Prescription Charges and Exemptions

Conference congratulates the Welsh Assembly in agreeing to eliminate the charges that the people of Wales pay for prescription charges. Already reduced to £4 per prescription item, and in the lifetime of the current Welsh Assembly there is commitment to having free prescriptions in Wales by the end of 2006. Conference notes that there are […]

Participation in Campaigning Activities

Conference recognises the right of every member to take part in the union’s campaigning activities, including attendance at marches and rallies. It is therefore important that, as with all other areas of the union’s work, steps are taken to ensure such events are fully accessible to disabled members. We therefore call upon the National Disabled […]

Disability Awareness within UNISON Courses

Conference is concerned that South East Region has unfortunately discovered that disability and equality awareness is not consistent within all UNISON regional education and training courses. Conference instructs National Disabled Members’ Committee to liaise with the regional education committees to ensure that appropriate disability awareness training is included on all UNISON education and training programmes […]

Social Worker Registration

Social workers are now required to register with the General Social Care Council in order to practice legally, and this registration has to be renewed every three years. In so doing they have to complete extensive registration documents that amongst other things ask personal questions within a medical declaration that includes disability status. When completing […]

The Social Model of Disability

Many UNISON disabled members that could potentially disadvantage them in the workplace do not identify their individual access requirements. The Disability Discrimination Act definition of a disabled person has recently been extended to define people with MS, HIV and cancer as disabled from a point of diagnosis. We welcome this legislative change as a signal […]

GOODS AND SERVICES TO LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER PEOPLE

Conference welcomes the House of Lords Judgement in the Mendoza tenancy case. Conference congratulates the NLGC and the National Officer on the production of “Not Just a Friend” the Best Practice guidance on healthcare for lesbian, gay and bisexual service users and their families. Conference notes that the Cymru/Wales regional lesbian and gay self-organised group […]

CONTINUING THE JOURNEY TO BECOMING A UNISON LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER SELF ORGANISED GROUP

Conference believes the UNISON lesbian and gay self-organised group should become a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender self-organised group and that the rules should be changed to facilitate this. Conference is committed to campaigning to win the vote at National Delegate Conference (NDC) in 2005. Conference is disappointed that its resolution to NDC in 2004 […]

EMPLOYMENT EQUALITY (SEXUAL ORIENTATION) REGULATIONS 2003

This Conference welcomes the introduction of the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003. Conference notes that in the High Court action over the Sexual Orientation regulations, the Judge ruled against the unions on both Regulation 7 (3) Religion and Belief Exemption and Regulation 25 Marriage. However, the judge accepted that a tight interpretation of Regulation […]

COMP NDC A – AMENDMENT TO RULE D4 – SELF ORGANISED GROUPS

In Rule D.4.1.4 delete “lesbian and gay members” and substitute “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members”.

GENDER RECOGNITION ACT

Conference welcomes the passing of the Gender Recognition Act which received Royal Assent on 1 July 2004. Conference notes that it is expected that people will be able to start applying for Gender Recognition Certificates from Spring 2005. Conference recognises that this act will allow transsexual people to obtain recognition of their true gender, which […]

POLITICAL FUND BALLOT

By March 2005, UNISON is required by law to ballot the whole membership on whether or not we continue to have a political fund. The unique structure of the UNISON Political Fund allows members to choose to pay into the fund affiliated to the Labour Party and/or the fund for general political campaigns. Conference deplores […]

REPORTING HOMOPHOBIC CRIME

This Conference condemns the brutal murder of David Morley in the early hours of 31st October 2004. Conference is committed to the LGBT community being able to live our lives without the fear of violence. Conference congratulates Education Action Challenging Homophobia (EACH) and the Metropolitan Police, Lewisham, for recognising the need of our community to […]

HOMOPHOBIC ATTACKS AND MURDERS

This Conference publicly deplores the horrendous murder of David Morley, aka Sinders, in the early hours of Sunday 31 October, 2004, on London’s South Bank, to what police described as a group of youths. David was a well loved and respected member of London’s lesbian and gay scene, and his murder has touched all of […]

Accessible Health Screening

Conference is aware of the post code lottery existing throughout the NHS. John Reid pledged to end such practices following the report into NHS funding and service provisions in his speech in parliament in July 2004. Whilst Conference applauds the promises made to develop a fairer and equal distribution of health provision, we remain concerned […]

Health Inequalities and Disabled Black people

Conference is concerned about inequality inequalities in health service provision for disabled black people. We welcome proposed changes to the Disability Discrimination Act to provide protection from discrimination to people diagnosed with cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis. However we are concerned that inadequate health service provision for disabled black people could result in disadvantage to […]