority female we do not just talk the talk. Women are the foundation on […]
As National Women’s Conference is aware, UNISON is facing one of the most challenging times in our existence. One of the consequences of the job losses we are experiencing is the loss of many of our senior/experienced activists. Never has there been a more important time to encourage new women activists to come forward into […]
Conference notes that the issue of work-related stress has been of major concern to our union for many years. UNISON branches have been successful in negotiating workplace policies on stress and mental wellbeing and supporting members to remain in work, and UNISON has won compensation for members forced out of the workplace by unsympathetic employers. […]
Conference is concerned to note that in this time of austerity measures maternity, adoption, surrogacy and parental provisions are often being targeted by employers seeking to make savings in their budgets, particularly for those members working in the community and voluntary sector. Pregnancy discrimination already affects tens of thousands of women each year, with pregnant […]
Conference is deeply concerned at the potentially damaging effect that the government’s welfare reform and universal credit will have on women, their families and their lives. Already the changes to working tax credit, requiring at least one person in the household to work more than 24 hours per week, have meant that hundreds of thousands […]