Building and Strengthening Black Community links

Conference notes the national Black members’ committee ‘Creating, Building, and Strengthening Black Community link motion was debated with much support from other delegates at the 2018 Community conference and was carried along with the amendment submitted by the Community Service Group Executive. However the National Black Member’s Committee is concerned that limited work has commenced […]

Mental Health support for our members

One in four people in the UK will have a mental health problem at some point. While mental health problems are common, most are mild, tend to be short-term and are normally successfully treated. Mental health is about how we think, feel and behave. Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health problems. They […]

Alexa, Did you take our Jobs? The Rising Threat of Automation and Computerisation in the Housing Sector

Conference notes the rising number of business reports and academic research regarding automation and computerisation across the whole economy over the last five years. From Frey & Osbourne’s alarmist 2013 “The Future of Employment”, claiming 47% of jobs in the USA were at risk of automation to Ford’s seminal “the Rise of The Robots” in […]

The Effects on staff going through the Menopause

In the Community & Voluntary Sector which includes care provision, charities, not for profit organisations and housing associations, women make up nearly half of the workforce and with the increasing numbers of older workers many well be either be currently experiencing the menopause or will have worked through it. Around eight in ten women report […]

Standing Up for Fair Pay for CVS Workers in Commissioned Services

Community conference welcomes the recent nationally negotiated pay deals for Local Government and the NHS giving many public service workers deserved pay rises. However, many members in the Community and Voluntary Sector (CVS) work for employers who are held in long-term contracts with the public sector, with no annual or inflationary uplifts built into those […]

Improving Women Workers Protection Against Sexual Harrassment

Conference recognises the work that UNISON has undertaken on the issues of sexual harassment, particularly the joint research in 2018 with the London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Surrey on the levels of sexual harassment in the police force. Sexual harassment in the workplace is nothing new. Attacks against women […]

We Are Still Standing

This conference fully recognises the huge impact 10 years of austerity have had on the lives of our women members and their families. However there have been many success stories across our service groups in UNISON where our women members have had victories. Some of these may be small or large victories but all demonstrate […]

End Discrimination in State Reciprocal Pension Arrangements for Black women

Conference is seriously concerned that Black women workers face a triple whammy of discrimination in the Labour market, • disadvantage in getting decent and well paid jobs • destitution in retirement caused by low pay, an ethnic and racial pay gap • lack of access to good occupational pensions, This is additionally heightened if you […]

SHOW TRANSPHOBIA THE RED CARD

Conference, we are deeply disturbed by the rise in transphobia towards trans women during and following the recent consultation regarding the Gender Recognition Act (GRA). Whilst we recognise everyone is entitled to their own view, hate must not infiltrate our union. Conference welcomes the UNISON stance of supporting self-identification, but much work is still needed […]

Domestic Violence – Time for UNISON to Take Action

Ever week more than two women are killed by current or ex-partners and figures are sadly rising. Currently one in four women in the UK will experience domestic violence at some point in their lives. All research indicates that in an economic recession, domestic violence and abuse increases yet meanwhile the Government imposed austerity cuts […]

ASK FOR ANGELA – IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE

Conference notes that ‘Ask for Angela’ is a scheme instigated in Lincolnshire County Council in 2016, which has been endorsed and rolled out in other cities in the UK. The initiative provided a mechanism where women, who feel unsafe, uncomfortable or threatened on a date or a night out can approach the staff at the […]

Social care cuts and how it impacts women

The current cuts to our NHS and social care provision are causing great health poverty to women and families. Social care is the very bedrock of our society, women bear the brunt of the care crisis. The majority of the care workforce, paid and unpaid, are women, and the majority of those in need of […]

Period necessity, not a Luxury

Conference notes that a motion on ‘period poverty’ was passed at the 2018 national women’s conference. Conference is pleased that since then, Scotland and Wales have committed themselves to providing free sanitary products to schools. This is a very positive move and example. However, conference feels this does not go far enough, we believe that […]

Menopause and the workplace

Around 3.5 million women aged 50years and over are currently in employment in the UK. The employment rate for women in the UK has actually increased in the past few decades and women now represent nearly half of the UK labour force. This means that many more women are affected by symptoms of the menopause […]