Child marriage is child labour

Conference notes that in September 2016 the International Labour Organisation (ILO) launched the Alliance 8.7, an initiative which will bring together all interested parties to join forces in achieving UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development target 8.7, aiming at a world without forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking and child labour. Conference welcomes the initiative, […]

Recruiting and organising Black members in the fragmented workforce

It is important that Black workers and members are equipped for the challenges within the changing and evolving landscape of the UK today. Conference recognises that a high proportion of Black workers eligible to join UNISON work in the fragmented workforce where they experience low pay and poor working conditions. Conference believes that recruitment is […]

Immigration and the effects of the EU Referendum and the Brexit Vote

The EU Referendum on 23 June 2016 and the decision of the United Kingdom (UK) to leave the European Union sent shock waves through communities with the immigration debate becoming ever more toxic. The campaign itself resulted in unacceptable language and propaganda being used about immigration generating fear, division and a ‘them and us’ rhetoric. […]

Invisible or Non-Apparent Disabilities

Conference believes that disabled people and young disabled people in particular are being subjected to discrimination because of disabilities that are not immediately apparent or a diagnosis has not yet been made. The impact of such disabilities can lead to people being wrongly labelled as “lazy”, or worse, and feeding the stereotype of those with […]

Mental Health Champions

Conference recognises that good mental health support for members in UNISON is of vital importance and congratulates Cymru/Wales Region on their initiatives and development of Mental Health Champions. UNISON Cymru/Wales has been active on mental health for some time. Last year, with the help of Mind Cymru and Time to Change Wales, Cymru/Wales Disabled Self […]

STPs – The future of the NHS?

Conference notes that despite their often bland phrasing and heavy cosmetic decoration with proposals for improved integration of services, collaboration between providers and with commissioners, and public health measures which we could all endorse, the 44 Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) in England represent proposals for over £24 billion of cuts, “efficiencies” and “savings” by […]

Safe Driving

Many UNISON members working in Energy will be familiar with various safe driving initiatives introduced by energy employers. This development will include not just broad awareness of the hazards of driving but also tracking devices which can monitor speed, braking distances, erratic driving etc. Although UNISON would support common sense approaches to ensure we all […]

Hydrogen Gas

Conference notes that UNISON is the largest staff union in the UK gas industry and has a proud heritage of supporting Gas members going back to local municipal gas corporations. Conference further notes that UNISON has members working right across the industrial spectrum from qualified engineers, scientists, finance, managerial, customer contact, emergency response, shipping terminals. […]

Rule C Becoming a Member

C 5.1 Insert “or by using the prescribed on-line system for joining” after “sign a prescribed form of application for membership” At the end of C 5.1 add “Membership shall commence on the date details of membership are entered into the membership records system.”

Pay – Tackling In-Work Poverty

Conference notes research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in December 2016 which showed that a record 3.8 million people – one eighth of the workforce – are below the poverty line despite being in work. This means that a shocking total of 7.4 million people, including 2.6 million children, are living in poverty despite being […]

Getting the public on our side – public service campaigning

Close to a decade since the beginning of the global financial crisis, the pressure on public services and those that provide them remains unrelenting. Despite the unprecedented cuts that our members and the communities that they serve have already experienced, a raft of further measures now threaten to push services to breaking point. These include […]

Developing An Organising Branch

Conference recognises the increasingly hostile environment in which UNISON branches are operating. Austerity cuts have reduced the number of activists and put further pressure on facility time; while increased fragmentation of the workforce has made organising more difficult. Meanwhile the need for us to develop an organising approach has never been greater. There is no […]

Dying to work campaign

Conference notes that the Equality Act provides protections against discriminatory treatment based on the concept of Protected Characteristics. Currently workers with a terminal illness are not classified as having a Protected Characteristic and therefore have very limited legal protection against employers dismissing them due to illness. Conference notes that employers are therefore free to dismiss […]

Rule M Data Protection Act policy

M 6 Delete existing title and replace with “M6 Data protection” In M 6.2 insert “and requirements” after “data protection principles” Delete existing M 6.4 and replace with: “6.4 a member seeking to enforce his/her rights should address them to the Data Protection Officer. Any such requests that are received by a branch or union […]

Challenging Racism and Xenophobia

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 […]