Term Time Working

Conference believes that term time working is an issue that affects predominantly women, as many women choose jobs in educational establishments to fit in with their child care commitments. Due to social security legislation they are excluded from claiming benefits in the holiday periods, which means that they have either no income or are forced […]

Safe Hotels at National Women’s Conference

Conference believes that since delegates to this Conference are either lone women or groups of women, they face a greater risk to their personal safety than delegates at other conferences. We would like to know that the hotels we are invited to stay in have been checked for access, health and safety; are suitable for […]

Women’s Pensions

Conference believes that the proposed changes to the state pension have a disproportionate impact on women for the following reasons. The number of years which have to be worked to ensure a complete contribution record entitling a woman to a full state pension, discriminates against women who have taken time out from the workplace to […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 – […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Challenging Racism: Challenging Islamophobia

Conference notes that data from the census reveals that Muslim communities face disproportionate disadvantage compared to other groups: the highest rate of unemployment, the poorest health, and the highest levels of disability. This was confirmed in TUC’s 2005 report which highlighted that 69% of Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities live below the poverty line. Research by […]

International Work

Conference welcomes UNISON’s high priority given to international work. This is consistent both with our commitment to oppose war, poverty, oppression and exploitation wherever it arises. However, in a world dominated by the ‘globalisation of capital’, it is also a matter of vital importance to all our members that conditions of workers around the world […]

A Commission For Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) that Delivers real Equality for all

Conference notes the Government’s manifesto commitment to introduce a Single Equality Act through a Discrimination Law Review was charged with developing a ‘simpler, fairer legal framework that fits the needs of 21st century Britain’. The fact that 18 months after the establishment of the Discrimination Law Review, no proposals or process of public consultation on […]

Supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Asylum Seekers

National Black Members Conference believes: a)to be LGBT remains illegal in many countries across the world, with LGBT people facing life prison sentences, beatings, rape, torture and even death; b)even in countries where the state does not officially sanction severe repression of LGBT people, homophobia and transphobia are rife; c) the United Kingdom (UK) asylum […]