Unison is committed to proportionality for women but the reality is that in many branches this does not happen. By the time women have done their jobs, looked after the children and their homes, checked on their elderly parents and helped with homework, there is little time to sit and map out what they need […]
Conference motions
Since the implementation of the Tory government’s policy of austerity, significant cuts to services have been experienced across all sectors. The impact of this is not least felt by those services dedicated to providing support, safe spaces and sanctuary for women who have experienced domestic violence. Refuge services across the country have been decimated by […]
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, 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 […]
Conference recognises the increasing ageing workforce following changes to pension age. Whilst the ageing workforce does affect all genders, we must recognise the specific impact this has for women with female only health issues and the pressures that women face in the ageing workforce particularly in the public sector with the majority of the workforce […]
It was reassuring to see in the 2017 general election that there was the highest proportion of female candidates ever contesting parliamentary seats which stood at 29%, with Labour leading the way at 40.4%. We welcome the steps the Labour party have taken so far committing to having at least 45 per cent of candidates […]
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 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 […]
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, […]
Misogyny and hate crime is on the increase in society. In 2016 Nottinghamshire police were the first force to re-classify wolf whistling, cat calling and other misogynistic harassment as hate crime and handled 30 cases in 5 months. Following on from that 15 other police forces are now looking at following Nottinghamshire Police’s lead. In […]
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 in 2017 national women’s conference carried a motion calling for the NWC to work with the NEC to address the issue of proportionality in our union. 1 million of UNISON’s 1.3 million members are women – 77% of the total membership. Conference further notes that UNISON’s currently has 66 seats, comprised of […]
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 […]