Conference, it seems incomprehensible that currently, Black workers would be suffering the indignity of having their names changed in the workplace to make it easier to pronounce and are often westernised in the process. Names represent deep personal, cultural, familial, and historical connections. Our name gives us a sense of who we are, the communities […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that to impose the changes needed to achieve promises of racial justice, equity and inclusion, organisations require all hands-on deck. Black workers continue to demand action against racial injustice and movement toward more equitable workplaces – ones where all employees belong, regardless of their racial or ethnic identities. To build a culture of […]
Conference condemns the continued political and physical attacks on refugees, asylum seekers and others without their status in the UK many of whom are UNISON Black Members. Conference accepts that many people, even with the right to work, are often in precarious situations due to their immigration status. Conference notes indefinite immigration detention in the […]
The Nationality and Border Act which became law in April 2022, opens the door for the Government to transfer its Refugee Convention responsibilities to another country for money estimated at £1.5 billion, by forcibly expelling asylum seekers to Rwanda, following Australian example, which has been condemned as cruel, inhuman, or degrading. Under the new five-year […]
Conference notes once again the ongoing and concerning lack of access to immigration advice and representation through UNISON legal services. Conference notes that for members faced with criminal proceedings, our legal support kicks in straightaway, but that when a migrant worker’s employment is threatened by an immigration issue, advice is limited to a phone helpline […]
Conference acknowledges that Black Migrants, including Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender plus (LGBT+) Asylum Seekers, face an unprecedented attack on their Human Rights. We saw on 14 June 2022, four asylum seekers were forced onto a plane in tears, some in shackles, waiting to be sent 4,000 miles from the United Kingdom (UK) – […]
Conference notes that for many years Ghana’s government has been extremely hostile to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and plus (LGBT+) people. Currently same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under the Criminal Code 1960, which criminalises acts of ‘unnatural carnal knowledge’. This provision carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment. Only men are criminalised under this […]
Conference is clear that public services in the UK could not exist without migrant workers. At the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, different petitions were raised calling on the government to scrape the payment of NHS surcharge by migrant workers. In October 2020, the government agreed that those migrant workers who were not on a […]
Conference notes that there are a disproportionate number of newly qualified Black social workers failing their post qualification programme. The Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) is a 12-month employment-based programme of support and assessment for newly qualified social workers (NQSWs). Participation in the ASYE supports NQSWs to consolidate their degree learning, develop capability, […]
Conference reaffirms that: 1)In employers across our service groups Black members are facing job losses, impaired access to training, discrimination, bullying and restricted career development; 2)For too long employers have made public commitments to tackle race discrimination but have failed to convert words into action; 3)The best way to deliver race equality in public services […]
This conference notes that the ambitious environmental rhetoric used by all governments in the UK stands in direct opposition to the long-term fall in resources and support for the country’s environmental protection agencies which regulate and enforce environmental legislation. Why action is needed: For over a decade, our environmental protection agencies have been subject to […]
The toxic debate ignited by the United Kingdom government’s consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act underlined the importance of our union, including branches in the Water, Environment and Transport service group, supporting and representing our Trans members effectively. Attacks on Trans rights have escalated further in the past year. There has been a sustained […]
Conference notes that the proposed revisions to the WET constitution have been overseen by the WET Executive and in particular by the policy sub-group, which is made up of representatives of all WET sectors. The key changes to the constitution can be found on: a. Page 2, sub-section 3.3: Sector seats reduced to 3 instead […]
Conference recalls that the “Net Zero” motion passed at the 2021 WET conference called for the service group to work with all appropriate stakeholders in UNISON to promote policies that support a net zero strategy, including proper funding for a ‘Just Transition’ and a significant increase in employment in WET alongside new skills and training […]
Conference notes that UNISON has declared 2022 the year of disabled workers, which is a great opportunity for WET branches to organise, bargain and campaign on the issues that matter to our disabled members and to increase recruitment and retention as a result. WET branches can use 2022 to highlight the experience of our disabled […]