Rule M.1 4 Trustees of Welfare Fund

Delete all of M.1.4 and insert: “1.4 Trustees of UNISON Welfare The UNISON Welfare Board of Trustees shall include NEC members who shall comprise no less than 50% of the membership elected by that body in such manner as it sees fit. Any vacancy in the Board of Trustees may be filled by the National […]

Rule F.1 List of Regions

F.1 insert “Cymru/” before “Wales”

Attacks on Public Sector Pension Schemes

Conference is alarmed at the attacks from the employers and the government on public sector pension schemes. This commenced last year with proposals to significantly reduce the benefits of the local government scheme including raising the age at which pensions would be payable. The government has now issued proposals for consultation which affect most public […]

Organising for Growth

Conference welcomes the rise in UNISON membership to 1,313,500 and notes that membership has risen for the sixth year in a row and by over 100,000 new members since the introduction of an organising strategy. It congratulates all those involved, especially the smaller service groups, in particular police staffs, young members and the community and […]

Iraq – Reconstruction and Solidarity

Conference condemns: 1)the occupation of Iraq by British and American troops arising from an illegal war; 2)the destruction of Fallujah and the slaughter of innocent civilians, the majority of whom continue to be killed by coalition troops; 3)the use of torture and the inhumane treatment of Iraqi detainees by British and American troops as instanced […]

Domestic Abuse

Conference is concerned that domestic abuse accounts for at least 25 per cent of all violent crime, one in four women will experience domestic abuse at some time in their lives, and that every week two men kill their femal partners or female ex-partners. Conference welcomes the recent moves by government to raise awareness of […]

Apprenticeships and the National Minimum Wage

Conference notes that nearly 250,000 young people are engaged in an apprenticeship, formerly modern apprenticeships, with a significant proportion of these on public sector apprenticeship schemes. Apprenticeships give opportunities to young people and can bring new people into the public services, can provide progression routes to higher level skills and qualifications, and can also have […]

Public Sector Pension Schemes

Conference expresses its outrage at the continued attack by the government on the provisions of the various public sector pension scheme provisions. Conference notes, with disgust, that these continued attacks on public sector provision of pension arrangements have occurred subsequent to the government introducing, and receiving, support from parliament for enhanced pension arrangements for members […]

The Future of Council Housing

Conference welcomes the fact that at the Labour party conference on 26 September, Deputy Prime Minister said: “Public financing of housing does not treat local authorities on a level playing field and I want to see that changed and I promise to do that and look at an enquiry into it”. After the vote, Housing […]

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues in the Workplace

Conference welcomes the increased profile of lesbian and gay workplace issues in the work of many parts of our union, while acknowledging that there is still much to be done. Conference recognises that UNISON’s ability to organise, negotiate and campaign effectively on equality issues flows directly from its commitment to self-organisation. Conference notes that since […]

National Day for Remembrance of Slavery

Conference calls upon the National Executive Council to support the Trade Union Congress in their call for government to recognise 23 August as the National Day for the Remembrance of Slavery. This date marks a crucial event in the fight against slavery and the uprising in St Domingo in 1791. The United Nations marked 2004 […]

Women and Pensions

Conference recognises that changes to the state pension system in recent years in terms of contributions, retirement age and earnings on which pensions are based place women at an unfair disadvantage. The existing state pension alone is insufficient to provide for basic needs and requires a large number of recipients to undergo the humiliation of […]

Climate Change

Conference notes the statement of the chairperson of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, warning that global warming is nearing a point of no return and calling for very deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. We further note that the United States and Australia continue to refuse to ratify the seven year […]

Sickness Absence

Conference notes: 1)that employers are adopting increasingly draconian procedures which allow for an increase in the disciplining and dismissal of genuinely ill employees; 2)that it is often the case that the same employers are failing to abide by health and safety procedures or the Disability Discrimination Act; 3)that one of the single largest causes of […]

Bullying

Conference believes that bullying at work, in whatever form, is a major and significant issue which the trade union movement must continue to address and combat. Conference believes that bullying and inappropriate management behaviour can be a major cause of workplace stress and subsequent sickness. Workers then face a double whammy of draconian sickness procedures […]