UNISON National Women's Conference Report
"Women should have the right to feel safe in our work environments as well as feel valued and respected. It is the responsibility of employers, employees and leaders alike to make sure our workplace is somewhere that has zero tolerance for harassment”.
UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members working in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. Members are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors. Unison has 50,000 members in Northern Ireland.
Women’s Conference
At the UNISON National Women’s Conference, which took place in Edinburgh over the weekend of 14th February, a motion on childcare in Northern Ireland noted that NI is the only part of the UK without a childcare strategy, while also having some of the highest childcare costs in the UK.
The result is that many mothers cannot afford to return to work after giving birth, which one speaker described as a “patriarchal move to keep women in the home. Help our mums and support childcare workers to be paid properly. If they are unionised, they will be paid properly.”
Delegates called on the national committee to campaign for a fully resourced childcare strategy for Northern Ireland and 30-hours free, properly funded childcare. Another motion on sexual harassment noted that this a common issue in the workplace.
A 2023 poll by the TUC showed that 3 in 5 women have experienced harassment at work, rising to almost two-thirds of women aged 25 to 34.
The conference noted that women should “have the right to feel safe in our work environments as well as feel valued and respected. It is the responsibility of employers, employees and leaders alike to make sure our workplace is somewhere that has zero tolerance for harassment”.
RVH UNISON and North Belfast Worker's Party representative, Fiona McCarthy spoke to the motion, stating that “sexual harassment in the workplace has become much more common. It is not insidious anymore, it is often done quite openly and it is no longer just remarks but in many cases physical. This is totally unacceptable and there should be consequences for those who feel they can behave towards women in this way”.
Fiona said that employers have an obligation to implement equality laws and ensure the safety, dignity and wellbeing of women employees. “There is no such thing as harmless sexual harassment. Whether it's words, looks, gestures or actions, it has no place in the workplace. Women's rights are human rights, and they should be free from all forms of sexual harassment and abuse.”
Fiona’s speech can be seen below