Collective Bargaining

Conference notes there is a clear need for Black workers who are not active to become active in the trade union movement to do so in whatever way they can. Branches need to approach this by identifying issues of concern for all members in the workplace from a race perspective. Issues such as access to […]

Bully Brother

National Black Members’ Committee (NBMC) is appalled at Channel 4’s manipulation of the current Celebrity Big Brother programme. NBMC is concerned that the blatant flaunting of racism and bullying of Shilpa by her housemates Jade, Danielle and Jo is totally unacceptable and has no place in the 21st Century. Channel 4 views itself as being […]

Black activists need facility time

Conference notes that while UNISON faces the challenge of negotiating facility time per se, Black members and activists face additional barriers to participation. Conference believes we cannot all continue to juggle work, home and trade union activities without adequate facility time and paid time off for duties and activities that support the work of challenging […]

Caucus Meetings at National Disabled Members’ Conference

The National Womens Caucus is disappointed that only 15 mins was allocated to them for their caucus meeting. Due to other meetings overrunning it meant that the Womens Caucus meeting was rushed & that they did not have sufficient time to discuss their issues. The Womens Caucus therefore call upon the NDMC when planning their […]

Shared Space

Shared Space This Conference welcomes the launching of a report on Shared Surfaces by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association on September 15, 2006. This report is also welcomed by a number of other disability organisations including the British Council of Disabled People (BCODP) and outlines the affect on blind and partially sighted and […]

Psychometric Testing – a Barrier to Discriminate Black People

UNISON welcomes the efforts made so far by councils, the National Health Service, and other public service providers in Great Britain, who have committed themselves, to fully implement and mainstream equality. In claiming equality of opportunity and fairness, many public service providers use psychometric tests as part of their selections and recruitment process for technical, […]

High Visa Fees for Fresh Talent Initiative Prospectors

UNISON welcomes the proposal to use the Scottish Executive Fresh talent Initiative as a model in the North West and West Midlands and applauds the efforts to sensitise the population on the positive contribution that immigrants make to the Scottish economy. We are however concerned at the very high fees associated with the Fresh Talent […]

Use of Disciplinary Procedure Against Black Staff

This Conference notes that there is a disproportionate amount of black members who are subject to disciplinary procedures within the work place. This leads us to the question whether disciplinary procedures are being applied fairly and equally to all staff. A consequence of this is that the morale of black staff is negatively affected – […]

Electronic Submission of Motions to National Black Members Conference

Conference notes the processes and procedures used for a number of years for the submission of motions to the National Black Members Conference. The process currently sets specific dates for motions to be submitted to the Conference Office and currently this can be done by post or fax. We live in a world that is […]

Training and Work Opportunites for Black Mem over age of 50

This conference notes that a New Deal Plus is a Government initiative by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to engage with unemployed people over the age of 50 to access training and employment. Conference is deeply concerned that only 17 out of 32,000 adults in the Reading area who were placed via the […]

Support for Black Members’ and Activists

Conference reaffirms UNISON’s reliance on active stewards/officers in all workplaces, covering all groups of members, for organising and delivering for members. Therefore support given to stewards/officers to enable them to do their job must be a central priority at all levels within the union. It is noted that such volunteer representatives give considerable commitment, often […]

Barriers to Progression and Promotions for Black Employees

Conference is deeply concerned that black employees are severely disadvantaged for promotion and progression. In line with UNISON’s Objective 2: negotiating and bargaining on behalf of members and promoting equality, Conference instructs the National Black Members Committee to work with the National Executive Council to: 1)collate statistics, to form a report, from all the service […]

United Nations (UN) World Conference Against Racism 2001

This Conference notes that UNISON sent a delegation to the UN World Conference against Racism 2001 as it did to the UN Women’s World Conference. We applaud the fact that a conference of over 160 nation states agreed that slavery was a crime against humanity even though the United Kingdom and the United States of […]

TV Licences

Conference is totally opposed to the present situation in National Health Service (NHS) hospitals where pensioners, those persons over 60, are required to pay a daily subscription to enjoy television whilst a patient in a NHS hospital. We are aware that all patients have to subscribe but this is totally unfair to pensioners on fixed […]

Post Office Closures and Post Office Card Accounts

Conference notes that Ministers have announced that the Department for Work and Pensions will not extend the contract for the Post Office card account beyond 2010 despite the fact that 2.3 million pensioners use the card as a way of collecting their state pension. When the Government ended the use of pension books in 2003, […]