WOMEN AND PENSIONS

This Conference notes with alarm the increasing and unwarranted attacks on public sector pensions. Whilst it is true to say that a growing gap between public and private sector pensions caused by the employer retreat from decent pensions in the private sector, it is wrong to conclude that the answer is to level down public […]

BLACK WOMEN AND BREAST CANCER

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the UK. More than 45,500 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and the disease causes almost 12,000 deaths each year. Eight in ten cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in women over the age of 50. Black and Asian women are significantly more […]

PALESTINE

Conference welcomes the 2009 TUC Congress resolution, submitted by the FBU, and statement from TUC General Council which: 1)condemned the Israeli offensive on Gaza and its continuing blockade on the territory; 2)called for a negotiated settlement based on international law and justice for the Palestinians; and 3)committed to work with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) […]

WOMEN UNITED AGAINST FASCISM

Conference expresses concern at the rise of the BNP and other far-right groups, such as the English Defence League, who are organising throughout the UK, claiming to be the voice of British people. Conference affirms that we will not sit back and allow far-right organisations to enter mainstream politics as has happened in some other […]

RETURNING TO WORK AFTER MATERNITY LEAVE

Conference welcomes the raft of legislation in recent years that has been introduced and refined around maternity provision for women which has benefited thousands of women and their families. However, many women choosing to return to work after having children can often find this difficult both emotionally and practically. Whilst on maternity leave, even just […]

INVESTMENT IN HARDCORE PORNOGRAPHY

This Conference is concerned at the growing body of evidence supplied by media investigation, that major corporations such as Vodaphone, BT, Sky and Amazon are benefiting in some way from the trade in hardcore pornography and that UNISON members’ pension funds may be invested in companies with an involvement in a trade which is based […]

DOMESTIC ABUSE TRAINING

This conference believes that domestic abuse training should become statutory in public sector organisations such as the Police, NHS, Local Government and Social Services and should become part of the workforce strategy. On average every week two women are killed in England and Wales by their partners or ex partners (Crime in England and Wales […]

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS 4 AND 5

In the year 2000, at the Millennium Summit, 189 member’s states of the United Nations declared that they would spare no effort to achieve a set of eight goals aimed at raising the level of development, health and prosperity of the globe by the end of the year of 2015. These goals were: 1)Eradication of […]

AUNG SAN SUU KYI – THE ELECTED BUT IMPRISONED LEADER OF BURMA

Conference, hear the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, speaking about Aung San Suu Kyi. “I think of my sister Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi every day. Her picture hangs on the wall of my office, reminding me that, thousands of miles away in Asia, a nation is oppressed. Every day I ask myself: have […]

JOB SHARE CONSEQUENCES

The role of job sharing a post in an employer’s organisation or at Branch or Regional committee seems to work well for women and in the case of UNISON seems to be an effective tool to engage women from various Service Groups to become first interested then active lay members. It seems to fall down […]

MARY SEACOLE – TURN HER INTO STONE

In June 2009 a proposal to raise public funding to erect a monument to this positive black female pioneer and her significant achievements was aired on national television. The ambition to erect a statue of her “going forth”, to be sited in St Thomas’ Hospital grounds on the lawn opposite the Houses of Parliament, was […]

REGIONAL RAPE CONVICTION RATES – IT’S A POSTCODE LOTTERY

Conference, every thirty four minutes a crime of rape is reported to the police. For every rape reported, many more are not reported. One in four local authorities has no specialised support services to help the victims of rape. Conference notes with dismay the Fawcett Society statement that there is a growing gap in rape […]

WOMEN AND CYCLING

In early 2009 SUSTRANS (sustainable transport Charity) commissioned a survey of one thousand women to better understand why women only travel by bike for less than one per cent of journeys in the UK compared to fifteen per cent of journeys in the Netherlands. SUSTRANS found that while many women have access to a bike […]

BUYING SEX IS NOT A SPORT

Buying Sex Is Not a Sport is a grassroots campaign to raise awareness and effect change around sex trafficking and prostitution and the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic games. As the demand for prostitution has historically increased around major sporting events, those concerned with the sexual exploitation of women and girls have already begun working and […]

A GLOBAL WOMEN’S TRADE UNION NETWORK

Much is happening in the trade union world about women. For example, in October 2009 the International Trade Union Confederation held a conference entitled “Decent Work, Decent Life for Women”. 450 women trade unionists from 100 countries discussed women’s issues; formulated strategies and collaborated on campaigns. UNISON’s International Committee does fantastic work to build alliances […]