Negotiating disability leave policies with Energy employers

Disability leave is time off from work for a reason related to someone’s disability. It is an example of a reasonable adjustment which Energy employers have a duty to provide to disabled staff under the Equality Act 2010. It is different to sick leave – in many cases the worker is not actually sick – […]

Unlocking the potential of Hydrogen

This energy conference welcomes the work UNISON is doing to promote the potential of Hydrogen in the energy system. This includes helping to get the all-party parliamentary group for hydrogen set up, engaging with key stakeholders and informing members of the key issues. We recognise that while it is imperative that we meet and surpass […]

Sectoral Pay Bargaining in the Energy Sector

Conference notes that energy workers are employed by many different private sector companies as a result of privatisation and fragmentation in the industry. While privatisation has been good for senior executives and managers who have benefited from the industry profits generated, the same cannot be said for the majority of the workforce. The gap between […]

Racism is real

Conference in the climate of the rise of the far right, Brexit and the real impact of racism in our society we know that racism is real. UNISON’s previous objectives included the statement ‘including Racism’, but at the 6th December 2018 NEC meeting the NEC approved the 2019 objectives with this wording removed. Conference, the […]

Composite Amendment 7

In first paragraph, delete all after “(LGBT+) people,” in second sentence and insert “disabled people, women, and Black people, to consider apprenticeships. Potential members of the network have to demonstrate their commitment to make measurable improvements to diversity.” Insert new third paragraph: “Conference notes the disability employment gap is nearly 30%. There is limited research […]

BEWARE THAT SHARE!

Conference recognises the benefits of using social media to bring together communities and groups who have interests in common and congratulates our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender plus (LGBT+) self-organised group on the many and varied ways social media has been used in branches, regions and nationally. We welcome and encourage our members to share […]

NO OUTSIDERS (LGBT+ EDUCATION RIGHTS)

Conference notes the recent protests against the ‘No Outsiders’ method of teaching young children about equality, in particular lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender plus (LGBT+) relationships, to encourage acceptance at an early age. There has been a misuse of religion as an excuse to attack LGBT+ rights, and this is not the first time religious […]

Black members and the +

Conference notes that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) self-organised group (SOG) works with inclusive, umbrella definitions of bisexual and transgender. Its bi network is for all members who feel attraction to more than one gender. Its trans network is for all types of self-identifying trans people and for members whose gender identity does […]

Non-binary inclusion

Conference welcomes the work initiated by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) group to make UNISON’s organisation, events, policies, systems and good practice advice inclusive of non-binary members. Non-binary people are people whose gender identity is not solely male or female. They may define themselves as both, neither or something different. While non-binary people […]

Black Members Mentoring Scheme – young Black members to be paired with more experienced activists

UNISON has about 63,000 young members, of whom approximately 8 percent are Black members. However, there is a noticeable and worrying shortage of young Black members and activists in UNISON. More needs to be done to recruit young Black members and to encourage them to become involved at all levels of the union. Young Black […]

“Local government cuts and impact on Black staff”

“Conference – we are all aware that Local Government and local services are at a crisis point. Demands and expectations of services are increasing year on year while central government funding is reducing. Liverpool Council will have lost 68 per cent of government funding from 2010-2020, the Council has prioritised frontline services, protecting vulnerable adults […]

Immigration Costs – Impact on Black Members standing for Local Council

Conference congratulates UNISON Labour Link for its work in supporting Black activists in standing for elected positions within the UK Labour Party. Conference notes at the 2013 Census of Local Authority Councillors, there were roughly 20,000 councillors across the UK. Conference further notes that our elected representatives should reflect the communities they seek to serve, […]

Defending free movement of people and immigrant rights

Conference notes: 1)The rights of immigrants has become decisive to the direction of our society. 2)Unison’s 2018 NDC rightly adopted a motion on Brexit from the National Executive Council that committed the union to defending the free movement of people to live, work, study and join their families in Britain; 3)The Brexit referendum was dominated […]

Institutional discrimination in mental health services – the impact on Black disabled workers

Conference notes that Black people in the UK are disproportionately more likely to be detained against their will as a result of mental ill health. The United Nations Committee for the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) 2017 report expressed concerns about the high number of Black disabled people compulsorily detained and treated against their […]

Black Children and Exclusions

Conference we all know that as Black people we are disproportionately represented within all aspects of society, this includes education and particularly, exclusions of Black pupils. The number of permanent exclusions across all state-funded primary, secondary and special schools has increased from 5,795 in 2014/15 to 6,685 in 2015/16. This corresponds to around 35.2 permanent […]