Universal Childcare

Childcare still remains a barrier to women in the workforce, with access to provision determined by class and income. Currently, all families are entitled to free childcare for 3-4 yr olds, but families with an income of over 16 hours on minimum wage are eligible for 30 hours of free childcare a week for the […]

Supporting women after stillbirth

Conference is aware that a stillborn baby is one who has died before or during birth and at or after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Unfortunately; this is not a rare tragedy as around 15 babies die before, during or soon after birth every day in the UK. Sadly, this equates to 1 in 225 babies […]

Women’s Health, Safety and Wellbeing in the Workplace

Conference congratulates the National Women’s Committee for 25 years of policy development and campaigning on women’s health, safety and wellbeing. Progress on this area of work is vital for working women and should remain a key priority for the National Women’s Committee and UNISON. To enable women activists to access and share the knowledge and […]

MAKING THE LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER (LGBT) GROUP FULLY INCLUSIVE OF WOMEN’S IDENTITIES

Conference notes that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) self organised group (SOG) has always sought to be fully representative of its diverse membership, in line with UNISON’s rules. It notes that the LGBT group works with inclusive, umbrella definitions of bisexual and transgender. It’s bi network is for all members who feel attraction […]

Women’s Employment and Learning in the workplace

Conference notes the strong evidence that cuts to the public sector affect women more than men. 65% of public service workers are women and almost a quarter of working women are in public sector jobs. Job cuts, pay freezes and changes to terms and conditions in the public sector are impacting more on women than […]

Understanding Maternity Rights

Since the Equality Act (2010) introduced the specific protected characteristic of pregnancy and maternity, discrimination laws have improved working and maternity conditions for new mothers. However, the law is still quite complicated for new mothers and navigating their way through entitlements can often appear daunting and with many employers also not knowledgeable enough to administer […]

Promoting Development of Women Activists

Promoting Development of Women Activists UNISON has a proud record of delivering union based learning for both members and activists; we recognise that many women become involved as stewards, Health and Safety Reps, Learning Reps and Equality Reps by being involved in courses provided by UNISON. We have long been proud of the fact that […]

Making our women history

As we look back over a year of celebrating women’s suffrage and some women gaining the right to vote, it has become all too apparent that our women, working class women are rarely recognised or documented in history. The celebrations we have been part of has been brilliant for raising awareness of the difference women […]

Football and the rise of domestic violence

Football is part of our national culture, none more so than when the World Cup is played and our four great nations are entered in to the play offs. Yet each year our police forces prepare around the rise of domestic abuse and violence as the statistics have shown. Football in its self is only […]

Period Pain

Periods are a fact of life for women everywhere, yet they are still by many regarded as a stigma which cannot be discussed, and which women should just endure quietly without inconveniencing anyone. While some women suffer only mild symptoms many suffer severe debilitating pain and cramps every month. Ahead of International Day of the […]

Time to talk about menstrual health

Issues surrounding menstrual health and the impact on the working lives of women are largely hidden from society. Research conducted by YouGov finds that 91% of women have experienced period pain at some point in their working life. 57% of women in employment suffering from period pain say that it has affected their ability to […]

Call it out! Supporting young women to challenge workplace sexual harassment

#MeToo has transformed the debate around sexual harassment, with cases being reported in the media more than ever before. UNISON needs to ensure that the voices of working women are highlighted in the #MeToo debate, and that young women know UNISON can support them in cases of sexual harassment. The Young Women’s Trust found in […]

Caring About Women Carers in the workplace

This Conference Notes that: It is recognised that the role of women in society has changed dramatically because the changes to The State Pension Age has forced most women to continue working for an extra 6 years. Statistics show that around 3.34 million women are carers and many women find themselves having caring responsibilities for […]

Abortion Clinic Buffer Zones

This conference notes 1)UNISON’s position in recognising a women’s right to choose. 2)The decision to terminate a pregnancy is a difficult one for a woman. 3)That women often face protests outside clinics and hospitals when seeking an abortion. Furthermore this conference notes that: Despite the Abortion Clinic Review undertaken by the Home Office identifying at […]

Organising Against the Odds

Last year’s women’s conference agreed that organising among low paid women should be a union priority. It was shown that shockingly more than half of UNISONs women members meet the criteria of being classed as low paid. Conference discussed the fact that fragmented workforces are often blamed as to why organising amongst this group of […]