In 2007, research by a private bank showed that over half of women aged between 35 and 44 had made no pension provision – apparently believing that they could rely on either their husband or an inheritance to ensure that they did not spend their latter years in poverty. With the credit crunch biting, soaring […]
Conference motions
In Ethiopia seventy five per cernt of the population live, on average, two and half days walk from an all-weather road. There are few maternity medical services and as a result approx nine thousand women each year will develop an obstetric fistula (a hole in the birth canal). Fistulas can be caused by rape but […]
This conference notes with increasing concern the seeming lack of increased participation and activism of women in a union that is proud to have a million plus women in membership. In order to establish where we are it is essential that we have accurate and current data; that will give us a baseline on which […]
Conference congratulates Southall Black Sisters (SBS) for their victory in the High Court in July 2008 when they challenged Ealing Council’s interpretation of the Race Relations Amendment Act and helped secure the future of BME women’s services. SBS were forced to take their case to the High Court when Ealing Council withdrew funding from the […]
Conference applauds the National Women’s Committee for its previously undertaken work on sexual violence and the conference policy decisions to support the work of Rape Crisis. However there is much still to do. Conference believes that rape crisis centres are essential and distinctly different in their role to the government created Sexual Assault Referral Centres […]
Conference congratulates the Million Women Rise Coalition (MWRC) on the success of the 2008 march and rally which saw over 5,000 women and girls gathered in London to protest male violence against women and endemic gender discrimination. The rally was addressed by a range of inspiring speakers from across the country, representing a broad spectrum […]
Equality is at the very heart of UNISON, and one of the union’s stated aims is to promote equality and challenge discrimination, so Conference applauds the arrival of the UNISON equality scheme. The UNISON equality scheme has meant that every region, department and service group of UNISON now has a two year equality action plan […]
Conference believes that all girls and women should have a future free from the fear of breast cancer. Conference supports the Government, the NHS and its staff in their continued commitment to improve breast cancer services in order to make the vision of a future free from the fear of breast cancer a reality for […]
Ovarian cancer is still the fourth most common cause of death from cancer amongst women in the UK. Every year about six thousand women in the UK are diagnosed with this disease, the majority of these cases only have a few symptoms, which are treated as other illnesses until finally being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. […]
This Conference requests the National Disabled Members Committee to liaise with the Conference department to ensure that hotels are asked to comply with their DDA Goods, services, and facilities duties and provide an access audit at no cost to the union. We further request that audited conference venues and recommended hotels are circulated with the […]
Transport by taxi is a lifeline to many of our members who require the convenience and necessity of this form of getting from A to B. However, on numerous occasions this aspect of travel is marred by the attitude and behaviour of the driver particularly where drivers refuse to allow working dogs to accompany disabled […]
Typetalk is a requirement for many of our deaf/hearing impaired and speech impaired members, as it gives them the opportunity to have more indepth and professional phone discussions with colleagues that texting on mobile phones does not. Typetalk is a service operated by RNID through a BT landline involving a Minicom user, a standard phone […]
In recent years disabled people have benefited from changes in law, which has meant – in some instances – that employment has been easier to obtain and maintain, because of the requirement to make reasonable adjustments. However, we are concerned that due to a lack of appropriate training information and support, the Disability Discrimination Act, […]
Conference recognises the importance of identifying UNISON’s disabled membership and their access needs in order to facilitate the participation of disabled members in their union. The RMS is the main recording, mapping and organising tool of the Union at all levels. At the present time the information stored on the RMS with regard to disability […]
Part M of Schedule 1 of The Building Regulations 1991 as amended by the Building Regulations (Amendment) Regulation 1998 deals with access and facilities for disabled people. Conference notes that Section M is limited to: a)Reasonable provision for disabled people to gain access to and to use the building b)Reasonable provision of sanitary facilities in […]