With the UK having just started its first full year under a Boris
Johnson government, one of the dominant themes at
conference was continuing austerity – because, aside from the
announcement of a rise in the national minimum wage to come
in the spring, election campaign promises to end austerity have
yet to be realized.
Conference debated a wide range of austerity-related issues,
from the growing crisis in social care – with its effect on the
largely female care workforce and on women who are expected
to be carers in the family – to the impact on women of welfare
cuts and changes to benefits.
A substantial motion from the national women’s committee
calls for better funding for social care services, including better
pay and service conditions for the predominantly female social
care workforce.
The two motions submitted from the UNISON SE Region were
Bring Parity to Shared Parental Leave and Ending the Hostile
Environment for Pregnant Women.