Minister for Women

This conference is aghast at the negative and relentless attacks on women perpetrated by this Tory led coalition government. Women face attacks on their employment, their terms and conditions, increasingly unaffordable costs of childcare, cuts to working families tax credits, housing, welfare provision, and sure start to name but a few. In addition, the National […]

Forced Marriages

This Conference notes: Domestic Abuse takes many forms. However, the issue of Forced Marriage and Honour Based Violence places women, children and vulnerable adults at risk of rape, physical and mental harm and can end in murder. There is a huge difference between Arranged Marriages and Forced Marriages and we must be able to ensure […]

Protecting Women

This Conference notes: The strategy by the Con Dem coalition to reduce the deficit is having a detrimental effect on the whole of society; however, the main impact of these cuts affects women. The proposed changes to Welfare Reform will see family slide further into poverty, women will find themselves in the predicament of either […]

Women – The under employed, under valued gender

Conference notes the disproportionate negative impact the Tory led cuts are having on our women members. This Tory led government feels that any job is better than no job but the simple fact is any job working any hours sometimes doesn’t pay the bills! More women are suffering cuts to their contractual hours or are […]

Challenging Indirect Discrimination

This conference notes The current Tory led coalition’s cuts to the public sector have had a significant impact on women working in the public sector. The cuts Impact on the ability of women to remain in employment and those that do come under enormous pressure to over perform. Government ministers have openly said that if […]

Women Menopause and Work

Conference believes that under the pressure of the austerity policies adopted by management of both public and private sector organisations, women workers are being victimised by the unsympathetic enforcement of sickness absence procedures for short term absence. Women experiencing menstrual and menopausal symptoms continue to feel the pressure and prejudice of having ‘women’s problems’ which […]

UNISON WOMEN: ACTIVE, CAMPAIGNING, LEADING

UNISON is proud to be the leading trade union for women. We have a solid history of women being at the heart of the union; through enshrining self organisation into our rule book along with proportionality. As a union which is majority female we do not just talk the talk. Women are the foundation on […]

THREATS TO FACILITY TIME AND ITS IMPACT ON UNISON WOMEN ACTIVISTS

Conference will be aware that at the Tory Party Conference in October 2012, the announcements were made to extend attacks on facility time in the public sector. Britain has a tradition of progressing industrial relations through a joint approach with the trade unions. Public sector employers recognise the worth in having facility time as a […]

Buddying and Mentoring

As National Women’s Conference is aware, UNISON is facing one of the most challenging times in our existence. One of the consequences of the job losses we are experiencing is the loss of many of our senior/experienced activists. Never has there been a more important time to encourage new women activists to come forward into […]

Protecting women’s mental health

Conference notes that the issue of work-related stress has been of major concern to our union for many years. UNISON branches have been successful in negotiating workplace policies on stress and mental wellbeing and supporting members to remain in work, and UNISON has won compensation for members forced out of the workplace by unsympathetic employers. […]

Valuing Maternity

Conference is concerned to note that in this time of austerity measures maternity, adoption, surrogacy and parental provisions are often being targeted by employers seeking to make savings in their budgets, particularly for those members working in the community and voluntary sector. Pregnancy discrimination already affects tens of thousands of women each year, with pregnant […]

Ending violence against women, an international perspective

Conference applauds the excellent work which UNISON at branch, regional and national level does in campaigning to end violence against women in all its forms. However, conference also notes that UNISON has a role to play in raising awareness of the atrocities which are committed against women across the globe. Rape and sexual violence continue […]

Universal credit, universal harm

Conference is deeply concerned at the potentially damaging effect that the government’s welfare reform and universal credit will have on women, their families and their lives. Already the changes to working tax credit, requiring at least one person in the household to work more than 24 hours per week, have meant that hundreds of thousands […]

The hidden impact of cuts

Conference recognises that the brunt of this government’s cuts and austerity measures are being borne by women. 1) The number of unemployed women is at a twenty five year high, with more than a million women already jobless, and hundreds of thousands of public sector workers set to join their ranks. Further, UNISON research reveals […]

Pensions – what we need to know

Conference notes that huge changes to occupational pensions are taking place, with the introduction of pensions auto enrolment. 1) All employees paying income tax and aged between 22 and State Pension Age are affected. 2) From the 1 October 2012 the very largest employers were required to ensure that eligible staff were automatically enrolled into […]