in UNISON

Continuing our campaign on access to
domestic abuse services for women in
employment, there was a fringe meeting at
national delegate conference with the CEO of
My Sister’s Place, Middlesbrough who has
been our partner in the campaign ‘The price
of safety’. Through the offices of Andy
MacDonald MP for Middlesbrough we also
had an early day motion in parliament (756
Means testing for female victims of domestic
violence) in February which attracted 37
signatures. Andy followed this up with a
question in the House of Commons on
women’s access to domestic abuse services.
Access to legal aid forms part of our campaign
to highlight this government’s attacks on
women’s access to justice in contravention of
the United Nations Convention on the
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
In addition the network has been working on
a manifesto on childcare which is highlighting
the increasing barrier this is becoming to
women’s employment.
The network continues to be leading on the
region’s anti-poverty strategy, through
highlighting the impact that welfare reform is
having on our women members, supporting
the Living Wage campaign and making the
case for fair pay in the public sector.
In collaboration with the region’s education
committee, the network continues to support
and develop women-only training.
On international solidarity, the network
continues to support the Corteros women’s
committee and the women’s sugar cane
cutters’ committee in the Valle del Cauca area
of Colombia, in their organising and capacity
building work.
Women in the northern region are at the
forefront of taking our campaigning out into
our communities and working with sister
trade unions through our Public Services
Alliance via the northern TUC and our own
area forums.
While this year has been a particularly
difficult one for women members with attacks
coming on all fronts, it is through bringing
women together that we see the true
potential of UNISON. Despite all the
challenges that we face, UNISON women are
leading the way in the struggle to improve not
only our members’ lives but those of the
communities we live in.
Northern Ireland
The women’s committee has 50 members
representing all branches in the region. In
2015, the committee overhauled its
constitution to encourage new participation.
Over the past year, committee members
participated extensively in a wide range of
organising and campaigning activity. The
following is a synopsis.
UNISON national women’s conference:
committee members fully participated in all
UNISON national and regional seminars. At
national women’s conference 2015 we were
concerned that our motion on ‘The
Impoverishment of Women’ was ruled out of
order. The committee continues to work on
all the key issues in the motion impacting on
our women members including:
the campaign against welfare and benefit
cuts;
the campaign to eliminate zero hours
contracts;
the campaign for a Living Wage;
domestic violence partnerships;
women’s health;
UNISON women’s participation and
training programme.
The ICTU biennial women’s seminar took
place on 5 and 6 March 2015 in Belfast and a
full UNISON delegation attended. The
UNISON delegation as usual played a
prominent role in the seminar.
26