PRIVATISATION AND HOMECARE SERVICE

Conference condemns the ongoing political drive to increase the proportion of domiciliary care jobs, which are done by women, being outsourced to the private sector. All the evidence shows that the privatisation of domiciliary care services results in reduced service provision to the most vulnerable and the reduction in the terms and conditions of our […]

Campaigning against the cuts in women’s services – Supporting women’s voluntary and community sector organisations

Women are being doubly hit by the economic down turn and essential services are at risk of closure as a result of this government’s policies. Women’s organisations in the third sector are large employers of women and their closure leads to a loss of specialist knowledge and expertise as well as jobs and services for […]

Lack of equality in Women’s Sport

Conference, 80% of women and girls in the UK are not playing enough sport or doing enough exercise to benefit their health. The success of Team GB’s women athletes at London 2012 was inspirational. With the exception of Jess Ennis or Victoria Pendleton how many others are household names? From participation in grassroots sport to […]

GENDER SPECIFIC HEALTH PROBLEMS/ISSUES

In a number of work places gender specific illnesses/conditions are dealt with outside the absence/sickness policies. This type of forward thinking for conditions ie IVF, hysterectomy, gynaecological problems, to name but a few. These conditions mainly affect women and are in the one-off illnesses from which most women recover completely. It would therefore save time […]

Support rape victims not rape deniers

Conference notes that the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is wanted in Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault. Conference further notes that a UK Court approved the extradition of Assange to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault, but that he has now been granted asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]