Conference notes that UNISON membership surged in 2020 in response to government’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on vital public services and public service workers. However, as home working continued and workplace access remained restricted, UNISON’s workplace activity and visibility decreased. Following an initial surge in schools’ members in January 2021 rates […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that UNISON’s policy on sex work, adopted in 2010, is to support decriminalising the selling of sexual services while introducing a sex buyers law criminalising those who purchase those services. Conference recognises that the great majority of sex workers are women. Conference also recognises a significant number of women sex workers identify as […]
Add new rule G 1.4: “G 1.4 Each Branch shall have an additional ‘on-line’, ‘virtual’ or ‘hybrid’ meeting procedure in their local rules and/or standing orders to improve efficiency, participation and the environment.”
Add new rule Rule F 4.3.5: “F 4.3.5 The region’s standing orders shall have an ‘on-line’ or ‘virtual’ meeting procedure option to improve efficiency, participation and the environment.”
G 4.1.1 Add after: “Women’s Officer (who must be a woman)”: “Environmental Officer (also known as Green rep)”
Add new rule D 2.11.13 and renumber accordingly: “D 2.11.13 to issue model procedures for ‘on-line’ or ‘virtual’ meetings to all national committees to improve efficiency, participation and the environment.”
Conference recognises that CEDAW, the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, is significant in the international human rights framework because it is exclusively devoted to gender equality. It is one of the core international human rights treaties of the UN and it requires countries that have ratified it […]
Conference notes that even before the pandemic mental health and stress at work were among the leading issues raised by young workers. Conference notes that the pandemic has only exacerbated young workers’ concerns about mental health, whether that is due to working in stressful conditions on the front line, or due to isolation from friends, […]
Next year, in 2023, UNISON will celebrate 30 years as a trade union. At its creation, UNISON became a union with the majority of its members being women and from the start put rules in place to ensure proportionality. Delegates to UNISON conferences and committees across all its structures ensure that two-thirds of those nominated […]
Conference notes: 1)That the workplace can be a very difficult situation for our members when they face disciplinary action and it can have an adverse impact on their physical and mental health and well-being. This can impact on them having unrealistic expectations as to what UNISON reps can do to resolve their workplace issues; 2)The […]
Conference notes with alarm and shock the report from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), into the abhorrent and discriminatory workplace culture at Charing Cross Police Station that was published on 1 February 2022. The report identified the exchange of hateful and offensive messages between a group of 19 police officers. Numerous messages were […]
A number of posts within the Environment Agency have been transferred to the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) over the past few years. Also, some new Environment Agency vacancies are advertised as Defra posts. UNISON has strong representation on behalf of our members in the Environment Agency. 1)We are entitled to elect representatives […]
Conference notes that, over the last two years, the UK, along with the rest of the world, has faced, a crisis like no other with Covid-19. However, while acknowledging the incredible advances made by vaccination and treatment, the pandemic is not yet over and will continue to affect the daily and working lives of the […]
As we emerge from the pandemic, usage of buses is 70-80% of the 2019 level. The figures for rail travel and tram journeys are slightly below that level. Transport companies are facing greater staff shortages than at any time during the pandemic. This is a result of staff leaving for alternative jobs, such as Heavy […]
Conference, during the COVID-19 pandemic water industry workers started to hear the terminology that they were key workers. Conference notes the huge impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, whether on staff working under stressful conditions, people isolated from friends and family by lockdown measures, the physical impact of the virus itself, or the […]