Conference notes the continuing and pervasive nature of racism experienced by Black members in local government workplaces across Britain. Conference further notes the abundant evidence that has been generated as a result of monitoring under the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000) to show that Black people continue to be under-represented in the workplace, and that […]
Conference motions
Conference notes the Local Government Equality Framework (LGEF) replaced the Equality Standard in April 2009. It aims to enable local authorities to meet the public sector equality duties set out in the new Single Equalities Bill – which merges all the complex and single Equality Acts into one new Bill. In October 2008 the Local […]
Conference notes: 1)The impact of the credit crunch and recession on local authority finance 2)The additional demands being placed on local authorities and the resulting workload pressures on staff 3)The ‘political expediency’ of freezing council tax levels, sometimes contributing to budget cuts and job losses in subsequent years 4)The decision of the Government in the […]
Conference notes and welcomes the government’s budget commitment to increased public spending. However, it is essential that the proposed “efficiency savings” also contained in the budget do not equate to job cuts or cuts in services at this time of recession. There is growing evidence that this recession will have a significant and unprecedented impact […]
Conference welcomes the impact of the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998 in helping to protect our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) members in local government from discrimination, bullying and harassment in their places of work. The HRA, which applies to public sector bodies or those carrying out public sector functions, incorporates into UK law […]
Conference notes that whilst an employment tribunal ruling does not set legal precedent, widespread publicity for the judgement in the case of Ms Ladele v London Borough of Islington (2203694/2007 July 2008) added to the false impression that local government workers can claim their religion or belief as a reason for discriminating against lesbian, gay, […]
Conference notes that on 27 December 2008 Israel launched devastating air raids on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 300 people in the first day, one of the deadliest days for Gaza residents since Israeli occupation began 41 years ago. In total, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed over the past 20 days of […]
This Conference notes the reporting of John Cruddas’ Early Day motion on the BNP’s “Racism Cuts Both ways” on the Lancaster Unity website on 9th January 2009 The Early Day Motion, signed by Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Plaid Cymru MPs, was accompanied by a letter to the Home Secretary and the Attorney General demanding […]
Conference condemns the initiative of the British National Party who launched a campaign for “White History Month” in November 2008. Conference believes that this new development highlights the need for UNISON to continue to campaign against the BNP and is therefore concerned to discover that motions passed at National Black Members Conference in 2008 have […]
Conference calls on the HSGE to raise the issue of travel costs following organisational change at the NHS Staff Council. We believe that staff forced to relocate as a result of organisational change should 1. Be paid a full realistic cost for the additional travel incurred. 2. Be compensated for any additional costs such as […]
The NHS currently has two pension schemes operating. The “NHS Pension Scheme” has been offered to all staff who joined the NHS before 31 March 2008. The “New NHS Pension Scheme” has been offered to all staff joining since 1 April 2008. Staff in the original ‘NHS Pension Scheme’ have a one off option of […]
Conference recognises that nationally Mental Health services have been underfunded for many years, and still remain a ‘Cinderella’ service in the NHS. One effect of this is that mental health workers are not seen as having a high status within the NHS, and other health workers may have little knowledge or understanding of their position. […]
Conference notes that for a relatively small number of people, the gender they are assigned at birth does not match their internal sense of where they exist in relation to being female or male – their gender identity. Some transition to live permanently and completely in the gender with which they identify. Conference further notes […]
Despite health service measures to encourage women to attend cervical cancer screening sessions, the number of women being screened has dropped significantly, with the number of women aged 25-64 dying from cervical cancer increasing by 6.4% during 2007. Research in December 2008 has also shown that there is a clear link between income and cervical […]
This conference believes that a safe working environment is a right for everyone. There is a requirement under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, the Management of Health & Safety at Work Act 2003 and the Fire Scotland Act 2005 for employers to provide adequate resources to ensure that the workplace has taken […]