NHS Pay Determination and Devolution

Conference welcomes the decision taken by UNISON Health Conference in 2015 which acknowledged that responsibility for determining NHS pay is a devolved function. Devolution however does not mean that UNISON is anything other than wholly committed to improving pay in the NHS across all of the four countries in the UK. It is unacceptable in […]

Agenda for Change – Tackling Low Pay

This Conference welcomes the decision taken by UNISON National Delegate Conference in 2015 to “push toward minimum pay rates of £10 per hour.” This Conference also welcomes the decision taken by UNISON Health Conference in 2015 to call upon the Health Service Group Executive to develop a campaign to eliminate Band One from Agenda for […]

Student Nurses Funding

This Conference condemns the decision by the UK Tory Government to require fees for nursing and midwifery courses to be paid for from 2017 by loans rather than the current bursary system. This callous decision will drive more and more of those people who want to care for the vulnerable in our society into poverty […]

Domestic Abuse: Training for Pre-Hospital Healthcare Professionals.

Conference recognises that domestic abuse, whether inflicted by men on women, by women on men or by same sex couples must not be defended or tolerated in today’s modern society. However the abuse is caused or who causes it, when injury or ill health results and the victim is in need of medical attention, it […]

Health and Safety Expertise within Health Branches

Conference regards the health, safety and welfare of workers as paramount across the NHS. Conference believes the successful pursuit of health and safety legislation, regulations and practice in the workplace rests in large part on the efforts of unionised work places. Conference recognises the attempts of government to roll back health and safety provision. Conference […]

Health Care for Young Black People

Conference is concerned that health services for the whole community are under sustained attack from wave after wave of austerity cuts. We know that Black communities take a disproportionate impact of these cuts There is growing alarm at the impact of cuts to mental health services for vulnerable children and young people. A recent annual […]

Black member involvement must be meaningful

Conference notes with some distress that despite the UNISON ruling which allows for the creation of Black members self organised groups, protected seats at the highest lay member level, fairness and proportionality rules for conference and numerous motions which promote the increased involvement of Black members throughout our structures, many Black members continue to report […]

Black Organ Donation – Can help save a Life

Conference, for many years medical science has been discovering life changing and life saving ways to increase life expectancy of human beings. However one of the areas that need to be highlighted for enhancing and saving life is organ donation. A donation is where a person donates their organs and tissues for transplant. A transplant […]

Genocide of the forgotten people; The Rohingya

Conference, many people will not have heard of the Rohingya people, yet as the Economist noted these are some of the most persecuted minorities of people. The Rohingya people are Muslims from the Rakhine state in Burma and speak the Rohingya language. As far back as 1982 the Burmese government has denied the Rohingya citizenship, […]

Labour Party reaching out to the Black Communities

This Conference notes that in his acceptance speech, Jeremy Corbyn promised that the Labour Party, with him as leader, will reach out to everyone in this country and nobody would be left on the side. The relationship between the Labour Party and Black communities needs to be a key focus of any and all steps […]

End the Siege on Gaza

Last summer, Israel launched another deadly assault on Gaza. Over 2200 Palestinians were killed and tens of thousands are still homeless. Currently, people in Gaza are living amongst the rubble of their homes, without proper running water or electricity. One year on and the problems left by this assault are still visible. We want to […]

UNISON Black members turning back the UKIP tide and the enigma that is Nigel Farage

Conference, the toxic debate on immigration has deep echoes of a past that never seems to leave us. The response of UNISON Black members’ is based on the lessons of the anti-racist movement and principals of self-organisation. It is said that poverty breeds fear which causes people to look for scapegoats. UKIP and its rhetoric […]

Assessing the value of the Race Equality Charter Mark for Black staff and students in Public Services/Higher Education

Conference, the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) piloted a Race Equality Charter Mark with the aim to inspire a strategic approach to making cultural and systemic changes that will make a real difference to Black staff and students. The Charter covered: a)Professional and support staff b)Academic staff c)Student attainment, diversity of the curriculum and progression of […]

Treatment of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Asylum Seekers

Conference notes human rights abuse perpetrated within the country of origin of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people who make asylum applications in the United Kingdom (UK). Many of these countries are Commonwealth members with strong historical links to the UK. If returned to their homeland, there would be a good chance these […]

Austerity – How much worse will it get for Black members?

Since the disastrous election of a majority Tory Government in May 2015 the impact of public sector and welfare cuts has worsened for Black people. The Tories first budget has deepened austerity with more than 1.25 million Black households and 4 million Black people worse off under the range of budget measures that will have […]