This Conference notes: • The living wage is now set at £7.65 an hour and £8.80 in London. • By comparison, the national minimum wage is £6.31 an hour for adults and £5.03 for those aged 18 to 21. • That the national government and administrations of devolved nations pay their staff the living wage. […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection in Employment Regulations) has maintained hard won employment terms and conditions and the protection from discrimination in the community sector, with sound public sector equality policies and procedures. TUPE means that the new employer “steps into the shoes” of the old employer and is bound by the […]
The current government’s austerity measures continue to have a disproportionate impact on Black communities and the Black voluntary and community sector. Research in 2010 on the ‘Voice for Change’ website found that 45% of community organisations providing services specifically for Black communities experienced cuts to funding. This unprecedented threat to the survival of Black community […]
Conference is concerned that when members in the Community Sector are going through the TUPE process, the exclusion of their pension rights can have a detrimental effect on disabled workers. Disabled people are already likely to have gaps in their employment, which means that they are unable to build up the number of years required […]
Conference is aware that disabled people make up approximately of 45% of the workforce in the UK and that a number of disabled people work in the Community Sector. Whilst there are examples of good employment practice, this is inconsistent across Community due to the absence of a national negotiating body and the number of […]
Conference notes that there are a multitude of problems in organising with the Community Service Group, particularly in small employer organisations. Conference notes that: a) Whilst there are areas of good practice and supportive branches, the existing UNISON branch structure does not always easily facilitate engagement of Community members who are placed in Local Government […]
Conference notes that women remain under-represented in the activist base within the community service group despite its workforce being predominantly female. Despite the very positive measures within UNISON to promote women’s participation, there remain legacies and cultures which exclude women, including women from non-traditional union backgrounds, and particularly those working in the Community Sector where […]
This Conference deplores the situation whereby public sector contracts with charities are often not on a full cost recovery basis (basically, staff costs plus overheads). Where this occurs, the consequence is a shortfall between contract income and the cost of delivering the contract. This effectively leaves affected charities to choose between cross-subsidising state contracts from […]
Conference notes that affordable child care was one of the main issues raised by the young women members’ caucus at national young members weekend 2013. Conference believes that affordable child care is essential if parents and those with parenting responsibilities, and in particular women, are to be effectively enabled to have access to full working […]
Conference notes that social work is a profession dominated by women. Social work is a gendered activity, in terms of both its workforce and client group and it is well documented that more women than men enter this area of work (‘Gender at Work: Characteristics of ‘Failing’ Social Work Students’. Sheila Furness. Division of Social […]
No Age Restrictions for Cervical Cancer Screening 10 years ago the age for Cervical Cancer screening rose from 20 to 25 in England followed by Northern Ireland in 2011, Wales in 2013 and Scotland due to rise in 2014. Cervical Cancer screening is available for all women aged between 25 & 65. Government guidelines state […]
I would like this conference to tell the government that every woman should be routinely given accurate information about group B Streptococcus (group B Strep or GBS) during her antenatal care And then be offered a sensitive test for GBS, ideally at 35-37 weeks of pregnancy Group B streptococcus (GBS), also known as group B […]
This conference believes that the Government’s decision to raise the Local Housing Allowance shared accommodation rate to 35 year olds was not subject to equality impact testing. It is well documented that women earn less than men and therefore find it harder to afford private sector rents. With the changes to eligibility for the 1 […]
As the trade union with the highest density of women members it is disturbing that so few women are active in their branches or across the union at regional and national level. Self organization should be at the heart of our union and we must ensure that women have the opportunity to be involved from […]
Conference believes that, despite the continued existence of discrimination against women and the barriers to women’s participation at all levels of society, women are continuing to make progress in taking up leadership roles. Conference further believes this is important in not only challenging the predominance of male power in our society, but also in providing […]