Conference notes that many employers still refuse to accept a worker is disabled and entitled to reasonable adjustments unless their impairment is obvious. However many impairments are not immediately apparent. Black people disproportionately experience impairments such as lupus, diabetes and sickle cell and thalassemia which are impairments that aren’t always obvious to other people. Some […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that 2022 was UNISON’s very successful Year of Disabled Workers. UNISON takes an intersectional approach to fighting for disability equality in the workplace and many of our Black disabled members have taken key roles in delivering some of the work undertaken in 2022, from leading webinars and events to agreeing new guidance and […]
This Conference notes: 1)· The Nationality and Borders Act (NABA) become law on 28 June 2022; 2)· The government’s continuing plans for offshore detention in Rwanda, and the Care4Calais and PCS union legal challenge that contributed to the halting of the first planned flight taking detained refugees to Rwanda; 3)That the case was is currently […]
National Black Members Conference notes that the war in Yemen is in its eighth year and continues to lead to an ongoing humanitarian disaster. We further note evidence of attacks upon trade unionists in Yemen. We believe that UNISON and other UK trade unions should respond to the crisis in Yemen with the same urgency […]
Conference notes that one of UNISON’s main aims is, as per UNISON’s Rule Book, “to seek to ensure equality of treatment and fair representation for all members and to work for the elimination of discrimination on grounds of race, gender, sexuality, gender identity, disability, age or creed”. To achieve this, UNISON seeks for branches to […]
Conference condemns the continued political and physical attacks on refugees, asylum seekers and others without their status in the UK many of whom are UNISON Black Members. Conference accepts that many people, even with the right to work, are often in precarious situations due to their immigration status. Conference notes indefinite immigration detention in the […]
Conference notes that everything is going up fast – 12% now but forecasts of upwards to 22%. However, the pay of many UNISON members has been effectively frozen for almost 12 years. We can’t make ends meet! We have a cost-of-living crisis because of the decisions made by political leaders and their friends running big […]
In section 9. Limit of speeches Delete 9.4 “If there has been no speaker against the motion, no questions asked about the motion and any amendments have been accepted by the mover of the motion then there is no right of reply as there is nothing to reply to.”
No one puts themselves or their families at the dangerous risk of crossing waters on a dinghy or pay criminals to seek escape to a safer haven if they are not desperate. The right for refugees to escape war and persecution and seek safety elsewhere is set out in the Refugee Convention of 1951, which […]
Conference, it seems incomprehensible that currently, Black workers would be suffering the indignity of having their names changed in the workplace to make it easier to pronounce and are often westernised in the process. Names represent deep personal, cultural, familial, and historical connections. Our name gives us a sense of who we are, the communities […]
Conference notes that to impose the changes needed to achieve promises of racial justice, equity and inclusion, organisations require all hands-on deck. Black workers continue to demand action against racial injustice and movement toward more equitable workplaces – ones where all employees belong, regardless of their racial or ethnic identities. To build a culture of […]
The Nationality and Border Act which became law in April 2022, opens the door for the Government to transfer its Refugee Convention responsibilities to another country for money estimated at £1.5 billion, by forcibly expelling asylum seekers to Rwanda, following Australian example, which has been condemned as cruel, inhuman, or degrading. Under the new five-year […]
Conference notes once again the ongoing and concerning lack of access to immigration advice and representation through UNISON legal services. Conference notes that for members faced with criminal proceedings, our legal support kicks in straightaway, but that when a migrant worker’s employment is threatened by an immigration issue, advice is limited to a phone helpline […]
Conference acknowledges that Black Migrants, including Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender plus (LGBT+) Asylum Seekers, face an unprecedented attack on their Human Rights. We saw on 14 June 2022, four asylum seekers were forced onto a plane in tears, some in shackles, waiting to be sent 4,000 miles from the United Kingdom (UK) – […]
Conference notes that for many years Ghana’s government has been extremely hostile to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and plus (LGBT+) people. Currently same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under the Criminal Code 1960, which criminalises acts of ‘unnatural carnal knowledge’. This provision carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment. Only men are criminalised under this […]