Conference is delighted that changes to legislation in April 2005 will impose a new disability equality duty on public bodies and some private companies. We believe these new duties could reconstruct a barrier-free society and provide equality of opportunity for the millions of disabled people who are in work, want to work, and those who […]
Conference motions
Conference recognises the right of every member to take part in the union’s campaigning activities, including attendance at marches and rallies. It is therefore important that, as with all other areas of the union’s work, steps are taken to ensure such events are fully accessible to disabled members. We therefore call upon the National Disabled […]
Following the election of a Labour government for a third term, Conference requests that the National Retired Members’ Committee work with UNISON Labour Link as appropriate to promote the following objectives: 1)restoration of the link between pensions and earnings; 2)personal care to be included in long term care of the elderly; 3)free concessionary travel for […]
UNISON retired members have long recognised the need for affordable and efficient public transport for older people. Conference welcomes the launch of UNISON’s charter for public transport. It stresses the need to re-regulate services to produce improvements and highlights the failure of privatisation with bus fares rising faster than inflation and faster than motoring costs. […]
Conference will be aware that community health councils have been replaced with various types of patients forums designed to give people a say in the way in which their local hospital provides services. But too often the voice of older people is not heard and their views and needs not taken into account adequately. Therefore […]
Conference notes the increases in charges to attend classes for Lifelong Learning being proposed by the government. This will affect people on low pay and fixed incomes, especially pensioners. Any reduction in class attendance will result in class closures to the detriment of the students who attend for both academic, cultural and social stimulus. There […]
Conference welcomes the outcome of the French and Dutch referenda on the European Union Constitution and following the decision on Friday 17 June of EU leaders to defer ratification, Conference believes that within the UK, the government should now regard the treaty as finished business and consign its contents to history. Conference believes that trade […]
Conference notes with regret that some councils/social services are to stop daily deliveries of meals on wheels to senior citizens and vulnerable members of our communities. The service is to be replaced by a weekly delivery of frozen food packs. It is also proposed that anyone who does not have a microwave oven or freezer […]
Conference notes with extreme concern, the announcement at Police Federation Conference 2005 that the Federation has set up a working party to examine pros and cons of taking police staff, with police powers into membership. This could potentially lead to the Federation seeking to recruit PCSOs, detention officers investigating officers and other police staff accredited […]
Conference notes there has been a political decision that there shall not be any reduction in Police Officer numbers. Consequently, under the force wide efficiency and budget savings exercise, Forces are redeploying Police Officers into Police Staff posts to avoid any reduction in Police Officer numbers. This means that Police Staff are carrying the brunt […]
Conference welcomes the Government’s announcement that the Service will employ 25,000 Police Community Support Officers by 2008. In so doing, Conference acknowledges that this major increase in the Police Staff establishment will present both opportunities and challenges for the Police Staff Service Group. The opportunities include the potential for a massive increase in membership and […]
Conference asks the National Executive Council to fight for the following changes to the National Health Service to ensure the comfort and care of elderly and disabled patients: An extra dedicated member of staff will be made available to all elderly and disabled patients when they are admitted to hospital. This member of staff will […]
Conference is concerned that South East Region has unfortunately discovered that disability and equality awareness is not consistent within all UNISON regional education and training courses. Conference instructs National Disabled Members’ Committee to liaise with the regional education committees to ensure that appropriate disability awareness training is included on all UNISON education and training programmes […]
Conference welcomes and supports the 2005 Make Poverty History (MPH) campaign. Conference affirms that it is a fundamental role of trade unions to organise and campaign to ensure sufficient income and appropriate support from public services for all to live a decent life, free from poverty. Trade unions, aid agencies, campaigning organisations and faith organisations […]
Whilst Conference welcomes UNISON’s work on work life balance/family friendly policies the changing demands of the workplace mean that women in the main, and increasingly men, find it harder to juggle the pressure of work, family, and other caring and outside responsibilities. There are a number of issues which need to be highlighted and addressed: […]