Training Mental Health First-Aiders in Energy Workplaces

Conference notes that since 1981, workplaces have been required to provide adequate and appropriate first aid equipment, facilities and people, to ensure that employees can be given immediate help if they are injured or taken ill at work. Yet in 2019, there is still no statutory requirement for employers to provide mental health first aid […]

Utility and Energy Industry Privatisation

Many members within the above industries no longer have the luxury of a Defined Benefits (DB) pension and are relying on a much inferior Direct Contributions Pension scheme for their retirement. A lot of these workers have used the Share Save and Share Incentive Plan (SIP) share schemes within these companies to subsidise the shortfall […]

Building and Strengthening Black Community links

Conference notes the national Black members’ committee ‘Creating, Building, and Strengthening Black Community link motion was debated with much support from other delegates at the 2018 Community conference and was carried along with the amendment submitted by the Community Service Group Executive. However the National Black Member’s Committee is concerned that limited work has commenced […]

Mental Health support for our members

One in four people in the UK will have a mental health problem at some point. While mental health problems are common, most are mild, tend to be short-term and are normally successfully treated. Mental health is about how we think, feel and behave. Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health problems. They […]

Alexa, Did you take our Jobs? The Rising Threat of Automation and Computerisation in the Housing Sector

Conference notes the rising number of business reports and academic research regarding automation and computerisation across the whole economy over the last five years. From Frey & Osbourne’s alarmist 2013 “The Future of Employment”, claiming 47% of jobs in the USA were at risk of automation to Ford’s seminal “the Rise of The Robots” in […]

The Effects on staff going through the Menopause

In the Community & Voluntary Sector which includes care provision, charities, not for profit organisations and housing associations, women make up nearly half of the workforce and with the increasing numbers of older workers many well be either be currently experiencing the menopause or will have worked through it. Around eight in ten women report […]

Standing Up for Fair Pay for CVS Workers in Commissioned Services

Community conference welcomes the recent nationally negotiated pay deals for Local Government and the NHS giving many public service workers deserved pay rises. However, many members in the Community and Voluntary Sector (CVS) work for employers who are held in long-term contracts with the public sector, with no annual or inflationary uplifts built into those […]

Recruiting and increasing the activism of Young and Retired members

With an average members age being 56 UNISON is a middle-aged union. Conference recognises that two key areas of under representation within UNISON’s membership categories are retired and young Members. This is also evident within the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Self Organised Group (SOG). The 2017 Retired Members Conference reported that; “UNISON has […]

Racism within the Bi community

We in the bi caucus have become aware of racism within our own bi community spaces. Stonewall have released research which shows the scale of racism that exists within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Britain. Just over half of all Black, Asian and minority ethnic LGBT people (51%) report experiencing discrimination […]

How to be a good ally to Bi People at Work

Conference applauds the work that was done by UNISON in developing the ‘How to be a good trans ally’ document, produced last year. The feedback on this document has been extremely positive and has showcased UNISON’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, supporting all of its members. Conference is aware that for many within the trans […]

County Lines – impact on children, young people and families

County lines, or ‘going country’, is a national issue involving the use of mobile phone ‘lines’ by groups to extend their drug dealing business into new locations outside of their home areas. This generally involves a group from an urban area expanding their operations by crossing one or more police force boundaries to more rural […]

Pride in London

At the Pride Parade held in London, on Saturday 7th July 2018, a transphobic protest took place at the front of the march and stole the limelight from Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, and NHS workers. The ‘hi-jack’ of the front of parade was carried out by ten lesbians who held a banner that […]

National Self-Organised Group Conferences – Representatives of Relevant Retired Members

Conference notes that, since Rule D7.8 was amended in 2014, the National Retired Members’ Organisation has sent two representatives of relevant retired members to each National Self-Organised Group (SOG) conference. It further notes that the Retired Members’ National Committee (RMNC) chooses these representatives, but Conference continues to think it would be better if, in future, […]

Happy 50th Birthday Stonewall

Conference next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. These events had a profound effect on the advancement of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights. They were the catalyst for many movements and groups and also had an influence that led to led to Pride events that commenced a few years […]

Flexible working

Conference notes that the right to request flexible working was extended to all employees in 2014. However, the experience of reps and members within the energy sector is that many employers are only prepared to agree to flexible working patterns for certain groups of staff, and then only on limited terms. Further, new shift working […]