Conference recognises that activism is at the very heart of UNISON. Activists ensure that the union is accessible to members in the workplace giving day to day support and representation to members, encouraging other workers to join the union and building our organisation. Without activists we could not function as a democratic lay member led […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that the Conservative Party’s success at the General and local elections on May 7th carries with it significant threats to public services, our members’ jobs and standard of living and growing levels of inequality. As such Conference calls upon the National Executive Council to develop and put in place a comprehensive political campaign […]
The Westminster government announced in its last Budget that it planned to allow all those who have been contributing to Defined Contribution (DC) pension arrangements, the option of being able to take their whole pot of money as a cash sum from 6 April 2015. Up to then contributors could take a maximum of 25% […]
This Special Conference believes the decision of the NJC Committee on 9th October to suspend the action planned for 14th October was a mistake which completely undermined the national campaign to secure a decent pay rise for Local Government members and an end to five years of real terms cuts in our member’s living standards. […]
Conference condemns the continuing refusal by the government to give public service workers, and particularly local government staff, a proper pay rise. Years of pay freezes and pay caps in local government mean that many of our members are now forced to rely on in-work benefits or to take on extra jobs; in some cases […]
Conference notes that the European Union (EU) is currently negotiating three free trade agreements including the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The others are the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada (CETA) and the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). These agreements threaten public services by harmonising regulatory standards, forcing through market liberalisation and […]
Conference recognises the massive housing crisis which exists in London and nationally. Conference condemns the UK Government’s financial policies that have focused upon “Buy to Let” as the main source of housing and rented housing in the UK. The result has been growing inequality, poverty, the break up of families and communities across the UK […]
Conference we acknowledge the importance that school based staff have within the membership of our local government branches. We also recognise the need to ensure that we continue to recruit and organise our members and potential members in schools. Conference notes that the schools landscape has continued to change, as more and more schools move […]
Member and activist confidence in the relevance, integrity and mutuality of the NJC bargaining machinery on a ‘sector-wide’ (cross-nation/whole nation) basis and UNISON’s role within it is at an all-time low. In light of all the above this Special Conference agrees it is imperative that proactive engagement, campaigning and negotiations on NJC pay are reinstated […]
Black communities must reject the economic policies of the coalition government. Austerity cuts continue to significantly impact on Black people and we cannot sit back and see our basic human rights eroded due to the colour of our skin. Conference, too often the colour of your skin determines your life chances and Black communities continue […]
Conference is appalled at the cases of grooming and sexual abuse in Rotherham. While we do not know the true scale the independent enquiry into Child sexual exploitation in Rotherham led by Alexis Jay gives a conservative estimate involving approximately 1400 children, adding: “It is hard to describe the appalling nature of the abuse that […]
Conferences is concerned to hear that homosexuality is criminalised in 76 countries in the world, including 40 African countries, and society persecutes and discriminates against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans (LGBT) people in even more countries. In July 2011 it was reported that the Commonwealth Secretary General, Kamalesh Sharma had spoken out against discrimination towards […]
Conference, despite the work done by the National Black Members’ Committee in producing a definition of ‘Black’ in UNISON in 2013 there continues to be questions about using ‘Black’ when addressing Black members. We have also found that branches and Regions in the union continue to use other definitions when describing ‘Black’ members, such as […]
In UNISON more than 70% of our total membership are women. UNISON is committed to fair representation and proportionality (Rule D4.1). However, we know in the public sector where many of our members are Black Women we see very few represented at Branch, Regional and Committee level; despite statistics nationally telling us that Black people […]
Conference notes with concern the issues faced by our Black members living with long term conditions and hidden disabilities such as Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) more common in Black women, Sarcoidosis and Sickle cell. The fact that these conditions are not obvious can cause members to have their complaints for sick leave and requests for […]