Category: LGBT

‘Pay gaps exist because no one is looking,’ disabled members hear

Delegates at this year’s disabled members conference yesterday debated a range of issues that affect their members.

The motion ‘mind the pay gap’ noted that, even for those disabled people in work, the disability pay gap is growing and now stands at a shocking 17.2% or £3,700 less a year than non-disabled workers.

Looking also at the pay gaps across other equality strands, the motion notes that since gender pay gap reporting has been required, for organisations with more than 250 employees, there has been an improvement – from 18.4% in 2017 down to 14.9% in 2022.

And it states: “It is becoming clear that, until organisations are held to account, they will not take responsibility and they will not take action.”

Pay gap ‘an issue across all identities’

Lucy Power from the Kent Police and Justice branch (pictured above) introduced the motion on behalf of the disabled LGBT+ committee.

She told delegates: “The pay gap is an issue across all identities. As a woman, you’re more than likely to be impacted by the gender pay gap. Add disability into that mix, and then, for good measure, chuck in race and gender identity or sexual orientation. What started as a single impact has started impacting doubly, triply, quadruply.

“The fact is that these other pay gaps exist because no one is looking. Since gender pay gap reporting was introduced it has decreased, while other pay gaps appear to be increasing. It is time to act.”

She said that for employers to report pay gaps, they had to know their workforce. “And they can’t know their workforce if their workforce doesn’t trust them enough to declare their particular protected characteristic.”

Workers are often reluctant to declare protected characteristics due to stigma, and the perceived detrimental effect on promotion or workplace development.

This particularly affects disabled workers, and especially LGBT+ workers who may not be ‘out’ at work. In many sectors, workers have no confidence that their employer will handle that data with appropriate security and regard.

Delegates called on the disabled members committee to follow an effectively two-pronged approach:

  • Working with organisations on safeguarding their workers’ data, to instil confidence in reporting disability and other equality related data
  • Campaign for the mandatory annual reporting by all employers with over 250 employees, of the numbers of disabled, LGBT+, and black workers employed, at what levels, and the pay gaps associated with each of those characteristics.

Ms Power concluded: “Conference, we believe the pay gap issue is one that can be tackled and must be tackled. And if this government won’t act, we must encourage our organisations to take the lead.”

National care service

Delegates also passed a motion on developing UNISON’s vision of a national care service, which reasserted the belief that all social care should be provided as a funded, universal service that is free at the point of delivery service and works in the interests of all.

This would mean an end to private companies making profit out of care, and a commitment to deliver care services primarily through local government. Fair work, decent pay and improved status should be the norm for all care workers.

Photo of Denise Thomas speaking at the UNISON podium

Moving the motion, Denise Thomas of the national disabled members committee (pictured above) told delegates: “Time and time again we see the money for social care being syphoned out of the care sector to faceless corporations and shareholders. Social care is being asset stripped and people with disabilities, care workers and the most vulnerable in our society are paying the price.

“In a world where demographics are shifting, where the elderly and disabled population is growing, our current approach to care is unsustainable.”

Ms Thomas said that UNISON’s vision for a national care service would “revolutionise the way we approach care in our nation.” For disabled people, this would mean greater access to care, including medical and non-medical assistance, personalised care plans, and empowerment – to live more independently, participate in their communities and have a stronger voice in decisions affecting their lives.

Sean Fox, of Haringey local government branch agreed. “A national care service is not just a badge,” he said. “We need a publicly owned and properly funded care service.”

Health and disability white paper

A motion on the government’s health and disability white paper, which was published in March this year, called it “an attack on disabled people’s income and independence”.

The government claims the new set of policies related to welfare benefits will help more disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work.

However, delegates agreed that the opposite is true and that the key changes will push disabled people further into financial hardship, at a time when they are already experiencing the sharp end of the cost of living scandal.

For example, the introduction of personal independence payments (PIP) – adult disability payments in Scotland – as the qualifier to exempt people from looking for work “is just a ploy to force more disabled people into work whether or not they are ready for it, and to pay them less money in universal credit,” the motion said.

Sonya Howard speaking at the UNISON podium

Moving the motion for the national disabled members’ committee, Sonya Howard (pictured above) observed: “We live in a society that has negative assumptions about disabled people and we need to change this false narrative, to gain both political and social progress that is long overdue.”

In passing the motion, delegates charged the committee to:

  • Widely publicise the proposed changes to the benefits system and their potential negative impact on disabled people’s income and independence.
  • Work through UNISON Labour Link to lobby the Labour Party to develop a realistic and supportive plan to reform the welfare benefits system, so that it puts the needs and independence of disabled people at its heart.

Among other subjects discussed during a wide-ranging conference was a motion that noted the “huge lack of understanding” about neurodiversity in society, particularly in relation to women.

The disabled members committee is to consider working with neurodiverse members to develop guidance on neurodiversity in the workplace, which includes specific reference to the challenges faced by women workers with neurodiverse conditions.

Living with neurodiversity

The article ‘Pay gaps exist because no one is looking,’ disabled members hear first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Care workers take centre stage at local government conference

The final afternoon of the UNISON’s 2023 local government conference saw several motions on social care passed.

The session, chaired by UNISON president Andrea Egan, kicked off with a motion on a national care service.

Tony Barnsley, introducing the motion on behalf of the NJC local government committee, said: “The pandemic shone a light on social care for a lot of people in this country.

“On the one hand, we saw minimum-waged heroes putting themselves on the frontline, to care, despite lack of PPE. On the other hand were owners of these privatised care homes, demanding more money from the state.

“It is vital UNISON sends a message loud and clear to this government: you can’t fix free market failure in the care sector with more free market policies. Fixing market failure requires the state to step back in, take control, and run care for the needs of the many, not profits for the few.

“Insourcing, insourcing, insourcing is the solution to market failure.

“We need a national care service established in this country, with the same political vigour and principles that the NHS was created with.”

Mr Barnsley encouraged delegates to read UNISON’s bargaining for insourcing guide. 

Council-provided care

However, a second motion, introduced by Brenda Aitchison on behalf of Scotland, outlined the perils of a national care service that is not run by councils.

In a motion titled ‘council-provided care’, Ms Aitchison explained how, in Scotland, UNISON has opposed the current National Care Service (Scotland) Bill, in part because it is “an attack on local government and the local government social care staff”.

The bill will take social care services out of the control of councils and placed in the hands of care boards. Ms Aitchison said: “If this bill is passed, it will remove democratic control from all councils in Scotland.

“We know we need a national care service. We know change is needed, but that change has to be right for both staff and the service users. Our current system promotes the market approach, which drives down standards of pay and conditions. We need to say loudly – we need to take profit out of care.”

Speaking in support of the motion on behalf of the service group executive, Lorraine Thompson said: “The quality of care provided by the council will nearly always be better than the private sector, primarily because the profit motive does not impede on service provision.”

Caring for our carers

A third motion centred on the need to care for social carers themselves. Introducing a motion on behalf of UNISON’s national women’s committee, Sarah Feeney said: “80% of people working in care are women. A greater proportion are Black women. And they’re treated appallingly.”

Speaking in support of the motion, Valerie Bossman-Quarshie from UNISON Barnet said: “In my experience as a young carer, I did not have enough support, I was paid low wages, working long hours, but I do remember loving those I cared for, and that love has not changed or left me.”

“We must remember young carers, those who haven’t even registered as carers, and those from African and African-Caribbean, Black backgrounds, caring for our ageing population. It’s a good thing we are ageing and living longer, but we should celebrate those young carers when there’s no incentive for becoming a carer.”

Adult social care

A final motion passed on adult social care was introduced by the national LGBT+ committee with Jackie Lewis (pictured) moving.

Ms Lewis told delegates: “There is roughly a 50/50 split in the number of adults receiving adult social care, between those who are retired and those who are working age.

“There will be a significant number of people who are or will be users of adult social care who are LGBT+ local government workers.

“Anecdotal evidence suggests that LGBT+ workers are – and have always been – well-represented among social care workers. However, they are often invisible.

“A workforce where LGBT+ workers are unable to be out at work is not likely to be one where workers can confidently meet the specific needs of LGBT+ service users.”

The article Care workers take centre stage at local government conference first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: Proud to welcome in Pride

Today, we welcome in Pride season when UNISON activists will again join Prides across every region and nation to celebrate our LGBT+ members and the wider community.

UNISON’s LGBT+ members bring so much to our union, and make it a diverse, wonderful organisation to join and to work for.

A year on from the last time I wrote about Pride month, it’s sad that such little progress has been made in our society and even worse, that in some ways, the UK government is taking huge leaps backwards.

One in five LGBT+ people have experienced a hate crime or incident because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity in the last 12 months.

Attacks on and discrimination against LGBT+ people seem to constantly be on the rise, and Trans people are being used in a game of political football, with little regard for their feelings or their voices.

But within UNISON, we’ve a lot to be proud of. Our Trans equality training has been delivered to many branches and regions, with over 600 members now having taken part. Our trans activist network has doubled and are delivering a ‘train the trainer’ workshops for trans activists to keep up with the demand.

During LGBT+ history month in February, we lit up UNISON Centre in Pride colours and, as this year is UNISON’s Year of Black Workers, we celebrated our Black LGBT+ activists, both from our past and present.

So I want all our LGBT+ members to stay hopeful. UNISON is here, campaigning for urgent action by governments to combat rising inequality and to put adequate funding into specialist LGBT+ services.

We’re here, campaigning for the abolition of conversion therapy and to encourage inclusion, make more allies for the LGBT+ community and to always show solidarity.

Let’s be proud of our achievements over the years on LGBT+ inclusion, and make sure we keep equality at the heart of everything UNISON does.

Happy Pride season everyone. Stay fabulous.

The article Blog: Proud to welcome in Pride first appeared on the UNISON National site.

LGBT+ rights are at the heart of UNISON’s work

It’s international day against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia (IDAHOBIT) – a day to commemorate the removal of homosexuality from the World Health Organisation’s list of mental disorders, and is a call to action as LGBT+ people are faced with new and increasing attacks.

As a proud ally to the LGBT+ community, I’m concerned about the rise of LGBT+ hate crime and hate speech. The lack of progress in protecting LGBT+ people against abhorrent practices like conversion therapy is deeply troubling.

The UK’s reputation on LGBT+ equality has taken a dive since the Tories took power in 2010. Each year, ILGA Europe releases the Rainbow Map which ranks countries from 0 to 100% on different criteria from discrimination and harassment, family rights, hate crime and hate speech. Up until 2015, the UK topped the list. Last year, UK’s position plummeted to 14th, dropping 11% in the index. Our position has worsened again this year – we’ve dropped to 17th position and it’s shameful.

According to ILGA Europe, the UK’s position continues to decline because of the rise of hate crime against LGBT+ people, the failure to ban conversion therapy, the lack of progress on modernising the gender recognition act and the rise of anti-trans rhetoric in mainstream news and politics.

For our LGBT+ members, it is truly terrifying and that’s why UNISON is taking action. Equality is at the heart of everything we do and I’m proud of what UNISON has achieved on progressing LGBT+ rights. And there are lots of exciting LGBT+ campaign activities you can get involved in.

Our trans equality campaign has been really successful, with over one thousand UNISON members taking part in our trans ally training. We’ve grown our trans, non-binary and gender diverse activist base and we’re now training more trans, non-binary and gender diverse members to be able to deliver trans ally training sessions. With these tools, UNISON members are negotiating more inclusive policies that protect and support trans workers, non-binary and gender diverse members in workplaces up and down the country.

We are also building up our group of young LGBT+ activists, so that young LGBT+ people can get involved in UNISON and feel supported as they grow the union in their workplaces.

In our daily conversations with workers, LGBT+ rights at work come up over and over again. Joining a union is the best way for LGBT+ workers to defend and expand their rights at work. If you want to get involved, please contact the national LGBT+ team out@unison.co.uk.

If you’re an LGBT+ member and not part of your regional LGBT+ group, get involved! Here is a list of UNISON staff you can contact for more information in your region.

The article LGBT+ rights are at the heart of UNISON’s work first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: Celebrating our Black LGBT+ activists

This month we lit up our UNISON Centre in Pride colours to celebrate all our LGBT+ members during LGBT+ History Month.

As this is UNISON’s year of Black workers, I also want to celebrate our Black LGBT+ activists, both from our past and present, who’ve led the way in the struggle for equality and LGBT+ rights both within UNISON and across the UK.

Rizwan Sheikh was a leading activist in lesbian and gay, and Black members groups. He became a senior activist in his region and then nationally. He was very proud to be the first Black co-chair of UNISON’s national lesbian and gay committee (as it was known at the time, now the LGBT+ national committee) and campaigned for supporting migrant workers in the Northern region.

Then there’s Bev Miller, our first ever lesbian chair of the national Black members’ committee and a tireless advocate for Black LGBT+ rights for many years in UNISON.

Dave Merchant’s activism on trans rights was pioneering. He was the first trans man to co-chair the national LGBT+ committee and drove the work on trans equality in workplaces and within UNISON itself.

Tim Roberts is now Eastern regional secretary, but he has always been an influential advocate for equality, whether it was on our national LGBT+ committee, or challenging racism and discrimination in the workplace. Tim led the way for UNISON to have continued representation at UK Black Pride.

We also can’t forget Ted Brown and Dirg Aaab-Richards, both national lesbian and gay committee members who led a successful campaign against media homophobia in the 1990s. They organised an advertising boycott of The Voice, until it issued an apology for a homophobic comment piece about Justin Fashanu and pledged to include positive coverage.

Another prominent activist at this time was Claire Andrews. She had big ideas about where we were going as a movement and what that meant for Black lesbians and gay men. She served on both the national lesbian and gay committee and Black members committee and ensured that there was space in both to debate their issues and set union policy.

Anyone that has been to LGBT+ conference over the years will know Paul Amann, who has been part of the LGBT+ standing orders committee for 20 years! Paul has led campaigns for LGBT+ refugees and was a strong advocate for LGBT+ rights at the Qatar World Cup. He was a vocal critic of the World Cup being held in a homophobic country.

These are just a small number of our activists that have made our LGBT+ Black history. To all our Black LGBT+ activists past and present, we thank you for your activism and for making our union what it is today.

The national LGBT+ committee’s Black caucus have created a quiz and presentation that can be used by UNISON members in their LGBT+ history month activities. You can find it here.

The article Blog: Celebrating our Black LGBT+ activists first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Delegates call for help to combat the epidemic of male suicide

A busy afternoon at UNISON’s disabled members’ conference today was dominated by a harrowing debate on men and mental health yesterday, which heard testimony from delegates about their personal experiences of male friends or relatives who had taken their own lives.

In 2020, 75% of those who took their own lives in the UK were male, with 4,880 men and boys ending their lives – equating to 12 deaths every day of the year.

While people of all genders experience mental health problems, gender stereotypes mean that men’s mental health problems often go unnoticed.

An incredibly moving speech from one delegate whose own son had ended his life on the epidemic of male suicide in the UK, was followed by a delegate who works in mental health in the North West, who spoke of spending his working days stopping patients trying to end their lives.

“This is real,” he said: “This is massive, because guys won’t say nothing”.

That was a recurring theme – of men who are told to ‘man up’, who have been taught that showing emotion is weak and that talking about how they feel is as bad.

Another delegate talks of how her nephew ended his own life, and how now, his son is struggling, and constantly asks: “Why did he do it when he was loved?” And the delegate said: “And I can’t answer, because I don’t know”.

Once again, the lack of communication for Deaf people was highlighted, as it makes it harder for those who are entertaining suicidal thoughts to access help.

Another delegate told of his own suicide attempt, after an upbringing that never allowed men to talk or acknowledge emotions.

He went on to says that he is now involved in Men do Talk, a campaign in Scotland, encouraging men to be able to open up.

Conference voted to call on the national committee to:

  • develop a campaign to raise awareness of male mental health;
  • consider whether the safe place referred to in a motion to June’s national delegate conference could be extended to include a safe space where men can share and discuss their experiences of mental health;
  • provide details of appropriate sources of help via the UNISON website.

If you are struggling, the Samaritans are available to listen, 24/7, every day of the year

Conference also passed a motion from the disabled LGBT+ caucus, which called for the national committee to raise awareness of the Conservative government’s “declared intention of replacing the 1988 Human Rights Act with a bill of rights, which we call the ‘Removal of Rights Bill’,” said Carl for the caucus.

Disabled and LGBT+ people rely heavily on the protections of the Human Rights Act. “Many disabled people have to use to articles in the courts to access public services to live independently,” he explained, but the proposed bill of rights could see rights removed rather than improved.

“We need to be monitoring what’s going on – we have a fight on our hands to protect out rights.”

The article Delegates call for help to combat the epidemic of male suicide first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Louder and prouder: UNISON launches trans equality campaign

At the 2022 local government and national delegate conferences, UNISON unanimously passed motions on trans equality, recognising the importance of the union being loud and visible in support of its trans members.

On Friday 15 July, UNISON launched its trans equality campaign, which features updated guidance on trans workers’ rights.

The campaign has four objectives:

• to roll out trans ally training across all UNISON regions;

• to build trans and non-binary member activism to organise and campaign on workplace issues;

• to ensure workplaces are safe by adopting UNISON’s model trans policy; and

• to fight to make sure UNISON’s activism is heard by politicians. 

UNISON North Tyneside branch chair and equalities and LGBT+ officer Jenny Black said: “In the Tory leadership campaign, all 11 candidates had ‘trans issues’ as part of their agenda. Yet statistics show for the general population, it’s not an issue. Trans people make up 0.6% of the population”.

Despite Westminster’s fixation on trans people, a YouGov poll found last week that two thirds of Britons say they pay little attention (42%) or no attention (24%) to the debate in the media and politics about trans rights.

In her speech at the campaign launch in London on Friday 15 July, Ms Black said: “The toxic rhetoric makes life really difficult for a lot of trans people at the moment, some of us have got thick skin and are hardened to it, but it still gets through.

“We need to be louder and prouder, and tell the truth about the stigma that we face.”

Jenny Black speaking on a UNISON podium

Jenny Black speaking on behalf of UNISON’s LGBT+ group at national delegate conference in 2019

Ms Black continued: “Trans allyship training is really important because, while people may give a nod and say they understand trans issues, they don’t really understand because nobody’s really told them. It’s really important to give them information and direct them to the website, and let people ask questions in a safe space”.

Ms Black also spoke to the importance of simple workplace changes, like having pronouns on badges.

“We had a new director of HR start with us a few months ago, and I reached out to her to introduce myself. In her response to me, I saw she had her pronouns in her email. It made me feel comfortable that I could speak to her and that she wouldn’t question me. It’s amazing the signal that something as simple as pronouns send out to trans and non-binary people.

“There may be only 120 trans members in UNISON, but there are 1.3 million members behind us.”

Trans or transgender describes people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth. They are umbrella terms covering people who:

  • are intending to undergo, are undergoing or have undergone gender reassignment at any stage;
  • identify as having a gender different from that which they were assigned at birth and are planning to have or have had medical interventions such as hormones or surgery;
  • identify as having a gender different from that which they were assigned at birth, but who are not planning any medical intervention; and/or,
  • are non-binary – that is, they are not solely male or female.  They may define themselves as both, neither or something entirely different. They may or may not have medical interventions to align their body with their non-binary gender identity.

Transitioning is the process undertaken by a trans person in order to bring their gender presentation into alignment with their gender identity. This often involves dressing differently, using a different name and pronoun (eg she, he or they) and changing official documentation. It may involve various types of medical or surgical treatment, although this is not the case for all trans people.

UNISON activist and former national women’s committee chair Emma Procter said: “If I hadn’t been a member of UNISON, I wouldn’t have transitioned. I am where I am now because of the people around me, the LGBT+ committee, trans network, national officers, colleagues and staff.

“I’ve always been transgender and coming to the network days early on I realised there was a space here for me. There was a safe space where I felt I belonged and I gradually got more and more involved. I eventually became co-chair of the trans caucus, and then deputy convenor for the East Midlands region.

Emma Procter

Emma Procter

“I transitioned relatively late in life, in my 50s, but in UNISON it doesn’t matter. I’m listened to here. UNISON gave me the confidence I have now – 20 years ago I was so shy. My journey through the union all started with the trans network.

“I don’t need allies to speak for me, because I can fight my own battle. But allies are really important within spaces where I’m not there, and for speaking up on behalf of trans people when we can’t. Allies don’t stand in front of us, or too far behind us, we stand side by side and we watch each other’s backs.”

At the 2021 LGBT+ conference, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “I have never felt, as a woman, that my rights were threatened by giving rights to transgender women”.

UNISON convenor for Devon County Council Darienne Flemington, former co-chair of UNISON’s LGBT+ group, is a proud trans ally. She said: “Trans rights are human rights. All members in our union should be supported by our union, and in the wider community and workplace, trans people are isolated.

“UNISON has a number of great fact sheets around supporting LGBT people, like the using pronouns fact sheet, but our stewards and members are not using them in the way they could.

“This campaign is about raising the visibility of UNISON’s resources about how to support trans members in the workplace.

There are little things that make a huge difference: for example, in the police and justice sector, implementing flexible uniform policies for when people are transitioning, or making sure that absences that trans workers take for treatments and interventions aren’t counted as sickness.”

“What people realise is that, when someone transitions, they’re still the same person, they’re just happier.”

If you want any further information about the trans equality campaign, get in touch with the national LGBT+ team via out@unison.co.uk 

If you don’t have a trans equality policy in your workplace, get your branch to negotiate UNISON’s trans equality model policy found here. 

The article Louder and prouder: UNISON launches trans equality campaign first appeared on the UNISON National site.