UNISON Black Members Conference salutes courage of Lawrence family

This year’s National Black Members' Conference took place in Brighton, which was not so sunny, but more akin to the arctic! There were 315 delegates attending conference which is a slight decrease on numbers from 2011 and you could have counted the number of young black members who attended conference on one hand.

Supporting our members, Fighting everywhere we can

'We have a government at the moment which is attacking the public sector, particularly with the pensions which will be affecting a lot of people in our community because they tend to be the groups who work in the lower end of the public sector. I want to show that UNISON is supporting our members, fighting everywhere we can, campaigning and organising in regards to this issue and bringing it to light.' says Eleanor Smith, UNISON President, interviewed by The Voice, newspaper of the black community: http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/britains-first-black-president  

UK Government lacks committment to race equality - Runnymede report

The Runnymede Trust and other NGO's working for race equality have produced a report highlighting key challenges faced by Black people in the UK and areas where the Government could be doing more to tackle inequalities in Black communities: http://www.unison.org.uk/file/UK%20NGOs%20Against%20Racism%20CERD%20Report.pdf

Students & unemployed workers no substitute for working members

The Guardian reports that ‘Unite will offer students, single parents and the jobless 50p per week "community memberships"’:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jul/17/unite-start-reduced-membership

Black unemployment levels show ‘persistence of workplace discrimination’ - TUC

The unemployment rate for black and asian workers increased from 10.2 per cent in October-December 2007 to 13 per cent in the same quarter in 2010 (a figure almost twice as high as the 7.1 per cent unemployment rate for white individuals) according to a TUC analysis of the UK Labour Force Survey:http://www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-19457-f0.cfm

UNISON Black Members mobilise against the cuts‏

On Friday evening UNISON President, Angela Lynes welcomed delegates to Glasgow and the 2011 UNISON Black members conference got underway. Angela went onto highlight the issues which we all face through the ideological policies of the Tories and making reference to the TUC Demo and Rally in London on March 26th, something which almost every speaker at the rostrum did during the speeches on motions which followed.