All women can experience violence from men they know, irrespective of their nationality, religion, ethnicity, culture, social class, age, sexuality or dis/ability. Evidence suggests that prevalence of male violence is similar across all socio-economic and cultural groups. Domestic Abuse is still happening in Black communities and is on the increase due to job cuts, women’s […]
Conference motions
Conference, women make up more than 70% of UNISON members. According to Rule D.1.4, UNISON is committed to fair representation and proportionality. However, in the public sector where many of our members are Black women, we see very few Black women represented at branch, regional and national level; despite statistics telling us that Black people […]
The number of homeless women and children has risen since 2010 by more than 60% and is likely to continue as it’s been driven by government welfare reforms. The lack of social housing and the cost of private sector rents which has gone up by three times as much as the wages and added to […]
Conference notes that despite more than three quarters of UNISON’s members being women, there is no rule book post of branch women’s officer. While it is acknowledged that there is capacity to create a branch women’s officer post this is optional, and it is apparent that many branches are choosing to opt out, rather than […]
Conference notes that in Northern Ireland, women still bear the major role of unpaid primary carer for their children and that the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Executive has not developed a childcare strategy that delivers adequate, accessible and affordable childcare for all. Conference believes that access to affordable and appropriate childcare provision in Northern […]
Conference deplores the decision of the UK government to limit child tax credit to the first two children, claiming that it wanted “people on benefits to make the same choices as those supporting themselves solely through work”. Conference believes that the restriction of the child tax credit to the first two children is fundamentally wrong, […]
Conference notes that women’s conference 2017 carried motions 29 – Safe travel and Motion 30 – Driver only trains deny accessible support for disabled women. The survey of women members that was subsequently undertaken showed that women-only carriages were very low priority for the women who replied and that improved safety on current provision including […]
More than half of UNISONs women members meet the criteria in terms of being classed as low paid however these women are not always represented throughout our union structures. Women make up three quarters of the union’s membership yet this figure does not translate when looking at senior positions – 49% of Branch Secretaries are […]
Conference notes that Nottinghamshire Police, supported by Nottingham Women’s Centre made history in 2016 by becoming the first force in the country to recognise misogyny as a hate crime. The additional category applies to a range of incidents reported to the police, from street harassment through to physical intrusions on women’s space. This is defined […]
According to statistics from Wise campaign research shows that at GCSE level engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects has a broadly similar gender split. At this level female students are achieving higher or equal average A*-C grades compared to males. In addition according to the Women’s Education Society, at A Level this […]
This Conference believes that sexism in the workplace is still prevalent, despite being challenged by women organising against it predominantly through collective action. This Conference also believes that young women face double-discrimination through sexism and discrimination against them on grounds of age. This is manifested through bullying, harassment – and sexual harassment in particular. It […]
This Conference welcomes annual UNISON’s equality survey as a way of getting statistical information to support our equality bargaining agenda, and also organisational information. This Conference notes that this year 248 young women members responded to the survey questionnaire, approximately 4% of all women members that participated. This proportion is in line with their representation […]
Conference notes with concern that in Rules G2.4.1 and Rule G4.1.1 Women’s officer is not listed as a general branch officer, meaning that some branches will not include this post in the list of positions that they seek to fill. Given that the majority of UNISON members are women, conference believes that the role of […]
Conference notes: 1)By the end of 2017, members in Higher Education will have lost the equivalent of one fifth of their pay since 2009/10. 2)At the same time, Senior Managers have seen their salaries consistently increase above the rate of inflation, with twenty-three Vice Chancellors taking an increase of 10% or more last year. Conference […]
The last general election saw thousands of young people registering to vote for the very first time. Youth engagement with politics led to a change in the political landscape. Subsequent debates amongst MPs has shown them that the issues important to them will be taken up by politicians when there is strength in numbers. While […]