PALESTINE

Conference notes that UNISON and its former partner unions have called for many years for peace with justice for the Palestinian people and for a solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict based upon international law including particularly: 1.Israeli withdrawal to the borders of 4 June 1967; 2.The right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their […]

SO3 – MOTIONS AND AMENDMENTS

In Standing Order 3.2, delete ‘preliminary’ from first sentence.

CUBA

This Conference welcomes the unanimous adoption by TUC Congress 2003 of a motion that condemned “the intensifying and hostile attempts by the United States to undermine the self-determination and economic position of Cuba” Conference recognises that threats against Cuba are continuing, and that senior US politicians continue to call on President Bush to take military […]

EQUALITY AND INCLUSION – A PUBLIC SERVICES AGENDA FOR LESBIANS AND GAY MEN

Conference recognises that the UNISON publication “Equality and inclusion: a public services agenda for lesbians and gay men” was an excellent publication for promoting our agenda and UNISON. This document was produced in 2001 and we have witnessed much legislative change over the past few years in the UK forum and also the devolved parliaments. […]

FULL EQUALITY IN PARTNERSHIP RIGHTS

Conference welcomes the Civil Partnership Bill, but believes it falls short of full equality. Conference therefore calls for the following: 1.Both marriage and Civil Partnership should be available to both same and opposite sex partners; 2.There should be legal recognition for same and opposite sex partners who are either unable or unwilling to register or […]

LOCAL CAMPAIGNING AGAINST FASCISM – WORKING WITH TRADES UNION COUNCILS

Conference welcomes how many branch and regional lesbian and gay groups devoted resources in the run-up to the June 10th elections to campaigning against the British National Party (BNP) and other fascist candidates. Conference notes the invaluable role of Searchlight providing research, training and publicity for this campaign and the role of Trades Union Congress […]

BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER ISSUES IN THE WORKPLACE

Conference welcomes the increased profile of lesbian and gay workplace issues in the work of many parts of our union, while acknowledging that there is still much to be done. Conference notes that since the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 came into force, advice on employment issues necessarily addresses bisexual workers as well as […]

Commission for Equality and Human Rights

In June 2004 the government was consulting on a white paper Fairness for All on the setting up of a commission for equality and human rights. This commission will replace existing equality bodies including theDisability Rights Commission. Conference notes that equality legislation is different for different groups (such as race, gender, disability, sexuality). In particular […]

Monitoring of Attendance of Disabled Delegates to National Delegate Conference

UNISON is committed to achieving proportionality and fair representation at conferences and throughout its structures. Currently branches entitled to send larger delegations are obliged to maintain reserved seats for low paid members, young members and other under-represented groups. There are processes in place to ensure that this is monitored for women and black members. This […]

The Forthcoming Political Fund Ballot and Funding New Labour

By March 2005 UNISON has to legally ballot the whole membership on whether they wish to have a political fund or not. This fund, with its unique arrangement of two sections, affiliated and general, enables the union to donate monies to political parties and to fund campaigns deemed to be political. Conference believes that it […]

Regional Cost of Living Weightings

Conference recognises the high cost of living in London and the surrounding area. Conference notes: 1)according to the Land Registry the average price of a home in the south east region was £205,109 by the end of 2003, and the average price of a terraced house was £157,659. In Oxford the average home was £245,732 […]

Participation of Visitors in Workshops

Visitors to the Conference are seated separately and are unable to vote, but they learn a lot about procedures which will be helpful in future if they become delegates. There does not seem however to be any reason why they should not attend the workshops which may also help them in the future and they […]

Small Print Font Size

Important information is frequently presented in ways difficult to read as the type size may be too small and there may be insufficient colour contrast between the print and the paper. The computer seems to have made this problem more common. Examples can be found in newspapers, cooking instructions, information to do with financial matters […]

Local Government Pension Scheme

Conference is alarmed at the threat to the Local Government Pension Scheme posed by the government’s plans to introduce amended regulations. Conference sees this as part of a wider move to undermine pensions in general. Conference calls on the National Retired Members’ Committee and all retired members’ sections to support the TUC’s Pay Up For […]

Qualifying Dates for Additional Payments

Conference expresses its concern that additional payments for items such as the winter fuel allowance are subject to the recipient attaining the specified age by a certain date. It feels that this means a number of pensioners do not become entitled to the payment until the following year. Conference therefore calls upon the National Retired […]