Disabled people’s experience of targeted violence and hostility

Conference notes that a recent report entitled ‘Promoting Safety and Security of Disabled People’ published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission showed that disabled people are at greater risk of being victims of targeted violence and hostility. The report stated that disabled people are four times more likely to be a victim of crime, […]

UN Disability Convention

Conference notes that on 8 June 2009 th UK Government ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This means that the UK is now legally bound by the Convention. The Convention is the first human rights treaty of the 21st Century, re-affirming disabled people’s human rights and signalling a further […]

British Sign Language access to Unison Website

Conference welcomes a more accessible and inclusive UNISON Website. Conference requests that the National Disabled Members Committee work with the ‘Webmaster’ to look at different access mediums and that British Sign Language as well as text to speech interpretation is included in the access options available to our members. BSL as well as text to […]

Self Directed Support and Protection of Disabled People and their Employees

This Conference welcomes the introduction of Direct Payments for disabled and older people which has taken place over the past few years, along with the recent pilots of Individual Budgets which increase choice and control for disabled and older people over the services they receive. However, we are concerned that there are insufficient safeguards to […]

Access to Work

This Conference notes that many disabled people are unemployed and find it difficult to obtain work. Some employers, particularly those in the Private Sector, see disabled people as an ‘expensive’ choice due to the need for access arrangements. The current economic climate means that it is now even more likely that employers will not take […]

A New Economy Based on Green Energy

Conference recognises that many members employed by Energy Companies are suffering from the effects of the current international financial crisis. Although companies continue to report healthy profits, some have implemented cost savings leading to job losses and plans to invest in new greener energy infrastructure have been subjected to further reviews. Conference believes that both […]

Public Ownership of the Utilities

Conference Notes: i)The economic crisis which has spread rapidly across the globe, forcing thousands of businesses into bankruptcy and millions of workers into unemployment and poverty; ii)The hundreds of billions of pounds of public money which has been spent by governments across the world trying to prop up the world financial system in order to […]

Failing UK Energy Market

Conference reiterates its long held belief that privatisation of energy companies and liberalisation of the energy market have not worked in the long term interests of consumers, the wider community or the employees. An unacceptable number of people are falling into ‘fuel poverty’ as energy bills remain too high and incomes fall. Conference regrets that […]

Barriers to Attending LGBT Conference

Conference notes the importance of our union’s conferences, both in their democratic policy making role and also for the way they inform and inspire activists to return, re-energised, to their local union work. Conference notes with regret that only a minority of Energy branches send delegates to the annual UNISON lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender […]

Sickness Absence Management

Conference notes with concern that many employers have introduced draconian measures to reduce rates of sickness absence. These measures often seek to diminish the status of GP’s certificates in favour of assessments by company appointed private Occupational Health practitioners. They also attempt to marginalise existing collective agreements of sickness absence and often make no distinction […]