The women’s committee held their AGM on Saturday 3rd November at the regional office in Guildford. Guest speakers included Mandy Webb is a political activist and artist who was diagnosed with HIV twenty years ago. Mandy displayed two of her creations which you can see in the picture below. One dress highlights the harsh impact of the government ‘austerity’ policies on the vulnerable in our society and the second dress raises awareness of living with HIV and the chronic lack of funding and support for people living with HIV. The second guest speaker was Jo Galloway, Regional Manager for the South East region East Team and Equality. Jo’s talk included increasing the participation of women on regional committees; the importance of submitting motions to Regional Council as well as highlighting some of the current equality issues for women, for example the gender pay gap and the forthcoming Equal Pay – No Pay Day on 10th November. For information about how your branch could take part in an event to raise awareness about the gender pay gap on No Pay Day please see the South East website Events page.
The women’s committee for 2019 was elected with more women becoming members for the first time. Congratulations to Sandra Charles from Portsmouth City branch, who was elected Chair, and to Debbie Hollingsworth from Oxford County branch and Mary Moore from Milton Keynes branch who were elected vice-chairs. The first meeting of the newly elected women’s committee takes place on the afternoon of 26th January, immediately following the delegates briefing for national women’s conference.
National women’s conference takes place at the Bournemouth International Centre from Thursday 14th February to Saturday 16th February. The branch circular was despatched in August to all branches. The deadline for registration of branch delegates is 5pm Monday 10th December and all branches can send at least one delegate. You will find copies of the branch circular and further information on the national website at https://www.unison.org.uk/content/uploads/2018/08/2019-National-Womens-Conference-Bulletin.pdf
