Conference, many of our women members some of whom are disabled are on low pay, working part time and living on a limited budget. A significant number of these women work in social care, for the NHS, local authorities, or private care companies. Conference notes that caring responsibilities also disproportionately fall on women. The massive […]
Conference motions
Flexible working is a way for workers to change their working hours to suit their needs. For example, having the flexibility to change their start and finishing times, compress their weekly hours/ days or even work from home. There are many reasons why women would need or want flexible working. One reason is that caring […]
Conference is extremely concerned that in 2023 Black women are still five times more likely to die in childbirth or shortly afterwards. Women of mixed ethnicity have 3 times the risk, and Asian women almost twice the risk. Black women are also at an increased risk of having a pre-term birth, stillbirth, neonatal death or […]
Conference, it’s a well-known fact that our union is made up of 80% women and that there are 5.5 million unionised workers in the UK. Women make up half the UK workforce. So why are women still so underrepresented in our union structures and in our union visibility? UNISON collectively gives voice to working people […]
Despite the Equal Pay Act coming into force over 50 years ago, there remains a persistent gender pay gap on university campuses across the United Kingdom. According to the Times Higher Education (THE), the mean pay gap in Higher Education in 2020 – 2021 was 14.8% which was higher than the UK average of 11.3%. […]
UNISON is a growing union that strongly believes in equality, diversity, inclusion and equity and we maximise the benefits of this to increase our bargaining and campaigning strength. We recruit and encourage activism from members of all backgrounds. Despite this, many chairs of national committees, including self organised groups and service group executive chairs, do […]
In 2022 Conference passed four motions that mentioned a pay gap, recognising that any pay gap affecting any protected characteristic is unacceptable, and change is needed. Conference recognises that the current cost of living crisis has made the issue even more pressing. Conference accepts that since gender pay gap reporting was required for organisations with […]
Conference notes that disabled peopled face barriers to employment. 2022 figures show that 53.3% of disabled people were in work compared to 81.9% for non-disabled people. This gives a shocking “disability employment gap” of 28.5%. Although official government figures do not record the employment gap for Deaf native British Sign Language (BSL) users specifically, a […]
Conference notes that since the Covid-19 pandemic there has been a massive shift to hybrid working, with many of our members now splitting their time between home working and the workplace. This has resulted in benefits to many disabled workers who can manage their impairment better at home, with short breaks and more flexible start […]
Conference notes that some police services in the UK have specialised Police Link Officer with Deaf People (PLOD). This has helped to make police services more accessible to Deaf people in some areas but it remains a post code lottery without a consistent service in all parts of the UK. Turn-over of staff also means […]
Conference notes that despite the significant numbers of Black workers in the frontline work force, they are disproportionately underrepresented in managerial and senior levels within their departments and tend to be concentrated in the lower levels. Some commentators point to the ways in which institutional racism continues to play a key role in Black workers’ […]
Conference believes that Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is an impairment that must be taken seriously. SCD affects millions of individuals globally and significantly impacts their quality of life. SCD is an inherited blood disorder that affects the production of red blood cells, causing them to be abnormally crescent-shaped and prone to blockages in blood vessels. […]
Conference notes that neurodiverse women still fail to get the support they need in the workplace because of out-dated and sexist stereotypes. Conference further notes that UNISON subscribes to the social model of disability and as such we focus on breaking down barriers and identifying ways of changing the working environment to make it accessible […]
Conference notes the publication of “Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper”, published by government in March 2023. The government claims this new set of policies related to welfare benefits will help more disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. However, conference believes the opposite is true […]
Conference is proud that UNISON is one of the founding members of the Disability Employment Charter which now has 147 organisations signed up to it, including trade unions, disabled people organisations, public service employers, charitable organisations and private sector employers. The disability employment charter was founded because of the disadvantage that disabled people experience in […]