Category: 2023 National Black Members Conference

The Year of Black Workers

This is UNISON’s Year of Black Workers.

UNISON has 185,000 Black members, most of whom work in health and local government services, with significant numbers working in social care and schools. Many deliver frontline services, and many are low paid.

UNISON national officer for race equality Margaret Greer said: “The Year of Black Workers will focus UNISON on the important issues that affect Black members and their everyday lives, with their lived experiences being central to our challenging racism in the workplace toolkit. This focus is vital in these testing times for race relations in the UK today.”

UNISON’s Year of Black Workers is underpinned by the desire of ‘establishing legacy to generate change’, and the national Black members committee hope to develop legacy campaigning work across several areas, including:

Ms Greer added: “My hope for this year is that UNISON can help increase the participation of Black members and activists and see tangible success, both in terms of UNISON structures and maximising the union’s capacity in the workplace and broader Black communities.”

In UNISON, ‘Black’ – with a capital B – is used to indicate people with a shared history. ‘Black’ is used in a broad political sense to describe people in the UK who have suffered from colonialism and enslavement in the past and continue to experience racism and diminished opportunities today. 

Download the Year of Black Workers leaflet here

The article The Year of Black Workers first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Black members’ conference confronts cost of living crisis

Of the 24 motions passed at UNISON’s national Black members’ conference in Edinburgh at the weekend, four focused on ways to support Black workers during the cost of living crisis. 

Introducing the second motion on the subject, Adejare Oyewole (pictured), from the national Black members’ committee, described how, as inflation continues to increase, Black members will face hardship.

The motion declared: “The only way that our members, especially Black members, can stand up to the crisis is by taking action to win at or above inflation pay rises.”

The motion called on the committee to work with the union’s national executive council (NEC), service group executives and self-organised groups to organise and fight against in-work poverty by supporting at – or above – inflation pay rises for all our members.

It also demanded that branches push for mandatory ethnicity pay gap data to be published by all employers and encourage all Black members to be involved in campaigning for at-or-above inflation pay rises and support Black members to put themselves forward for activist positions.

Supporting the motion, Helen Laker from UNISON Southwark branch said: “We should pursue mandatory ethnicity pay gap data in our branches.”

Estwar Sanichar from Northumbria Northern region said: “There are links between the fight for pay and the fight against racism. Black workers in the UK are disproportionately paid below the real living wage. 

“The cost of living crisis does not affect us all equally. Black people are disproportionately impacted.”

Quoting Terry Pratchett, Mr Sanichar said: “Only in our dreams are we genuinely free, the rest of the time we need wages.”

Another motion focused specifically on the way the cost of living was impacting on Black workers’ mental health.

Introduced by the Scottish Black members’ committee, the motion called for the national committee to create an assessment tool that employers can use to identify Black people’s needs and support their mental health.

Speaking in support, a delegate from Birmingham said: “The issue is pride and stigma. A lot of Black colleagues are embarrassed of going to the food bank, so we suffer in silence, which leads to depression and mental health issues.

“As colleagues, we all need to be more observant and ask each other “How are you? No, how are you really feeling?”

The article Black members’ conference confronts cost of living crisis first appeared on the UNISON National site.

UNISON demands action on migrant worker health surcharge

On the third day of UNISON’s national Black members’ conference, delegates passed several key motions in support of migrant rights. 

One of the motions demanded that the government hold to its promise of reimbursing the immigration health surcharge (IHS) paid by migrant workers.

The IHS is a health tax on migrants. It’s an extra payment that migrant workers and their families have to make to the NHS, in addition to paying their taxes.

The surcharge was introduced in 2015 at £200 a year for each person. In 2018, it was doubled to £400 and in 2020, it increased to £624.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, under pressure from unions and the public, the government announced that health and social care staff would be entitled to reimbursements for IHS payments.

However, many healthcare workers are still waiting for their reimbursements to materialise. 

Introducing the motion, branch chair of UNISON Essex, Firdy Finch said: “Public services in the UK could not exist without migrant workers. Migrant workers’ commitment to the work they do is integral to the functioning of public services in the UK. Without them, society could not function.

“The immigration surcharge is a form of taxation targeting predominantly Black people.

“Nearly two years since the reimbursement scheme was introduced, many applicants are yet to receive repayment”

NHS workers who pay the surcharge are making a triple contribution to the NHS: they are providing the very service that they are being charged for, paying the surcharge itself and paying again through their taxes and national insurance.

Supporting the motion, Hetty Okonji from Bedfordshire health branch said: “What we’re asking is that the government fulfil the promise they made to workers who are predominantly Black.

“The Tory government made a promise in 2020, at the peak of the pandemic, because they knew they needed our people.

“Three years after, we don’t know if they are quietly reneging on their promise or if they’re going into selective amnesia. They’re hoping we all fall into amnesia, but we remember. And we will continue to remind them.”

The motion also called on the union’s national executive council (NEC) to discuss what further support can be offered to members who have not yet received reimbursement.

Conference also unanimously carried a motion on resisting refugee deportations to Rwanda. 

Speaking in support of the motion, Jenny Antonio from the national Black members committee said: “Tony Benn said the way the government treats refugees is instructive, because it shows how they’d treat the rest of us if they could get away with it.

“The UK is failing to carry out its responsibilities to refugees and asylum seekers, and outsourcing its responsibility.”

Also speaking in support of the motion, Gilly Anglin-Jarrett from East Midlands region said: “This government is repeating the mistakes this country made over 300 years ago, when the government sent working class people to Australia.

“Suella Braverman thinks she’s unaccountable. She needs to be accountable to the biggest union in this country.”

A further motion was passed on campaigning for a 28-day statutory time limit on immigration detention, and two internationally-focused motions were passed on showing solidarity with Ghana’s LGBT+ community and solidarity with Yemeni trade unions.

The article UNISON demands action on migrant worker health surcharge first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Black members pass motions on disability and cost of living crisis

There are an estimated 185,000 Black members in UNISON, the majority of whom work in health and local government services, and the union has declared 2023 as the Year of Black Workers.

During the morning session, chaired by Kebba Manneh – the chair of the national Black members committee – conference passed motions on young Black members and mental health at work, and on Black members feeling undervalued and like they don’t belong.

A key motion was unanimously passed on Black workers and non-apparent impairments.

Introduced by Tansaim Hussain-Gul of the union’s national disabled members committee, the motion called on the national Black members’ committee to emphasise the rights of Black disabled workers with non-apparent and fluctuating impairments.

Ms Hussain-Gul said: “As we all know, employers judge you by the way you look. If you don’t have a walking stick, wheelchair or other aids, then you don’t look disabled. I am disabled, but I don’t look it. Only if you had x-ray vision could you see my body crumbling inside and the immense pain I’m in.

“Disability is not just physical. It is mental and invisible. Black people disproportionately experience impairments like lupus, diabetes and sickle cell.

“As you’ve all seen, long COVID has had a disproportionate impact on us. It is imperative that our stewards are aware that long COVID means the member is a disabled person, and that person is protected under the Equality Act 2010.

“It is so important to get policies agreed with employers so there is a consistent approach, and black workers aren’t treated less favourably.”

The motion also called on the national committee to circulate UNISON’s guide to supporting members with long COVID to regional Black members’ groups.

Supporting the motion, Bertha Kanyangu from the Northern region said: “Some employers refuse to accept a worker is disabled and entitled to reasonable adjustments unless their impairment is obvious.

“Black workers with disabilities and non-apparent impairments are at an even greater disadvantage.

“Sickle cell, lupus and scleroderma are not visible, so employers question members continually on medical appointments and sickness records.

“We need this to stop, and make employers accountable. It’s important that support is given to branches, to seek and negotiate disability equality policies with employers.”

The motion was unanimously passed. 

The afternoon conference session was chaired by Rakiya Suleiman, deputy chair of the national committee.

After a rousing opening speech from writer and education campaigner Augustin John, in which he urged conference delegates to situate institutional racism between structural racism, conference passed another key motion on the impact of the cost of living crisis on Black low-paid workers. 

Introducing the motion, Daisy Mbwanda from UNISON North Cumbria/Northumberland branch told delegates: “Black members are more likely to be in low-paid, insecure work where there are too few hours, zero hours, and short notice of shift patterns.

“Low pay isn’t about struggling to make ends meet, it means physical and mental stress and ill health, affecting family life and the daily battle to put food on the table. Life without security and difficult planning for the future.

“Whilst some progress has been made to close the ethnicity pay gap, many ethnic groups still experience lower pay than white British workers.”

The motion called for increased support for low-paid Black workers at a branch level, and working with branches to ensure there is specific material aimed at Black members to promote welfare services. 

Julia Mwaluke from the national members’ committee said: “Black and ethnic minority people are more than twice as likely to be in poverty than white people.

“Since 2009, we have not seen enough progress as we move deeper into today’s cost of living crisis. Black people find themselves at particular risk of depression, anxiety and mental health issues. It’s time to take action now.”

The article Black members pass motions on disability and cost of living crisis first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Carol Sewell wins 2023 UNISON Nelson Mandela Award

Carol Sewell has been presented with the 2023 UNISON Nelson Mandela Award for over two decades of service to the union movement. 

UNISON president Andrea Egan presented the award to Ms Sewell at this year’s national Black members’ conference.

UNISON presents the award every year to someone who has ‘gone above and beyond to represent Black members’.

Ms Sewell has championed race equality and racial representation within the union, sat on the TUC race relations committee and anti-racism task force, was elected BAME labour representative on the national Labour forum, and was the union’s vice president in 2016.

Having given over 46 years of her life to public service, Ms Sewell described how her journey to becoming an activist began in the late 1980s.

“UNISON took strike action on pay in 1989, and I got involved on the picket line, which made me feel really enthusiastic about supporting the branch.” 

Laughing, she described enjoying “shouting at scabs who crossed the picket line”.

Ms Sewell was the first woman – and first Black woman – to become branch secretary of Walsall general branch in the West Midlands.

“You learn very quickly that women in this union are strong, we advocate on behalf of women who can’t speak up for themselves,” she told delegates.

“We, as Black members, need to work with each other. If you see a brother or a sister struggling, lift them up. Do not pretend you can’t see or hear them. If we don’t look after each other, who’s going to do it?

“You cannot make it in this union on your own, it’s about working with each other, and working collectively, to improve the lives of our Black members who suffer from racism and discrimination.

“These are the values I have, and will not break, for anyone. Always try to do the best that you can and make sure equality is at the heart of what you do.”

Ms Sewell closed her speech with two quotes. Borrowing from Maya Angelou she said: “People forget what you said, what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”.

And from Nelson Mandela: “There can be no greater gift than that of giving one’s time and energy to others without expecting anything in return”.

The article Carol Sewell wins 2023 UNISON Nelson Mandela Award first appeared on the UNISON National site.

‘Let’s raise the bar,’ Christina McAnea tells Black members

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea delivered a passionate speech at the union’s annual national Black members’ conference in Edinburgh this afternoon.

The conference, which runs until 22 January, is the first in-person Black members’ conference since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“COVID-19 revealed the truth, didn’t it?” Ms McAnea said. “Of institutional racism, for all to see. Black workers are more likely to be on the frontline, more likely to be low-paid, over-exposed to risks, offered less protection and more likely to suffer.”

Ms McAnea announced the union’s mission to “establish a legacy to generate change” with the Year of Black. Workers. 

“Our aim is to win fair pay so that you and your families can live the decent lives you deserve, so that our public services can recruit and retain staff and provide the services we all rely on.”

Paying tribute to the many UNISON members who have been taking strike action in recent weeks, she told delegates: “UNISON has had wall to wall coverage. Newspapers and social media plastered with purple and green images from picket lines across the country.”

“I’ve probably met some of you on the picket line. Those I’ve spoken to have told me what a difficult decision it is to go on strike. I understand. We all understand. But I am incredibly proud of our members for staying strong.”

Ms McAnea condemned the anti-strike bill, which the government is rushing through Parliament at breakneck speed. “Instead of sitting down to negotiate us, this government decides to bring in new legislation to remove workers’ rights.

“But when this government tries to divide, and encourage discrimination, we in UNISON don’t just walk away. We face it and challenge it. When racist views and race hate grow and spread, we cut it off at the roots.”

Ms McAnea announced that she has today written to Home Secretary Suella Braverman for “cast iron reassurances” that the recommendations from the Windrush Lessons Learned review will be implemented.

The review had included the input and involvement of UNISON members. Ms McAnea quoted one member who had lost his job after 15 years of dedicated service as saying “I’d done nothing wrong, I was doing a fantastic job. To be told, basically, you’re an illegal immigrant, you have no right to be in that job, and you have to leave the premises.

“On that day, you could have pulled my heart out and chucked it on the floor. They took everything out of me: my confidence, my self-esteem, who I am. It tore me apart.”

Ms McAnea continued: “Each one of us has a moral duty to stand against this hostility” and affirmed the union’s commitment to organise and fight for migrant workers.

“I want to live in a country with an immigration policy that treats migrant people with decency and dignity. Along with 19 other signatories, we are calling on employers to refuse to work with the Home Office on immigration raids in our workplaces and our communities.”

Ms McAnea also declared the union’s commitment to “keep our own house in order” through its own race protocol. She said: “If things aren’t working, if there are problems and issues, we cannot shy away from it.”

“We will review the way UNISON delivers for Black members, and we will not be afraid to change where we have to.”

Concluding her speech, Ms McAnea said: “I know that together we will make this year a great success. Let’s raise the bar – make a noise – be difficult. And make the voices of all our Black members heard loud and clear.

“Let’s use this year to get more Black activists right across our union. Let’s change our union.

The power to create that change comes from you – from all of us”.

The article ‘Let’s raise the bar,’ Christina McAnea tells Black members first appeared on the UNISON National site.