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CONFERENCE REPORTS<br />
National delegate conference<br />
Brighton : 16-19 June 2015<br />
Delegates: Pat Heron, Eve Rose<br />
The two motions submitted by national<br />
women’s conference – Modernis<strong>in</strong>g our<br />
union, which became part of composite A,<br />
and Domestic violence - a gendered issue,<br />
were both debated and carried.<br />
The motion on domestic violence attracted<br />
possibly the largest number of speakers at<br />
conference, all speak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> support. This was<br />
particularly good news as there had been<br />
controversy over the word<strong>in</strong>g and the<br />
emphasis of a previous amendment and<br />
motion to NDC. The word<strong>in</strong>g which was<br />
submitted <strong>in</strong> 2015 was very carefully<br />
considered to ensure that it passed SOC and<br />
legal scrut<strong>in</strong>y, and addressed the concerns<br />
raised previously.<br />
To support the motion, the national women’s<br />
committee organised a fr<strong>in</strong>ge meet<strong>in</strong>g, also<br />
titled Domestic Violence – a gendered issue,<br />
which was attended by approximately 100<br />
delegates, with speakers from My Sister’s<br />
Friend, the Glasgow Community Safety<br />
Partnership and Eileen D<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g, regional<br />
equalities officer, Scotland.<br />
Two amendments had been submitted by the<br />
women’s committee. The first on tackl<strong>in</strong>g<br />
vulnerable employment and casualisation,<br />
was carried. The second on the rights of<br />
migrant workers <strong>in</strong> Qatar was not reached,<br />
but the issue is part of the ongo<strong>in</strong>g work of<br />
<strong>UNISON</strong>’s <strong>in</strong>ternational department.<br />
The women’s caucus was also well attended,<br />
with delegates, as always, keen to share their<br />
experiences and to support the motions from<br />
the women’s committee and conference.<br />
For the first time this year, the women’s SOG<br />
newssheet was emailed to regional women’s<br />
officers and national committee members<br />
from conference, to keep them updated on<br />
the debates. To date the feedback has been<br />
positive, and the practice will be cont<strong>in</strong>ued <strong>in</strong><br />
2016.<br />
Self organised group conferences<br />
Black members<br />
Brighton : 6-8 February 2015<br />
Delegates : Sudeep Bone, Aniqa Hashmi<br />
It was a cause for celebration that more<br />
delegates attended 2015 Black members’<br />
conference than ever before. 29 motions<br />
were passed over the course of the weekend,<br />
on the themes of organis<strong>in</strong>g and recruit<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Black members; challeng<strong>in</strong>g racism <strong>in</strong> the<br />
workplace; campaign<strong>in</strong>g; health issues<br />
affect<strong>in</strong>g Black people; political education and<br />
mobilis<strong>in</strong>g Black votes for the general<br />
election.<br />
The national women’s committee submitted<br />
motions on two issues – <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g Black<br />
women’s participation <strong>in</strong> <strong>UNISON</strong> and underrepresentation<br />
of Black women <strong>in</strong> the<br />
workplace.<br />
Guest speakers were Dave Prentis, General<br />
Secretary, Lucia McKeever, <strong>UNISON</strong> president<br />
and Seema Malhotra MP, who focused on the<br />
forthcom<strong>in</strong>g general election and the<br />
powerful <strong>in</strong>fluence that mobilis<strong>in</strong>g the Black<br />
vote could have on the outcome of the<br />
election. Councillor Brian Fitch, Mayor of<br />
Brighton & Hove, also spoke.<br />
Delegates were able to choose between four<br />
workshops – racism <strong>in</strong> education, organis<strong>in</strong>g<br />
plann<strong>in</strong>g, youth participation/racism <strong>in</strong> the<br />
media and hate crime.<br />
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