2024 year of lgbt+ workers

‘As a woman, my rights are not reduced by my LGBT+ comrades’

The first day of UNISON’s women’s conference, chaired by Sharon Foster in Brighton, passed several motions relating to LGBT+ rights, flexible working and female representation in the union.

The day began with an impassioned speech from the union’s president Libby Nolan, who paid particular reference to Labour’s new deal for workers and the ongoing crisis in Palestine, describing it as a ‘war on women’.

First, Ms Nolan said she was “determined that 2024, the year of LGBT+ workers, leaves a strong legacy.”

Commending Labour’s new deal for workers, which promises day one rights for workers and a repeal of minimum service levels legislation, she said: “we need strike action to negotiate if we’re going to get money in people’s pockets, so they don’t have to go to food banks. It’s not a last ditch attempt, it’s always a threat. It has to be a threat.”

Women in Palestine

Ms Nolan also spoke at length about women in the ongoing crisis in Gaza. She said: “We cannot stand here without thinking of Gaza. Of Rafah. There are approximately 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza and 40% of those pregnancies are described as high risk. It’s not a war, it’s an assault.

“They are in a situation of fear and trauma, with no sanitation or clean water. No medicine, no healthcare infrastructure, no pain medications, anaesthesia and no ability to perform C-sections.”

“As women, we must never stop marching and calling for a ceasefire. However powerless we feel, we have to keep Palestine in the news. Gaza will always be a trade union priority. We will continue to demand for a permanent ceasefire and to allow humanitarian access and stop the blockade of aid.”

“There is so much work to be done, but we’re all united as women in this room. We can pull together, and we can win.”

2024 Year of LGBT+ workers

The first motion passed was to “embed LGBT+ equality within the union”. Introduced by a speaker from the national LGBT+ committee, the motion called for the national women’s committee to promote UNISON’s Year of LGBT+ Workers.

Supporting the motion, Liz Wheatley from UNISON’s NEC made a clear statement in solidarity with trans rights. In acknowledgement of the current climate of transphobia in the UK, Ms Wheatley said: “As a woman, my rights are not reduced by my LGBT+ comrades, they are reduced by Tory bigots who try to divide us.

“Together we are stronger, and when we fight together, we can all win more rights.”

Another speaker, who worked in adolescent mental health, made reference to the government’s new trans guidance for schools, which has been criticised by Stonewall as “not fit for purpose”.

She said: “In the 1980s, the trade union movement was at the forefront of the campaign to repeal Section 28. In this Year of LGBT+ Workers, we need to equip ourselves, again, to campaign against policies like that and to take on the rhetoric of the far right.”

Flexible working

Introducing a motion on flexible working, Alison Chisnell from the union’s national women’s committee said: “Flexible working is not a perk, it’s a necessity. But although you have the right to request it, the employer doesn’t have to provide it.”

The motion calls on the women’s committee to raise awareness on women’s rights to flexible working, recognising that women’s need to balance caring responsibilities with paid work.

Speaking in support of the motion, Linda Elvin from Canterbury City local government described how UNISON’s support was integral to her securing flexible working after her first application had been denied. She said: “Around five years ago, I was juggling being a child carer, looking after my mum and working. Thanks to the backing of UNISON, I got my flexible hours.”

Other motions passed included measures to increase the representation of women in leadership positions across the union, increase the support for young women members, improve health and safety conditions for women in the workplace and promote the ‘right to disconnect’ within flexible working policies.

UNISON women’s conference runs from 15-17 February 2024.

The article ‘As a woman, my rights are not reduced by my LGBT+ comrades’ first appeared on the UNISON National site.

NEC plans for the coming year

UNISON’s national executive council (NEC) met yesterday, for the first time this year, to discuss a substantial agenda, including the motions the council will be taking to national delegate conference in June.

In her report opening the meeting, general secretary Christina McAnea applauded the achievements of 2023’s Year of Black Workers – not least in building a legacy for going forward.

She noted that this year is the union’s Year of LGBT+ Workers, adding that she would be encouraging all branches and regions to ensure they supported and made a success of it.

Ms McAnea reported on “a very cold 24 hours in Belfast”, as health, social care and education members took industrial action, which “helped to finally force the return of politicians to Stormont”.

She reported that, with the Northern Ireland Assembly once again sitting, “catch-up health pay negotiations for 2023 can start”. Elsewhere, preparations for the 2024-25 pay claims across the UK are “well under way”, she said.

With so many councils facing financial crisis, the general secretary observed that UNISON, as the biggest union in local government, had been warning for years of the risks of councils going bankrupt because of underfunding from central government.

She applauded the UNISON turnout at the recent Cheltenham demonstration to defend the right to strike. It had been “a good, upbeat event” and the union is continuing to work with the TUC on what would happen if employers attempt to use the anti-strike minimum service legislation.

Ms McAnea also told the meeting that the union is continuing to press ahead with whatever it could do regarding the ongoing situation in Gaza.

A ‘fantastically political’ conference

The meeting also received a report from UNISON president Libby Nolan, who reiterated the importance of humanitarian aid for Palestinians and Israelis affected by the war in Gaza, and stressed what a vital issue it is for UNISON.

Ms Nolan celebrated January’s “fantastically political” Black members’ conference and also highlighted the importance of the Year of LGBT+ Workers.

In discussions, the meeting highlighted the scale of cuts at councils, with one NEC member saying, “It could be the end of local government as we know it.”

The council received a report into the union’s organising to win strategy, which explained that, by the end of last year, recruitment rates were in “net growth”. The highest such growth was in schools, particularly in school branches in Scotland and Northern Ireland. There had also been an increase in new activists.

In an industrial action update, the council heard that there is “lots of action going on” at present, with recruitment and retention both up as a result.

The council also approved a report on the union’s finances and heard a further report on the union’s work on the COVID Inquiry, to ensure that those who were working on the front line during the pandemic have their stories put on record, that the lessons are learned and the right people are held responsible for the lives lost.

The article NEC plans for the coming year first appeared on the UNISON National site.