Workplace Stress

Conference notes that work-related stress is one of the biggest health hazards in the workplace. Conference notes the latest estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) which shows the total number of cases of work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2015/16 was 488,000 cases, a prevalence of 1510 per 100,000 workers. The data also notes […]

Non-binary inclusion

UNISON has a long standing history of campaigning and helping those who face discrimination. In the past few years UNISON has made great strides in helping our transgender members. However there is still more to be done. A survey of non-binary trans people done this year by the Scottish transgender alliance showed that 60% of […]

Safe staffing in the community

Conference applauds the work done by our union on highlighting the need for increased staff-to-patient ratios, including the 2017 “Safe Staffing” survey. However, conference is concerned to note that reports from NHS staff working in the community, the majority of whom are women, suggest that they are subject to the same levels of stress and […]

Support health workers asked to collect fees from migrants. Stop blaming migrant workers.

This conference notes; that this government is attempting to blame and scapegoat the relatively small number of migrants who use NHS care. They estimate the horrible phrased “health tourism” as £200million. Somehow this is identified by the government as a key problem for the NHS when they have cut £22,000 million, over 100 times more, […]

Stop Bank Holiday Discrimination

Conference notes that bank holidays are calculated pro-rata for part-time workers and believes in fair and equitable treatment for all. Giving part-time employees a pro-rata Bank Holiday entitlement frequently leaves members who work on Mondays with a loss of annual leave. For example in the leave year 2017/18 an employee who works 16 hours over […]

No role for private consultants in Job Evaluation

Bucks Health Care & Community has recognised that there is an inequality in pay banding across the NHS. Many NHS workers are doing similar roles in trusts for different pay; these differences can even be in neighbouring NHS Trusts. The inequality in pay banding becomes more apparent when the job role does not fit the […]

Pay Apprentices in Health the rate for the Job

Conference welcomes Unison recent guidance on apprenticeship pay and recommends it to all branches when negotiating pay rates for apprentices, as we believe that apprentices should be paid the rate for the job and not used to undermine our terms and conditions or be exploited because of their enthusiasm to work in the health service. […]

Pay max campaign and building confidence for collective industrial action in Health

Conference welcomes the pay max campaign as a way of preparing members for potential industrial action over our pay claim of 3.9 percent and £800. It is also positive that all health unions have lined up and are behind the claim and that the claim announcement received a great deal of publicity and meant that […]

Organisational consistency for student health care professionals

This Conference welcomes the work undertaken by UNISON to recruit and organise student health care professionals. This Conference notes, however, that there is inconsistent practice between regions as regards whether a student health care professional should be allocated to a health care or higher education service group branch. This Conference believes that there are clear […]

HENRY Vlll’S CRUELLEST CUT

Conference there was much debate during the Referendum Campaign about returning power to the Parliament in Westminster if we voted to leave the EU. Control over our laws, it was argued, would be returned to our Houses of Parliament and all our laws would be debated by our democratically elected Members of Parliament. There was […]

Support for Women suffering with Mental Health

UNISON recognises that the excessive pressure of an increasingly demanding work culture in the UK is one of the biggest challenges to the mental health of our members. If you look around your surroundings whether at home, at work or in your social life, how many women do you feel are suffering from a mental […]

NON-BINARY INCLUSION

Conference welcomes the work initiated by UNISON’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) group to begin to make UNISON’s organisation, events, policies, systems and good practice advice inclusive of non-binary members. Conference is concerned about scare-mongering media coverage of some organisations’ moves towards non-binary inclusion. This coverage has suggested that non-binary inclusion represents an attempt […]

Supporting members with fibromyalgia

Conference notes that Fibromyalgia is a much misunderstood condition that predominantly impacts on women, with some research suggesting 90% of those affected are women, aged between 20 to 50 years. Conference further notes that this condition is difficult to diagnose and difficult to manage which brings huge challenges especially for those women who want and […]

Disabled women forced into marriage

Conference notes that 86% of cases referred to the government’s forced marriage unit involve women, and that the abusive consequences for women with learning disabilities are likely to be severe. Whilst it is possible that the family believe that their action in arranging a marriage without consent will protect their child, build strong family ties […]

Women and Mate Crime

Conference welcomes the work that has previously been done by UNISON on hate crime. However, “mate crime” is less well recognised. Whilst there is no statutory definition of a ‘mate crime’, according to the Welsh government it is the term given to ‘the befriending of people, who are perceived by perpetrators to be vulnerable, for […]