The experience of Black people in Higher Education (HE) institutions

Conference notes with alarm and concern the steady decrease in numbers of first-time applicants to university which has decreased by 5 percent for United Kingdom (UK) students and 7 percent for the EU students. These figures are particularly concerning when broken down by age group where we will find the number of 19-year-old applicants has […]

Statistics and non-statistics re Black workers

This conference is concerned that there is anecdotal evidence that: 1)Black workers do not receive equal secondment/training opportunities. 2)Black workers leave school not proportionally achieving the same as their counterparts. 3)Black workers do not climb the career ladder at the same speed as their white co-workers. 4)Black workers are not proportionality represented in the boardroom. […]

Engaging Black youth in the political arena

Conference notes that the fantastic general election campaign of Jeremy Corbyn had an electric effect on young people with an estimated two thirds of young people voting for Corbyn and a record turn out of young people of 64 percent. Conference also notes the report from Runneymede Trust analysing the election results that stated that […]

Black workers fighting austerity

This conference notes the austerity agenda following the economic recession of 2007/8 has resulted in a massive attack on public services. The public sector has shrunk as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This has led to fewer workers delivering services in an often highly stressed situation. However, austerity for the richest 1,000 people […]

Race Equality Act – How far have we come since 1968?

On 8 December 1965 the first Race Relations Act came into force in Britain. Prior to this, it was legal to discriminate against people because of the colour of their skin, and this act was the first in many equality legislation to promote non-discrimination and equality, the Act was amended in 1968. This year is […]

Creating, building and strengthening Black community links

Conference, notes the damaging decline in numbers and workplace density as a result of job losses across various sector groups, disproportionately in local government where we have had a high concentration of Black member employment. This has reduced our effectiveness in the workplace, impact in collective bargaining negotiations and most importantly member engagement. However, despite […]

Black members losing out

This Conference notes that UNISON’s equality survey 2017 saw 461 Black members who responded, which equals 4 percent of the total who participated. This Conference also notes that of those Black members, 50 percent said that their standard of living was worse than a year ago, compared with the overall survey which showed 43 percent […]

Under reporting of hate crime against Sikhs

Conference notes that it is widely acknowledged that there is under-reporting of anti-Sikh hate crimes. In recent years Sikhs have been susceptible to attacks, in particular due to their distinct identity in the form of the Dastar (turban) or other religious iconography. In some cases Sikhs are the victims of hate crimes where the perpetrators […]

Mental health and employment

Conference, employers are failing in their duty of care towards staff with mental health issues. Black Staff with mental health issues are not malingers, faking it or simply seeking attention. They have a genuine illness which can be difficult to identify, treat and manage and managers and staff should show greater tolerance and patience toward […]

Practical steps to involve young Black members

This Conference welcomes the recent initiative by the Greater London Region Black members which saw a group of young Black members attending an informational and educational seminar. This Conference believes this is an excellent example of the kind of work that Black members can undertake to ensure that lessons and life-experiences on organising to challenge […]