Stop bosses from encroaching on your free time and compensate your overtime properly

This conference believes that we should campaign to stop the practice in the voluntary and charity sector of employers contacting their employees after work and should properly compensate their employees for overtime. We deplore that the 2020 Charity people salary survey found that employees working in the voluntary and charity sector found more people working […]

Care workers from abroad – a new form of slave labour?

Conference notes that poverty wages and poor working condition are endemic in the care sector. It is only after initiatives such as UNISON’s Ethical Care Charter, our national campaigns on sick pay and staff shortages and the hard work and determination of many UNISON activists and senior branch representatives, that have continued to bring attention […]

Robust Green Skills Training for employees in the Energy Sector

Conference notes addressing the climate change challenge requires a fundamental restructuring of the energy supply sector, moving away from the world�s fossil fuel-based system to one that relies on clean, renewable sources. The transition to a greener economy requires new skills. Skills needed for the newly emerging jobs, and skills needed for the adjusted existing […]

ENGAGING BRANCHES IN THE COMMUNITY SECTOR IN LGBT+ RECRUITMENT AND ORGANISING

Conference notes that at National Delegate Conference 2019 delegates unanimously agreed to change UNISON�s rule book so that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) self organised group is now the LGBT+ self organised group. Conference recalls that the community conference unanimously passed policy last year supporting the group becoming LGBT+ and that many branches […]

Inclusive Workplace Policies for Non-Binary Members in the Community Sector

Conference notes the motion passed at last year�s Community Conference on Inclusive Workplace Policies in the Community Sector which called on the community service group executive to: 1. Gather good practice examples from branches organising in the community sector of inclusive policies and practices, including in record-keeping, language, any dress codes and in the provision […]

Inclusive Workplace Policies for Non-Binary Members in the Community Sector

Conference notes the motion passed at last year�s Community Conference on Inclusive Workplace Policies in the Community Sector which called on the community service group executive to: 1. Gather good practice examples from branches organising in the community sector of inclusive policies and practices, including in record-keeping, language, any dress codes and in the provision […]

Supporting People

Supporting People Conference the time has come to recognise the specialist work being carried out by UNISON frontline workers employed through the Supporting People Programme and back those UNISON members in their call for an independent review into the Supporting People Programme. UNISON members working in Supporting People funded programmes continue to deliver vital services […]

Right to buy and shared ownership in Housing Associations in England

Conference notes that In October 2019 the then Secretary of State for Housing, Robert Jenrick MP issued a press statement stating that the government wished to work with housing associations on a voluntary basis in regard to introducing shared ownership right to buy. The press release stated: �For those tenants in new stock, there will […]

Health and Safety representation

Conference notes that nationally the number of UNISON Health and Safety representatives in the workplace is diminishing. This continues to be of particular concern to the Community Service Group where, out of a collective membership of almost 75,000 members, less than 250 across all our nations/regions are accredited Health & Safety Representatives. Our workplaces are […]

Community services for women � a lifeline removed

Conference notes that support services for women are under ever increasing threat from funding cuts with many organisations reducing services, losing staff or closing altogether. The community and voluntary (C&V) sector provides a range of services to women, children and families in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the UK. The services are wide […]

Brexit

Conference is aware that UNISON and the National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Plus (LGBT+) Committee and Self Organised Group have consistently expressed concerns about the Government’s policies on Brexit. For disabled LGBT+ members, the prospect of a no deal exit from the European Union (EU), and the impacts as outlined in the “Yellowhammer” report, […]

[NDC MOTION] DECRIMINALISATION FOR SAFETY

Conference notes that UNISON’s policy on sex work, adopted in 2010 on the basis of a motion from women’s conference, is to support proposals which decriminalise the selling of sexual services while introducing a ‘sex buyers law’ criminalising those who purchase those services. Conference recognises that the great majority of sex workers are women. Conference […]

Forced sterilisation in exchange for gender recognition

Conference notes its outrage that the rights of the trans community remain under sustained attack around the world. It is still the case that in many countries there are laws in place which force transgender people to be sterilised before changing their gender. In January 2019 the Supreme Court of Japan upheld ‘Law 111’ which […]

Mental Health and Suicide Awareness to Support Young LGBT+ members

Conference applauds the National Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender plus (LGBT+) Committee for the work undertaken to date to highlight the effects of austerity measures on LGBT+ workers, the services we provide and the knock-on effects of the reduction in those services. Conference further notes that a range of governmental bodies, statutory services and civil […]

Inclusive Language

This conference would like to acknowledge and give thanks to the essential work carried out by UNISON on respecting and promoting reproductive rights, tackling period poverty and raising menopausal awareness. However, in many of the motions produced around these issues, we continue to see a use of exclusionary language. Motions often make reference to “women […]