Conference notes the continuing and pervasive nature of racism experienced by Black members in workplaces across Britain. Conference further notes the abundant evidence that has been generated as a result of monitoring under the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000) to show that Black people continue to be under-represented in the workplace, and that this gets […]
Conference motions
Conference notes the outcome of the judicial review gained by Southall Black Sisters into Ealing Council’s decision to withdraw their funding. The finding being that the Council had failed to do a proper assessment of the potential impact of such a move. The Council’s decision was in part based on Government promoted principle that single […]
Conference notes the motion passed at National Black Members’ Conference in 2007 supporting calls for a Review Conference to follow up the UN World Conference Against Racism that took place in 2001. Conference further notes that UNISON Black members are working with community – led groups like the Global Afrikan Congress (GAC) and have made […]
We as Black members in the largest public sector union in Europe are fortunate that we enjoy access to representation, legal and other forms of aid as a result of our subscriptions. Some of our fellow trade unionists around the world are not so fortunate. The Israeli national trade union centre Histadrut and the Palestinian […]
“When an amendment is defeated, a further amendment may be moved to the original motion.” Change to “When an amendment is defeated, the amendment which follows it on the Conference Order papers shall be moved.” “When an amendment to a motion is carried, the motion as so amended shall become the substantive motion, to which […]
New Standing Order 10.4 “If there has been no speaker against a motion, no questions asked about the motion and any amendments have been accepted by the mover of the motion then there is no right of reply as there is nothing to reply to.”
Black members are still facing an uphill battle in the workplace; they encounter barriers in career progression, daily oppression from organisations institutional racist cultures and treated differently when raising grievances against employers which lead to the victimisation against many Black members. There is a common theme that for too long employers have been able to […]
Conference notes that In a shocking documentary on BBC2, it was revealed that British American Tobacco Industry (BAT) were promoting the sale of single stick cigarettes in countries such as Mauritius, Nigeria and Malawi thereby attracting children as young as 11 years old to purchase single stick cigarettes that worked out cheaper than the alternative […]
The presentation on legal migration is concerned with policy on the admission of workers to Britain for employment and on the entitlement of such workers once admitted. Government policy on economic migration was set out in the five year strategy announced in February 2005, “Controlling out Borders: Making Migration Work for Britain”. Among other things […]
Conference notes the alarming figures outlined in a research highlighting poverty amongst black groups. In April 2007 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) published a report confirming that the poverty rate for Britain’s minority ethnic groups stands at 40%, double the 20% found amongst white British people. Minority ethnic groups are also being overlooked for jobs […]
Conference notes the recent spate of knife, gang and gun-related murders of Black youths is deeply concerning. However, former Prime Minister, Tony Blair’s comments that Black communities fail to denounce these crimes and that Black culture is responsible for these tragedies is completely wrong. Black community groups and activists have highlighted that government response to […]
UNISON’s delegation to the National Assembly Against Racism AGM held in November 2007 heard a speech from Sakira Singh. Sakira Singh, a 14 year old school girl from South Wales has been repeatedly excluded from school because of wearing an article of faith – the Kara – that represents her belief. Prior to her exclusion, […]
An article cited in the Birmingham Metro newspaper, dated 31st October 2007, titled ‘Police do stop more Blacks’ referred to Black people being seven times more likely to be stopped and searched by Police than Whites. In addition the Ministry of Justice report confirmed that an extra 14,000 Black people were targeted by Stop and […]
At UNISON National Delegate conference in 2007 held in Brighton, Motion 12 – Under Participation and Headed “Black Members Self Organised Group – Possible Name Change” suggested that the title “Black Members Self Organised Group” was no longer adequate to reflect the ethnic diversity of our membership and could even prevent workers from Eastern European […]
The Equality Act 2006 dissolved the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Rights Commission; to make provision about discrimination on grounds of religion or belief; to enable provision to be made about discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation; to impose duties relating to sex discrimination on persons performing public functions; […]