We embrace the increasing number of women in leadership roles within society and we hope to see this trend continue, given that men are still disproportionately represented in senior decision making roles. However, there are sadly many examples, including our women Prime Ministers to date, of women failing to advance the equality of women when […]
Conference motions
For too long, women have been forgotten in the design process. Criado Perez�s recent book �Invisible Women� explains how men�s dominance of the design industry has had a major impact on women�s health and safety.Not only do less women than men work in the design industry, designs are generally created with men in mind, and […]
Women�s conference notesEarly miscarriage happens in the first trimester of a woman�s pregnancy.Many employers do not recognise early miscarriage under their sickness procedure.Figures gathered by the Miscarriage Association show that 250,000 women in the UK suffer from a miscarriage. This equates to 1 in 4 women.The signs of a miscarriage differ to each person but […]
Conference notes with concern the continuing pressures on council-funded social care services. Social care services and the NHS both face increasing demands and new challenges including an ageing population, lifestyle changes, public expectations and new and emerging medical and digital technologies.Conference is aware of the need to develop a long-term workforce strategy in partnership with […]
Conference notes with alarm the proportion of women forced into poverty by changes to the benefits system. Rather than providing a safety net for women when they need it, the way that the current system and in particular Universal Credit is structured causes in work poverty rather than challenging it.In August 2019, it was reported […]
Raising the profile of Black activists and increasing the number of Black members involved in Higher Education establishments at branch, regional and national levels within the union is critical in meeting UNISON’s recruitment and organising objectives. Conference notes that UNISON has developed a Leadership School where activists can take steps to develop their leadership skills […]
2019 marks ten years of the erosion in real terms, take home pay, the pay of the majority of Higher Education support staff. If pay had risen in line with the cost of living, then each pound that university support staff earn in 2019/20, would be worth twenty one pence more than it actually is. […]
Conference welcomes the fact that more conversations are being held around the issues of mental health, however, for many it is still a taboo subject and for others a painful subject. This however does not stop the effect it has on people, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, beliefs. Mental health does not discriminate and […]
This conference notes the continuing desire by employers in the water sector to move away from RPI and embrace CPI when negotiating pay. Excuses abound, from the employers, to explain the reasoning to change to CPI. One of the main excuses being given, is the regulator Ofwat’s changes to the method used to increase consumer […]
Conference notes that there have been some staff wellbeing initiatives by employers in the Water, Environment and Transport service group related to mental health support, these are not consistent and there is still further to go for employee wellbeing. Conference recognises that at least one in four of us will experience mental health problems at […]
Conference is concerned to note that increasingly both branch activists and lay officials are finding themselves suffering extreme stress and anxiety when dealing with the levels of case load that they are presented with. In some cases representatives in WET have been placed under extreme personal pressure by employers. Conference notes that these pressures on […]
Conference notes that apprenticeships are increasingly the way that young people in the UK enter local government as a profession, providing a structured way to recruit those fresh into the workforce by combining part-time education with the work they’ll be doing once the apprenticeship is completed. Conference further notes however that, while some local authorities […]
Conference notes with concern that despite previous motions and campaigns highlighting gender specific health issues faced by women in the workplace there is still very little recognition nor help and advice in the workplace for employees or employers. Whilst these health issues may not in themselves impact on productivity, lack of support and unsympathetic workplace […]
This local government conference notes that LGPS pension funds are invested to secure the best returns and to safeguard the pensions of public sector employees and pension fund members. We further note that these funds are in the majority invested in funds which add little value to local areas and local economies. This conference therefore […]
In 2009, the Department for Work and Pensions embarked on an experiment to understand the scarcity of non-white faces in top managerial posts in UK organisations. 2,000 fake job applications were created in response to 1,000 real vacancies across multiple sectors, professions and pay grades. Similar CVs – one with a “traditional Anglo-Saxon” name and […]