Category: trans rights

Delegates support calls on wellbeing and health and safety

Delegates to UNISON’s health conference debated a series of motions under the collective heading of health, safety and wellbeing, on Monday and Tuesday afternoons.

“Let’s commit to fostering a workplace where every woman feels valued,” said Susan Parkinson (pictured above).

Moving a motion on women’s mental health at work for the national women’s committee, she explained that women experience higher levels of mental health problems than men.

Karen Buckley from Greater Manchester stated that 76% of the NHS staff are women. Alongside the fact that the majority of carers – paid and unpaid – are also women, and that low pay, the cost of living crisis and discrimination particularly affect women, it is little surprise that, as inequality has worsened, so mental health issues for women have increased.

“Most of all,” continued Ms Buckley, “we need social justice.”

Angie from the Homerton Hospital branch raised the issue of how being a Black women can intensify mental health problems, while a delegate from Northern Ireland, called out, to applause: “Stuff the stigma [around mental health]! Get the support from the people around you!”

Several delegates spoke movingly of their own experiences, as conference called on the service group executive to “work with the national women’s committee to campaign for mentally healthy workplaces where women can thrive”, and to “promote UNISON’s guide to bargaining on mental health to woman members working in the health sector, branch and regional women’s officers and self-organised groups”.

Brenda, moving a motion for the North West, pointed out that helping members deal with mental health issues “isn’t covered in the organising stewards’ course”. Delegates agreed that the executive should “encourage regions to provide training and guidance on signposting to help stewards support members who may be facing challenges with poor mental health.”

Delegates also backed motions calling for:

  • improved mental health access within the NHS
  • improved gender identity services and trans healthcare, as underfunding has turned the issue into a health and safety issue for NHS members
  • Long COVID to be recognised as a disability
  • the service group to encourage NHS organisations and outsourced providers of NHS services to sign up to the Sexual Safety Charter and support branches to work for full implementation of the charter.

A busy afternoon

Emma Dale addressing UNISON's health service group conference

On a busy Tuesday afternoon, delegates also discussed the issue of safe staffing within the health service – noting that this also has health and safety, and wellbeing considerations.

Moving the motion, Martin Mackay from Scotland said that, while the Health and Social Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019, which has just come in to force, is welcome, it still does not include “all staff in our One Team”.

Emma Dale (pictured above) from South Wales gave an example of how not all NHS staff are covered. “I worked in forensic mental health,” she explained, so wasn’t covered. After an incident with a violent patient, she had to move from a job she loved into an admin post.

The article Delegates support calls on wellbeing and health and safety first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Delegates support calls on wellbeing and health and safety

Delegates to UNISON’s health conference debated a series of motions under the collective heading of health, safety and wellbeing, on Monday and Tuesday afternoons.

“Let’s commit to fostering a workplace where every woman feels valued,” said Susan Parkinson (pictured above).

Moving a motion on women’s mental health at work for the national women’s committee, she explained that women experience higher levels of mental health problems than men.

Karen Buckley from Greater Manchester stated that 76% of the NHS staff are women. Alongside the fact that the majority of carers – paid and unpaid – are also women, and that low pay, the cost of living crisis and discrimination particularly affect women, it is little surprise that, as inequality has worsened, so mental health issues for women have increased.

“Most of all,” continued Ms Buckley, “we need social justice.”

Angie from the Homerton Hospital branch raised the issue of how being a Black women can intensify mental health problems, while a delegate from Northern Ireland, called out, to applause: “Stuff the stigma [around mental health]! Get the support from the people around you!”

Several delegates spoke movingly of their own experiences, as conference called on the service group executive to “work with the national women’s committee to campaign for mentally healthy workplaces where women can thrive”, and to “promote UNISON’s guide to bargaining on mental health to woman members working in the health sector, branch and regional women’s officers and self-organised groups”.

Brenda, moving a motion for the North West, pointed out that helping members deal with mental health issues “isn’t covered in the organising stewards’ course”. Delegates agreed that the executive should “encourage regions to provide training and guidance on signposting to help stewards support members who may be facing challenges with poor mental health.”

Delegates also backed motions calling for:

  • improved mental health access within the NHS
  • improved gender identity services and trans healthcare, as underfunding has turned the issue into a health and safety issue for NHS members
  • Long COVID to be recognised as a disability
  • the service group to encourage NHS organisations and outsourced providers of NHS services to sign up to the Sexual Safety Charter and support branches to work for full implementation of the charter.

A busy afternoon

Emma Dale addressing UNISON's health service group conference

On a busy Tuesday afternoon, delegates also discussed the issue of safe staffing within the health service – noting that this also has health and safety, and wellbeing considerations.

Moving the motion, Martin Mackay from Scotland said that, while the Health and Social Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019, which has just come in to force, is welcome, it still does not include “all staff in our One Team”.

Emma Dale (pictured above) from South Wales gave an example of how not all NHS staff are covered. “I worked in forensic mental health,” she explained, so wasn’t covered. After an incident with a violent patient, she had to move from a job she loved into an admin post.

The article Delegates support calls on wellbeing and health and safety first appeared on the UNISON National site.

UNISON president welcomes the union’s Year of LGBT+ Workers

UNISON president Libby Nolan addressed the union’s LGBT+ conference in Liverpool last weekend for the launch of the Year of LGBT+ Workers in 2024 and pledged: “I look forward to working with you to make this the best year possible.”

“This is a Tory administration that has come to the end of the road,” she told delegates. “It’s just a crying shame that we may have to put up with another year of it.

“Because make no mistake, this is a dying government … yet determined to continue running our country into the ground.

“We have seen the Tories’ relentless attacks on trans, non-binary and gender diverse people and their rights. I’m not going to peddle the same myths that members of the Tory party are happy to spout – it’s unfair to draw attention to it.

“But let me be clear, the presidential team and UNISON will not tolerate or excuse any form of trans hate or anti-trans rhetoric.

“Trans rights are human rights and, as trade unionists, we are committed to fighting alongside our trans siblings against this.

“So, a general election cannot come soon enough. The public need a chance to boot Sunak and his cronies out of office.

And Ms Nolan also wanted to celebrate LGBT+ victories over the past 12 months.

“Our trans equality campaign, which has been driven by our wonderful trans, non-binary and gender diverse network, has been a huge success. Over 2,000 members have been trained to be trans allies.

“Over 450 trans, non-binary and gender diverse members have joined the network nationally, and over 50 workplaces now have our trans equality model policy adopted in their workplaces.”

The article UNISON president welcomes the union’s Year of LGBT+ Workers first appeared on the UNISON National site.

UNISON president welcomes the union’s Year of LGBT+ Workers

UNISON president Libby Nolan addressed the union’s LGBT+ conference in Liverpool last weekend for the launch of the Year of LGBT+ Workers in 2024 and pledged: “I look forward to working with you to make this the best year possible.”

“This is a Tory administration that has come to the end of the road,” she told delegates. “It’s just a crying shame that we may have to put up with another year of it.

“Because make no mistake, this is a dying government … yet determined to continue running our country into the ground.

“We have seen the Tories’ relentless attacks on trans, non-binary and gender diverse people and their rights. I’m not going to peddle the same myths that members of the Tory party are happy to spout – it’s unfair to draw attention to it.

“But let me be clear, the presidential team and UNISON will not tolerate or excuse any form of trans hate or anti-trans rhetoric.

“Trans rights are human rights and, as trade unionists, we are committed to fighting alongside our trans siblings against this.

“So, a general election cannot come soon enough. The public need a chance to boot Sunak and his cronies out of office.

And Ms Nolan also wanted to celebrate LGBT+ victories over the past 12 months.

“Our trans equality campaign, which has been driven by our wonderful trans, non-binary and gender diverse network, has been a huge success. Over 2,000 members have been trained to be trans allies.

“Over 450 trans, non-binary and gender diverse members have joined the network nationally, and over 50 workplaces now have our trans equality model policy adopted in their workplaces.”

The article UNISON president welcomes the union’s Year of LGBT+ Workers first appeared on the UNISON National site.

‘Being inclusive is not only the right thing … it is a strategic necessity’

“It is safe to state that trade unions – including and in particular UNISON – have had a huge impact on global LGBTI organising,” delegates to UNISON’s annual LGBT+ conference in Edinburgh heard this afternoon.

Addressing conference, Dr Julia Ehrt, the executive director of ILGA (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) World, said that she was especially proud that her first keynote speech was to an organisation that had been so important in the fight for rights.

Yet this came “despite the fact that I have been doing this work for two decades”.

So why had such a major speech taken so long? This formed the cornerstone of her speech, as Dr Ehrt sought to explore the reasons for that.

It was not, she explained, about herself,“but a story of trans representation in queer movements”.

ILGA is the largest international, membership-based LGBT+ organisation in the world, with more than 1,800 member organisations in 169 different countries.

But Dr Ehrt asked delegateswhether there were other trans and non-binary people in the hall and whether there were other trans and non-binary people holding workshops and speaking at the event.

“Those were very odd questions to ask – weren’t they?” she said.But it revealed how much had changed.

“My first ILGA Europe conference was the one in Vienna in 2008: there was one workshop on ‘trans issues’ – and if I remember correctly, it was the only workshop in the whole four-day conference about trans [issues].

Since then, though, “things have drastically improved when it comes to trans organising”.

What was needed to achieve this was to first establish the issue as a human rights one.

“What gay and lesbian organisations had understood quiet early on was that we are fighting the same fight – today we would say issues pertaining to sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristicsare connected – we are in essence fighting the same fight.”

Time had been crucial, said Dr Ehrt. Time to emancipate trans people, time to build them and time to heal, after the experience of many trans activists within mainstream gay and lesbian organisations was “quite harsh and painful”.

Clarifying, she told delegates: “It is time for LGBTI movement to learn – trans exclusion weakens your own cause.

“If we fail to embrace the diversity of the movement we seek to serve – it makes us and our legitimate case vulnerable,” said Dr Ehrt.

“Being inclusive is not only the right thing to do from an ethical and moral point of view – it is a strategic necessity: because if we do not do it ourselves – if we fail to walk the talk – this weakens our own cause. It makes us and our legitimate case vulnerable.

“And I think we shall never forget that.”

The article ‘Being inclusive is not only the right thing … it is a strategic necessity’ first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Christina McAnea: ‘It’s great to be loud and proud’

“It’s great to be able to be loud and proud – and I will continue to be loud and proud against homophobia and loud and very proud to be a trans ally, and I will ensure that UNISON always remains the best trade union for LGBT+ workers.”

That was the pledge from UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea this morning, when she addressed the union’s LGBT+ conference in Edinburgh, as she applauded the fact that being “loud and proud” was the event’s central theme.

“You have done so much to be loud and proud about,” she said.

“2022 – our biggest Pride season ever, from the Shetlands to London, Brighton to the Isle of Man.”

UNISON, she continued, had “always strongly advocated for trans rights.” The union’s “brilliant” trans equality campaign helps “give our activists the tools to combat the divisive political weaponising of trans issues,” which is damaging to trans people , but also to the “whole of society”.

The past year had seen over 400 members trained on how to be a good trans ally, while there’s also been a “bump in members taking part in UNISON’s trans caucus.”

But Ms McAnea was clear that such things were needed precisely because anti-trans discrimination is “not going away and we have to be ever more vigilant.”

“Today we will be launching an updated trans inclusion policy,” she told delegates: “Practical applications and outcomes”.

The general secretary stressed that fighting inequalities is at the heart of what the union does, adding: “That fighting trans inequality should somehow be seen as different is unacceptable.

Her broader messages to delegates was that the country faces the “same old, same old, failed Tory economic policies”.

It had been like the “Dallasdream season”, with the Conservative Party now trying to pretend that the chaos of the few months hadn’t really happened.

She also warned of a “bonfire of rights coming,” as the government seeks to ditch any and all legislation and regulations with a whiff of EU involvement about them – unless specifically saved by campaigning.

“United, we’ll be facing these issues,” said Ms McAnea, and before concluding, she reminded delegates working in the NHS to in the ongoing strike ballot – and to persuade their colleagues to vote too. It was vital to do so, she said, as “I want UNISON to be at the heart of our fight back against the Tories in Westminster”.

The article Christina McAnea: ‘It’s great to be loud and proud’ 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.