Parenthood shouldn’t equal poverty

Conference notes the UNICEF report from September 2023 which found that 70% of UK-based parents of children and new babies felt that life was getting harder for parents. Over two-thirds of parents believe that the Government is not doing enough to support them. In the UNICEF survey of parents of 0-4-year-olds, 78% reported that the […]

Organising young women in UNISON following the age limit rule change

Conference notes the rule change passed at National Delegate Conference 2023 which raised the age limit for young members from all those aged 26 and under to all those aged 30 and under. Conference further notes that this roughly doubles the number of young members in UNISON, and is therefore a unique opportunity to build […]

RAISING AWARENESS OF USE OF DIGITIAL TECHNOLOGY IN DOMESTIC ABUSE

This conference knows how much digital technology has changed all our lives. The use of mobile phones, social media, home camera systems does make our communication with work colleagues, friends, and family so much quicker and easier. In the main these are all good methods to keep us safe and in touch. However there has […]

Paid Leave for Pregnancy Loss and End Of Pregnancy

Conference notes the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, which gives parents the right to take up to two weeks’ time off work to deal with the death of a child, if the child has died under the age of 18 or is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy, as well as […]

Affordable Child Care Facilities

Affordable childcare facilities Conference deplores the ongoing failure of Public Sector Services to engage with childcare issues, which are an increasing barrier to recruitment and retention in an overwhelmingly female workforce. The lack of adequate pay increases set against a backdrop of the worst cost of living crisis in a generation means that childcare has […]

Violence Against Black Women and Black Girls is Unison’s Business

Conference notes that violence against women and girls is defined as any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women and girls, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. […]

Black Women and Mental Health.

Maternal mental health is a crucial aspect of a woman’s well-being and can impact on the early experiences of bonding with their child(ren) and their own experience of motherhood. According to ‘The Motherhood Group’, Black maternal mental health should be a priority focus across government, health and social care policy development and wider society. Black […]

New Rights for Pregnant Workers and New Parents

Conference notes and welcomes the new protection from redundancy for pregnant workers and new parents. Conference thanks Dan Jarvis MP for working in support with UNISON on the new law – the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill – to prevent employers from laying off expectant mothers and new parents, by extending redundancy […]

Gender equality and the human rights of women and LGBT+ persons

Conference, gender equality is at the very heart of human rights and United Nations values. Equality and non-discrimination are fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, adopted by world leaders in 1945. Yet millions of women and LGBT+ persons around the world continue to experience discrimination in the enjoyment of civil, cultural, economic, political and […]

There Is No Honour In Killing Or Abuse

This Conference notes that: Statistics show that there is at least one so called honour based killing per month in the UK with 7,000 recorded incidents of abuse. Although many believe the actual numbers are far higher. Honour killings and abuse take place when a woman or girl is murdered or abused due to the […]

Housing Is A Women’s Issue

Conference notes: Women are disadvantaged compared to men in terms of housing in many ways. On average, women have lower incomes and less capital than men. As a result, they tend to be disadvantaged in a housing system where access to housing is largely determined through the market. Women heads of household, lone-parent households, and […]

Campaign re Student Loans as Affecting Pregnant and Caring Women

Women should not have to worry about their student loan when they are absent from work due to pregnancy or childcare. In the Netherlands, payments and interest are paused during maternity leave. We call upon the National Women’s Committee to launch a campaign to seek legal changes to the student loan scheme. Payments and interest […]

Impact of Fuel costs on Women

Conference, many of our women members some of whom are disabled are on low pay, working part time and living on a limited budget. A significant number of these women work in social care, for the NHS, local authorities, or private care companies. Conference notes that caring responsibilities also disproportionately fall on women. The massive […]

Flexible working access for all

Flexible working is a way for workers to change their working hours to suit their needs. For example, having the flexibility to change their start and finishing times, compress their weekly hours/ days or even work from home. There are many reasons why women would need or want flexible working. One reason is that caring […]

Black Women’s Maternity Care

Conference is extremely concerned that in 2023 Black women are still five times more likely to die in childbirth or shortly afterwards. Women of mixed ethnicity have 3 times the risk, and Asian women almost twice the risk. Black women are also at an increased risk of having a pre-term birth, stillbirth, neonatal death or […]