Black members are still facing an uphill battle in the workplace; they encounter barriers in career progression, daily oppression from organisations institutional racist cultures and treated differently when raising grievances against employers which lead to the victimisation against many Black members. There is a common theme that for too long employers have been able to […]
Conference motions
The trade union has had a long and historic link with the Labour Party. The current government has lost its way, it is no longer a party for the working class and the vulnerable within our society, also it creates a disillusion and disappointment amongst our Black people in society, a large percentage of our […]
Conference applauds the Government’s announcement to introduce adequate measure which will protect and support young runaways and missing children by ensuring that relevant authorities collect and collate data on runaways and missing children which is then forwarded onto a national database. Conference is concerned: about the alarming figures relating to missing Black children. A recent […]
Conference notes that In a shocking documentary on BBC2, it was revealed that British American Tobacco Industry (BAT) were promoting the sale of single stick cigarettes in countries such as Mauritius, Nigeria and Malawi thereby attracting children as young as 11 years old to purchase single stick cigarettes that worked out cheaper than the alternative […]
Conference notes the valuable contribution made by Black activists in achieving UNISON’s aim of being an equal opportunities trade union, as well as the commitment of Black members in providing a quality service throughout the service groups. Conference applauds the work done by UNISON in producing a Race Equality Scheme. However, what is being done […]
Conference welcomes the white paper, Communities in Control – Real People Real Power. This Conference further notes the key proposals include: 1.A general duty on councils to promote local democracy through a range of actions which include; clearer information, better trained staff, improved engagement of young people and “more visible councillors in the community”. The […]
Conference, there is a challenge to develop a range of services matching existing and potential social housing needs of our communities, by 2010. However, in the absence of any impact assessment on the social housing needs of Black and other minority communities, it is more likely that these communities will lose out on the grounds […]
The presentation on legal migration is concerned with policy on the admission of workers to Britain for employment and on the entitlement of such workers once admitted. Government policy on economic migration was set out in the five year strategy announced in February 2005, “Controlling out Borders: Making Migration Work for Britain”. Among other things […]
Conference notes the alarming figures outlined in a research highlighting poverty amongst black groups. In April 2007 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) published a report confirming that the poverty rate for Britain’s minority ethnic groups stands at 40%, double the 20% found amongst white British people. Minority ethnic groups are also being overlooked for jobs […]
Conference notes the recent spate of knife, gang and gun-related murders of Black youths is deeply concerning. However, former Prime Minister, Tony Blair’s comments that Black communities fail to denounce these crimes and that Black culture is responsible for these tragedies is completely wrong. Black community groups and activists have highlighted that government response to […]
UNISON’s delegation to the National Assembly Against Racism AGM held in November 2007 heard a speech from Sakira Singh. Sakira Singh, a 14 year old school girl from South Wales has been repeatedly excluded from school because of wearing an article of faith – the Kara – that represents her belief. Prior to her exclusion, […]
An article cited in the Birmingham Metro newspaper, dated 31st October 2007, titled ‘Police do stop more Blacks’ referred to Black people being seven times more likely to be stopped and searched by Police than Whites. In addition the Ministry of Justice report confirmed that an extra 14,000 Black people were targeted by Stop and […]
Conference will be aware that 2007 was the year of commemorating the beginning of the end of enslavement of Afrikan people. There was a wide range of remembrance events taking place in the UK. Many, however, missed the fact that it was only the transatlantic trade that ended 200 years ago. This probably increased the […]
The Equality Act 2006 dissolved the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Rights Commission; to make provision about discrimination on grounds of religion or belief; to enable provision to be made about discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation; to impose duties relating to sex discrimination on persons performing public functions; […]
This National Black Members’ Conference notes that there is a disproportionate amount of Black members and black UNISON activists who are subject to disciplinary procedures and victimisations within the workplace. This leads to the question of whether disciplinary procedures are being applied fairly and equally to all staff. A consequence of this is that the […]