Christina McAnea lauds women who helped win NI peace

General secretary Christina McAnea was met with a standing ovation after she delivered the keynote speech on the second day of UNISON’s 2024 women’s conference in Brighton.

Smiling as she greeted the hall of delegates, Ms McAnea gave a tribute to the first female regional secretary of UNISON, Inez McCormack.

Ms McAnea described how she was in her early twenties when she first heard Ms McCormack speak at a trade union conference, saying that Ms McCormack – then Northern Ireland’s regional secretary for NUPE – “brought the conference alive.

“She’d brought half a dozen women members with her to the conference and, when she’d introduced the issue she was speaking about, she turned and called on them to speak.

“One by one, from the floor, [they spoke] they were cleaners, kitchen staff and laundry workers. They stood up and told their stories about what they did and how low pay and unequal pay impacted on their lives, their families and their communities.”

Ms McAnea described how the conference became an “electrifying account of what unequal pay really meant for those suffering the injustice”.

And she continued: “They talked about getting up early to walk to work, starting at six in the morning. Leaving their kids asleep, walking past soldiers with guns, getting stopped at checkpoints because this was during the troubles in Northern Ireland.

“They described working in the kitchen, carting heavy pots and pans around, preparing food for thousands of patients and staff or cleaning wards and theatres to keep them safe, and the back-breaking work of doing laundry for an entire hospital.

“They spoke of how difficult it was to look after themselves and their families, despite working so hard, on the low pay they were getting.”

Ms McAnea hailed Ms McCormack as one of the most prominent trade unionists in Northern Ireland’s history.

In 1985, during a nine-week strike, Ms McCormack and the laundry workers she represented at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital dumped trolley-loads of festering laundry into the offices of senior management.

Summarising the strike, Ms McAnea said: “The smell was unbearable and the dispute was swiftly resolved”.

Ms McCormack eventually helped secure commitments on equality and human rights in the Good Friday Agreement.

Ms McAnea said: “Without Inez and all the other women in UNISON, campaigning for peace and justice in Northern Ireland – and without other prominent women, like Mo Mowlam – would the peace process in Northern Ireland ever have happened or at least happened in the way it did?”

She said: “There were many obstacles to overcome, and she was always first to admit that it was more bearable to do it with a team of loyal women colleagues and members.

“Her belief was that you always had to make sure that, if you got through the barriers, then you reached back and brought other women with you.”

Addressing delegates, she told them: “This conference is your opportunity to have your voices heard. It’s the experience you’ve had in your workplaces and your lives, and your lived experience and the work you do every day, that powers our union”.

Cost of living

Ms McAnea moved on to address the impact the rising cost of living is having on women.

“We’re a union of over 1.3 million members and almost a million are women. We must speak up for women’s issues.

“Right now, everyone is feeling the impact of escalating living costs, but it’s hitting new mothers particularly hard. No mother should have to go without food or skip meals, but the failure of maternity pay to keep up with increasing living costs is driving many pregnant workers and new mothers into severe financial hardship.

“Balancing a family and working is difficult. But sadly, many women who find they need to inject some flexibility into their working lives, are coming up against employers with rigid and unimaginative attitudes.”

Women’s leadership in UNISON

Ms McAnea stated that the majority of the 12 UNISON regional secretaries are women. She celebrated their individual journeys through the union.

“Lilian, our Scottish secretary, started work as an NHS catering assistant. Lynne, the regional secretary in the north west, was a nursery nurse and part of the national nursery nurse dispute.

“Clare Williams started as a medical secretary, was convinced to join the union and then went on to win a TUC award.”

“Jo Galloway in London was encouraged to be a local organiser by a previous female regional secretary and is now our youngest ever regional secretary.”

She also acknowledged the women who started their journeys outside UNISON in the wider trade union movement.

“Kerry in the south west was a firefighter and FBU branch secretary. She represented women experiencing sexual harassment in the Fire and Rescue Service.

“Jess in Cymru/Wales started her journey through adult learning.

“Karen Loughlin in Yorkshire and Humberside started working for British Gas and became active after she was discriminated against when she went for promotion.

“Patricia McKeown in Northern Ireland started her working life as a legal clerk and branch secretary in the Equal Opportunities Commission for Northern Ireland.”

Ms McAnea urged members to use their vote in the upcoming service group elections, telling them: “Who you elect could be responsible for making historic decisions.

“If you don’t know who the people on the ballot papers are, talk to the people in your branch.”

Low-paid women workers

Ms McAnea paid tribute to the low paid women workers of the union, specifically the healthcare assistants involved in the union’s Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign.

“About 90% of these healthcare assistants are women standing up against the injustice of not being paid the money they’re owed,” she said.

Illustrating her point, she described meeting a healthcare assistant in a hospital in Leicester recently who is working at a much higher level than band two but not being paid for it.

Violence against women and girls

Ms McAnea also spoke of the violence against women in current conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine. “Too often it’s women and children who bear the brunt of conflicts: no healthcare for women, food insecurity, human trafficking, rape and sexual violence, displacement and much more.

“The UN has said that women and children have disproportionately borne the brunt of the conflict in Israel and Gaza. We want peace now. We want a permanent ceasefire.

“UNISON has been calling on the British government, that actually has the power to influence and help secure a ceasefire, and lead to talks about a viable two-state solution for peace and security in the Middle East” to use that influence to do just that.

Elections

Speaking about the imminent general election in the UK, Ms McAnea said “Over the last 500 years there have been 109 Chancellors of the Exchequer, every one of them a man. But if Labour wins the election, Rachel Reeves will be the first woman Chancellor of the Exchequer.

“Our very own Angie Rayner could be deputy prime minister.”

Continuing to praise Ms Rayner, Ms McAnea said: “Angie is on a personal mission to make life better for working people. We’ve worked closely with her to come up with the New Deal for Working People – and get it into Labour’s manifesto.

“The New Deal will also strengthen protections for pregnant women and working mothers against unfair dismissal, tackle workplace harassment, give unions more rights to organise and secure better pay and conditions, and give Labour the power to act to close gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps.”

Ms McAnea also confirmed that the union’s calls for a National Care Service will feature in the Labour manifesto. 

Concluding her speech, she asked delegates: “Why has UNISON pushed for these pledges? And why have I spent countless days in negotiations to get these into their policies?

“Because of you, UNISON women, saying ‘this is what we need’, saying ‘this is what is right’.”

The article Christina McAnea lauds women who helped win NI peace first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Christina McAnea lauds women who helped win NI peace

General secretary Christina McAnea was met with a standing ovation after she delivered the keynote speech on the second day of UNISON’s 2024 women’s conference in Brighton.

Smiling as she greeted the hall of delegates, Ms McAnea gave a tribute to the first female regional secretary of UNISON, Inez McCormack.

Ms McAnea described how she was in her early twenties when she first heard Ms McCormack speak at a trade union conference, saying that Ms McCormack – then Northern Ireland’s regional secretary for NUPE – “brought the conference alive.

“She’d brought half a dozen women members with her to the conference and, when she’d introduced the issue she was speaking about, she turned and called on them to speak.

“One by one, from the floor, [they spoke] they were cleaners, kitchen staff and laundry workers. They stood up and told their stories about what they did and how low pay and unequal pay impacted on their lives, their families and their communities.”

Ms McAnea described how the conference became an “electrifying account of what unequal pay really meant for those suffering the injustice”.

And she continued: “They talked about getting up early to walk to work, starting at six in the morning. Leaving their kids asleep, walking past soldiers with guns, getting stopped at checkpoints because this was during the troubles in Northern Ireland.

“They described working in the kitchen, carting heavy pots and pans around, preparing food for thousands of patients and staff or cleaning wards and theatres to keep them safe, and the back-breaking work of doing laundry for an entire hospital.

“They spoke of how difficult it was to look after themselves and their families, despite working so hard, on the low pay they were getting.”

Ms McAnea hailed Ms McCormack as one of the most prominent trade unionists in Northern Ireland’s history.

In 1985, during a nine-week strike, Ms McCormack and the laundry workers she represented at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital dumped trolley-loads of festering laundry into the offices of senior management.

Summarising the strike, Ms McAnea said: “The smell was unbearable and the dispute was swiftly resolved”.

Ms McCormack eventually helped secure commitments on equality and human rights in the Good Friday Agreement.

Ms McAnea said: “Without Inez and all the other women in UNISON, campaigning for peace and justice in Northern Ireland – and without other prominent women, like Mo Mowlam – would the peace process in Northern Ireland ever have happened or at least happened in the way it did?”

She said: “There were many obstacles to overcome, and she was always first to admit that it was more bearable to do it with a team of loyal women colleagues and members.

“Her belief was that you always had to make sure that, if you got through the barriers, then you reached back and brought other women with you.”

Addressing delegates, she told them: “This conference is your opportunity to have your voices heard. It’s the experience you’ve had in your workplaces and your lives, and your lived experience and the work you do every day, that powers our union”.

Cost of living

Ms McAnea moved on to address the impact the rising cost of living is having on women.

“We’re a union of over 1.3 million members and almost a million are women. We must speak up for women’s issues.

“Right now, everyone is feeling the impact of escalating living costs, but it’s hitting new mothers particularly hard. No mother should have to go without food or skip meals, but the failure of maternity pay to keep up with increasing living costs is driving many pregnant workers and new mothers into severe financial hardship.

“Balancing a family and working is difficult. But sadly, many women who find they need to inject some flexibility into their working lives, are coming up against employers with rigid and unimaginative attitudes.”

Women’s leadership in UNISON

Ms McAnea stated that the majority of the 12 UNISON regional secretaries are women. She celebrated their individual journeys through the union.

“Lilian, our Scottish secretary, started work as an NHS catering assistant. Lynne, the regional secretary in the north west, was a nursery nurse and part of the national nursery nurse dispute.

“Clare Williams started as a medical secretary, was convinced to join the union and then went on to win a TUC award.”

“Jo Galloway in London was encouraged to be a local organiser by a previous female regional secretary and is now our youngest ever regional secretary.”

She also acknowledged the women who started their journeys outside UNISON in the wider trade union movement.

“Kerry in the south west was a firefighter and FBU branch secretary. She represented women experiencing sexual harassment in the Fire and Rescue Service.

“Jess in Cymru/Wales started her journey through adult learning.

“Karen Loughlin in Yorkshire and Humberside started working for British Gas and became active after she was discriminated against when she went for promotion.

“Patricia McKeown in Northern Ireland started her working life as a legal clerk and branch secretary in the Equal Opportunities Commission for Northern Ireland.”

Ms McAnea urged members to use their vote in the upcoming service group elections, telling them: “Who you elect could be responsible for making historic decisions.

“If you don’t know who the people on the ballot papers are, talk to the people in your branch.”

Low-paid women workers

Ms McAnea paid tribute to the low paid women workers of the union, specifically the healthcare assistants involved in the union’s Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign.

“About 90% of these healthcare assistants are women standing up against the injustice of not being paid the money they’re owed,” she said.

Illustrating her point, she described meeting a healthcare assistant in a hospital in Leicester recently who is working at a much higher level than band two but not being paid for it.

Violence against women and girls

Ms McAnea also spoke of the violence against women in current conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine. “Too often it’s women and children who bear the brunt of conflicts: no healthcare for women, food insecurity, human trafficking, rape and sexual violence, displacement and much more.

“The UN has said that women and children have disproportionately borne the brunt of the conflict in Israel and Gaza. We want peace now. We want a permanent ceasefire.

“UNISON has been calling on the British government, that actually has the power to influence and help secure a ceasefire, and lead to talks about a viable two-state solution for peace and security in the Middle East” to use that influence to do just that.

Elections

Speaking about the imminent general election in the UK, Ms McAnea said “Over the last 500 years there have been 109 Chancellors of the Exchequer, every one of them a man. But if Labour wins the election, Rachel Reeves will be the first woman Chancellor of the Exchequer.

“Our very own Angie Rayner could be deputy prime minister.”

Continuing to praise Ms Rayner, Ms McAnea said: “Angie is on a personal mission to make life better for working people. We’ve worked closely with her to come up with the New Deal for Working People – and get it into Labour’s manifesto.

“The New Deal will also strengthen protections for pregnant women and working mothers against unfair dismissal, tackle workplace harassment, give unions more rights to organise and secure better pay and conditions, and give Labour the power to act to close gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps.”

Ms McAnea also confirmed that the union’s calls for a National Care Service will feature in the Labour manifesto. 

Concluding her speech, she asked delegates: “Why has UNISON pushed for these pledges? And why have I spent countless days in negotiations to get these into their policies?

“Because of you, UNISON women, saying ‘this is what we need’, saying ‘this is what is right’.”

The article Christina McAnea lauds women who helped win NI peace first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: In the campaign for equal pay, UNISON stands firmly on the frontline

The pursuit of equal pay is part of UNISON’s daily battle against deeply entrenched biases and systemic inequalities. We’re driven by our commitment to break free of stereotypes that undervalue workers. And we are unrivalled in our successes.

You only have to look at the Glasgow equal pay victory to understand our strength.

We’ve won the most equal pay cases, we’ve won the most money for members, and we don’t take a cut from the payouts.

It’s a fundamental issue of fairness that every worker deserves equal pay for work of equal value. However, despite years of progress, many workers – and particularly those in low-paid jobs – continue to face a persistent and unjust pay gap.

The public service workers we represent are the backbone of our communities, providing support for everyone day in, day out. But they often find themselves on the wrong side of the pay scale, struggling to make ends meet and facing the harsh realities of income inequality.

As the first female leader of UNISON, the UK’s largest trade union with over one million women members, I’m compelled by the urgency of closing these unequal pay gaps. Not just for women public service workers, but for Black, LGBT+ and disabled workers, who face workplace discrimination that too often results in their work being undervalued.

UNISON works tirelessly across public services to negotiate fair wages, challenge discriminatory practices, raise awareness about the importance of equal pay and take legal action where needed.

But to achieve wage equality across the whole of our society, and to permanently close pay gaps, we need systemic change.

That means legislation that doesn’t let employers off the hook, workplace policies that promote pay transparency, the constant challenge of pay discrimination, and equal opportunities for disadvantaged groups to advance in their careers.

This shared aim shouldn’t just be about finally publishing a pay gap report that has the right figures in the right columns, it’s about the lives of countless workers who will get the pay and recognition they deserve.

If we succeed in making this permanent change, we will make sure that future generations can enter the workplace with the confidence that they will be treated fairly.

The article Blog: In the campaign for equal pay, UNISON stands firmly on the frontline first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: In the campaign for equal pay, UNISON stands firmly on the frontline

The pursuit of equal pay is part of UNISON’s daily battle against deeply entrenched biases and systemic inequalities. We’re driven by our commitment to break free of stereotypes that undervalue workers. And we are unrivalled in our successes.

You only have to look at the Glasgow equal pay victory to understand our strength.

We’ve won the most equal pay cases, we’ve won the most money for members, and we don’t take a cut from the payouts.

It’s a fundamental issue of fairness that every worker deserves equal pay for work of equal value. However, despite years of progress, many workers – and particularly those in low-paid jobs – continue to face a persistent and unjust pay gap.

The public service workers we represent are the backbone of our communities, providing support for everyone day in, day out. But they often find themselves on the wrong side of the pay scale, struggling to make ends meet and facing the harsh realities of income inequality.

As the first female leader of UNISON, the UK’s largest trade union with over one million women members, I’m compelled by the urgency of closing these unequal pay gaps. Not just for women public service workers, but for Black, LGBT+ and disabled workers, who face workplace discrimination that too often results in their work being undervalued.

UNISON works tirelessly across public services to negotiate fair wages, challenge discriminatory practices, raise awareness about the importance of equal pay and take legal action where needed.

But to achieve wage equality across the whole of our society, and to permanently close pay gaps, we need systemic change.

That means legislation that doesn’t let employers off the hook, workplace policies that promote pay transparency, the constant challenge of pay discrimination, and equal opportunities for disadvantaged groups to advance in their careers.

This shared aim shouldn’t just be about finally publishing a pay gap report that has the right figures in the right columns, it’s about the lives of countless workers who will get the pay and recognition they deserve.

If we succeed in making this permanent change, we will make sure that future generations can enter the workplace with the confidence that they will be treated fairly.

The article Blog: In the campaign for equal pay, UNISON stands firmly on the frontline first appeared on the UNISON National site.

UNISON secures equal pay for 800 workers in Brighton and Hove

Around 800 Brighton and Hove city council workers, many of whom are women working in care, will see pay improved in line with refuse and recycling workers. They will also receive a settlement of up to £2000.

The equal pay issue started in 2013 when a special bank holiday payment, the Resident’s Services Guarantee (RSG), was negotiated for workers in refuse and recycling. 

The majority of workers benefitting from the payment in refuse and recycling were men, and the majority of those employees also working bank holidays but not receiving the RSG were low-paid women workers, many working in the care sector. 

UNISON was not included in those negotiations at the time, but has been trying to gain parity between the two groups ever since.

The council has now sent an offer out to affected workers, who will decide whether or not they wish to accept it. The offer consists of 70% of the difference between people’s current bank holiday pay, six years’ worth of RSG pay, and an agreement to pay everyone at the same rate until a new system has been negotiated.

UNISON member and care worker Rose said: “This settlement has made me feel valued and respected as an employee, which has been sadly missing from recent experience working for the council.”

UNISON Brighton and Hove Unitary joint branch secretary Corinna Edwards-Colledge said: “We are delighted that hundreds of key workers, including care workers, security staff, seafront officers and venue workers will now be being compensated for an historic inequality in how Brighton and Hove City Council pays its bank holiday workers.

“This is another example of the power of the collective voice that trade unions represent, and our branch’s prioritisation of fairness and accountability.”

The article UNISON secures equal pay for 800 workers in Brighton and Hove first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Women’s equality at risk of being put back 25 years by the pandemic

More than 50 years after the Equal Pay Act was passed, women at work and in retirement continue to face widespread discrimination – and the situation has worsened since the pandemic, UNISON’s annual women’s conference heard last week.

According to the Office of National Statistics, the gender pay gap currently stands at 15% for full-time workers and is much wider when employed part-time, as most women are.

Working years

Proposing a motion ‘gender pay justice for women workers’, Kate Ramsden of Scotland region (pictured above) told delegates: “Workers – mainly women – stepped up during COVID to keep this country going. There was a recognition that these jobs were essential. Now – despite the clapping during COVID – we’re back to business as usual.

“Women enter the labour force already disadvantaged because of our as roles as mothers and carers, and we pay the price. These are wonderful jobs, jobs that should be valued and respected and properly remunerated – but they’re not.”

The UN’s women’s data report for 2020 has estimated that women’s equality is at risk of being set back 25 years due to the pandemic. The UN has therefore reaffirmed its commitment to improving women’s work conditions to combat this rollback.

Yet policymakers have turned their backs on the women workers who made up the majority of frontline workers during the pandemic, conference heard.

“We know that work done by women is neither valued nor paid its worth by society. In fact it is disgracefully underpaid, undervalued and precarious, and the situation is worsening,” stated Ms Ramsden. “This means that women are now bearing the brunt of the cost of living crisis, struggling to feed themselves and their families and to keep their homes.”

In passing the motion, delegates called on the national women’s committee to:

  • Ensure meaningful actions to tackle gender pay gaps are included in future pay claims;
  • Lobby UK governments to bring forward meaningful legislation to close the gaps, with penalties for employers who fail to do so.

Retirement

“Women are short-changed through their working lives and then through retirement,” Dawn Johnson, North Cumbria, Northumberland and Tyne & Wear health branch (pictured below), told delegates.

“Women are much more likely to take maternity leave when they have a baby, so that lessens their pension. They’re more likely to have caring responsibilities and work part time, that lessens their pension. Low paid workers are largely women, that lessens their pension. Younger women are more likely to suffer from gender-related illnesses, like PMS [premenstrual syndrome] and these lessen their pension.”

Also women statistically struggle more following a divorce, which often leads to them withdrawing from pension schemes to make ends meet, she added. “And that’s all before we’ve reached the menopause. I know women who’ve taken early retirement due to the menopause. Again this affects their pensions.”

The TUC has calculated that the income gap between men and women in retirement is a massive 38%.

“I never expected to have to work until I was 66. I am a domiciliary care worker which is a very intense job,” said Pam McKenzie, Northern Ireland branch. “I suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, as a result of my job, but I can’t afford to retire. I took time out to have three children. I also had to reduce my hours because I have two elderly parents and a disabled grandchild. I have to work longer now to get a full pension.

“I have two brothers and they don’t have to work longer. They think it’s my job, they say it’s women’s work.”

Pauline Baker, Suffolk branch, added: “ I didn’t take time out to have children and I’ve worked since I was 16, but I still don’t know whether I’ll be able to afford to live on the state pension. I have a mortgage, I’ve got heating costs and special dietary needs.”

Added to this, it came to light in July 2022, that due to errors made by the Department for Work and Pensions in national insurance credits, certain married women, widows and over 80s are owed around £1.5 million in back payments, which still hasn’t been paid.

Rosie MacGregor, national retired members’ committee, said: “The income for women pensioners is hugely disproportionate to those of men – almost half the income, by many estimates. Tens of thousands of women have been underpaid their state pension and they’re still having to wait many years for compensation – building injustice on injustice.”

Conference approved the motion on the gender pension gap, to:

  • Work with UNISON’s pension department to improve understanding of the current situation;
  • Develop easy-to-understand information sheets about pensions, to be sent to all women members;
  • Work with LAOS to provide training for women to help them improve their current pension outcomes;
  • Work with Labour Link to lobby the government to lower the auto-enrolment threshold for state pensions, to support the union’s lowest paid women and those with multiple low-paid jobs.

The article Women’s equality at risk of being put back 25 years by the pandemic first appeared on the UNISON National site.