Resolution No. 1 Older Women in the Workplace

1

Women, the Economy

and Health

CONFERENCE DECISIONS

IRESOLUTIONS CARRIED

Resolution No. 1 “Older Women in the Workplace

“That this Conference recognises that the workforce in Scotland and the rest of the UK is getting older. The research findings are clear that people are living longer and also having to remain in work for longer.

“Conference, therefore, deplores the fact that it is not recognised that older women face harder challenges to remain in work. In all industries there is a need to introduce provisions that assist older women to remain in their roles. This is significantly apparent in ‘heavy duty’ industries, as well as the justice sector and emergency services.

“Conference recognises that members in parts of the prison service are losing their jobs, simply because they are expected by their companies to meet the same levels of fitness and work load as that of their younger colleagues.

“Conference, therefore, calls upon the STUC Women’s Committee to support Community Union in its ongoing campaign to ensure parity of conditions between the private and public sector where better provisions are already in place.”

Resolution No. 2 “Restricting Funding of the BBC”

“That this Conference notes that Equity, together with its sister SFEUunions, asks for the support of the STUC Women's Conference and the STUC General Council in fighting against Government proposals to restrict the funding of the BBC, consequently reducing its capacity to provide both entertainment programmes and programmes relating to public interest issues, and specifically to monitor closely, subsequent redundancies, especially those for women employees, which involve ageism, sexism and factors relating to thephysical appearance of individuals.”

Resolution No. 3 “Casualisation and Women in Higher Education”

“That this Conference notes thatpublic investment in higher and adult education is essential for Scotland’s social and economic future and that a clear link exists between the conditions of work for staff and the quality of provision. Conference, therefore, deplores the high incidence across this vital sector of casualised employment, including zero-hours contracts and, in particular, the impact of this casualisation on women.

“According to the ONS, women make up a bigger proportion of those that work on zero-hours contracts (55%) compared with other people in employment (47%). Work done by UCU on casualisation shows that our members often don’t know how they will make ends meet from one month to the next. It means that the big life decisions, like buying a house or having children, must be indefinitely postponed. The impact on women is evidently greater, as over 62% of survey respondents were female. The detail of this work shows that women employed as teachers and researchers on casualised contracts find difficulty in accessing Universities’ maternity schemes and rely heavily on tax credits and job seeker’s allowance to make ends meet.

“The use of zero-hours and other forms of casualised contracts in education is one of the great scandals of our time. Without a proper contract, staff cannot plan their lives on a month-to-month or even a week-to-week basis. The disproportionate effect on women is iniquitous.

“Conference calls on the STUC Women’s Committee to put pressure on the UK Government to end the use of these contracts UK-wide and on the Scottish Government to demand the end of their use in Scottish higher education.”

Resolution No. 4 “Precarious Work and Women”

“That this Conference notes that the election of a majority Conservative Government isa devastating blow toworking class people already at breaking point.This election resultwill do nothing to relieve the deteriorating situation of women in Scotland, who are being pushed further into low paid zero hours contracts.

“The subsequent rise in poverty has a profound impact on the lives of women, both because their ability to earn has been severely restricted, but also because women have prime responsibility for the care of the family.

“Precarious work has spread to all sectors and the consequence of insecurity for women is far reaching. Unemployment, job insecurity, low pay and public service cuts all limit their ability to feed, educate and nurture their children.

“Although precarious work is having a damaging impact on all age groups and on both men and women, the impact of this form of work on women is even more severe. Women precarious workers are likely to be excluded from pregnancy protection and maternity leave provisions, as well as other important forms of social protection. Their ability to negotiate flexible working is limited and their right to join a trade union often denied.

“Conference welcomes the work being done by the STUC’s >Zero campaign in exposing bad bosses, who are exploiting young workers on zero hours contracts. Millions of workers in the UK are now trapped in zero hours’ contracts and, therefore, organising precarious workers should rightly be a priority for the trade union movement.

“Conference calls on the STUC Women’s Committee to:

• work to highlight the negative impact of precarious work on women;
• help to implement gender equality measures across the labour market;
• work with affiliates to shiftpolicy to focus on the creation of quality jobs and an end to zero hours’ contracts; and
• take up the challenge of organising workers in precarious work alongside others in the trade union movement.”

Resolution No. 5 “Campaigning on Women, Work and Low Pay”

“That this Conference notes that 64% of low paid workers in Scotland are women. The vast majority of low paid workers in Scotland work in the private sector, mainly in the hospitality and retail sectors.

“Low paid women workers are faring badly in the so-called economic recovery. The numbers of women in low paid, low hours, insecure work is growing. Since 2008, more than a million women have moved into this type of work.

“Over the last five years, the value of women’s pay has fallen dramatically. Work is not a route out of poverty for low paid women and their families in Scotland.

“Conference is deeply concerned at the impact on women of the growth in involuntary casualisation and a growing gender pay gap. The recovery is entrenching the concentration of women in low paying, casualised parts of the economy.

“This is a pressing issue for unions and there is much work to do. Campaigns that reach out beyond workers already unionised are vital to help attract, retain and protect women workers.

“Conference calls on the STUC Women’s Committee to:

• continue to highlight the need for a living wage in Scotland;
• further highlight the casualisation of women’s work and the fall in the value of women’s pay; and
• work with affiliates to develop campaigns that will sharpen our appeal to unorganised low paid women workers.”

Resolution No. 6 “Women, the Economy and Health”

“That this Conference recognises that under the Coalition Government, women were harshly affected by cuts to public services and social security entitlements. The shift of employment from public sector to private sector further undermined women’s labour market position and they benefitted the least from opportunities arising from the Government’s investment in physical infrastructure.

“The election of a Conservative Government in May 2015 compounded the already devastating economic and health consequences for families as a direct result of the Chancellor’s proposed tax regime and the vindictive Welfare Reform Bill.

“Spending cuts at all levels of government have had the harshest impact on women as workers and service users. In Scotland, these effects are compounded by the knock-on effects of the Council Tax freeze imposed by the Scottish Government.

“Enduring and persistent inequality in pay, restricted access to the labour market and deep-rooted discrimination in a range of jobs is at the heart of women’s economic inequality and it is individual women who bear the brunt of these deep-rooted forms of discrimination.

“Whilst welcoming the continuation of the Scottish Government’s Ministerial Strategic Group on Women and Work, whose remit is to establish what more can be done at all levels to enable women to fulfil their potential in the labour market, we are becoming increasingly concerned that the actions taken to date have had little or no significant impact on women’s lives.

“Conference, therefore, calls on the STUC Women’s Committee to:

• pressure the Scottish Government to take significant action to implement the findings of the Ministerial Strategic Group on Women and Work; and
• work with all political parties in Scotland to commit to an economic policy which places women at its centre and to recognise and account for women’s unpaid contribution to sustaining the paid economy.”

Amended Resolution No. 7 “CalMac”

“That this Conference notes that for over 160 years, the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CalMac) have kept Scotland’s islands and mainland connected, supporting a way of life that has lasted thousands of years.

“Now the Scottish Government plans to sell that service off to the highest bidder. A public service, run for the Scottish people, could soon be turned into a private business run to benefit greedy shareholders.

“The Scottish Government is deploying EU regulations to tender these services, although tendering has been challenged in other parts of Europe. The women of the Highlands and Islands, their families and friends, should not be forced to line private sector pockets every time they need to use lifeline ferry services.

“The Ferries are essential to the women of the Isles: to enable those who want to stay and work on the islands to be able to do so by providing them with reliable routes to the mainland for goods and services, and to enable them to access jobs, services and family.

“Conference congratulates RMT and TSSA for their strong defence of jobs, terms and conditions, and services in their continued battle to Keep CalMac Public and salutes the industrial action taken.

“As sisters we say NO to Profit, Slash and Burn.

“Conference condemns the decision of the Scottish Government to privatise the lifeline ferry services and calls upon them to reverse the decision.

“Conference calls on the STUC Women’s Committee to organise a lobbying campaign of MSPs from all parties and community groups to oppose the privatisation on behalf of the people of the Highlands and Islands who depend upon CalMac for their wellbeing and their way of life.

“Conference further calls on STUC Women’s Committee to support any industrial action taken by affiliates on this issue.”

Resolution No. 8 “Gender Pay Gap: Impact of Public Sector Pay Restraint”

“That this Conference deplores the recent World Economic Forum findings that the UK has slipped to 26th in the rankings of its Global Gender Gap league table, from 9th in 2006.

“Women workers predominate in the public sector, but unions are increasingly hampered from negotiating fair pay by this Government’s policy of public sector pay restraint, despite the obligations of the Public Sector Equality Duty, which requires considering how any adverse impact on women might be eliminated, and recording steps taken to mitigate that impact.

“Conference notes that figures by Close the Gap highlight that:

• on average women working full-time in Scotland earn £95.60 per week less than men;
• women account for 48% of the labour market;
• 43% of women employed in Scotland work part-time compared to 13% of men employed in Scotland; and
• women account for 76% of all part-time workers in Scotland.

“Millions of low paid women workers in the public sector, who did not cause the UK’s economic deficit, are now facing real hardship. If pay had kept pace with inflation, average civil service pay would now be £2,300 higher, but the Government has announced that the pay cap will continue to 2019 and possibly beyond.

“Conference instructs the STUC Women’s Committee to:

• call for a mandatory requirement to carry out regular equal pay audits;
• support calls for a specific duty on public and private sector employers to take mitigating action to close gender pay gaps; and
• give full support to affiliate unions taking industrial action to oppose the Government’s ideological attack on public sector pay.”

Resolution No. 9 “Misogynistic Attitudes towards Women in Public Life”

“That this Conference notes that across continents and across political parties, misogynistic attitudes towards women in public life, as reflected in media coverage, continue to undermine the democratic process and contribute to the perpetuation of a raft of gender inequalities within a variety of social and economic contexts.

“In the UK, such attitudes were acutely evident in the months preceding the General Election and in its aftermath. Female politicians on both sides of the border were routinely subjected to sexist comments in the press and other media. In addition, women MPs were frequently marginalised by meagre newspaper and media broadcast coverage in comparison to that afforded to their male counterparts and, often, to the wives of male politicians.

“Conference condemns such demeaning treatment of women and the damaging impact that it has on the participation of women in public life, and therefore, on society in general. With only 29% of MPs and less than 35% of MSPs being female, 24% of councillors and less than 36% of public board members in Scotland, action to address misogyny as an inhibitor to women’s participation in public life is required urgently.

“Conference, therefore, calls upon the STUC Women’s Committee to:

• devise and implement a strategy to challenge misogynistic attitudes towards women in public life which are expressed in the broadcast, digital and print media; and
• continue in its endeavour to redress the gender imbalance in public life through such activity as the 50/50 campaign, and continued participation in the Scottish Women’s Convention and the Scottish Commission on Older Women.”

Resolution No. 10 “Women in the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service”

“That this Conference is extremely concerned at the ongoing austerity cuts that were also the primary motivation for the introduction of a single Scottish Fire & Rescue Service (SFRS) and that have resulted in serious reductions to the funding of the Service.

“The reductions in funding have had a negative impact on the gender profile of the Service. The decision to close five control rooms and reduce backroom staff has impacted disproportionately on women and the very limited recruitment has also meant the diversity of operational firefighters has remained virtually stagnant.

“We are advised that the SFRS is committed to diversity and a workforce that reflects the communities it serves, therefore, a current staffing level of less than 5% of women that are operational firefighters is totally unacceptable.

“We, therefore, call upon the STUC Women’s Committee to lobby the Scottish Government to raise concerns over the funding reductions, the potential serious funding gap by 2019/20 that Audit Scotland claim to have identified, and to emphasise the impact the reductions have had to date on the gender profile of the SFRS and the potential for this to be exacerbated by any further funding reductions.”

Resolution No. 11 “Women and Trade Unions”

“That this Conference notes that in 2015 the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) is celebrating women members in the union for 100 years. On 2 July 1915, it was recorded that Jennie Burden, a 19 year old female carriage cleaner joined Brighton No.3 Branch of the National Union of Railwaymen and she is believed to be our first official female member of the union.

“It is well established that those who belong to a trade union have better pay, better conditions and better security and this is more important to women who are more likely to be in vulnerable, part-time and lower paid jobs.

“Conference notes that in these times of austerity and attacks on workers’ rights, it is even more important to belong to a trade union and calls on the STUC Women’s Committee to publicise the benefits of belonging to a trade union and produce literature particularly focussed on recruiting women, in the context of the campaign in Scotland against the Trade Union Reform Bill and for a Fair Work agenda.”

Resolution No. 12 “Equality in University Governing Bodies”

“That this Conference notes that, despite the wealth of research and evidence that University governing bodies are more effective if their composition is gender balanced, there is still a significant inequality in those bodies. Whilst it is almost universally agreed that equality is a good thing, it is far more difficult to persuade those in positions of power in higher education to actually take action that will actively change the status quo.

“According to the Equality Challenge Unit’s recently published research report, ‘Governing Bodies, Equality and Diversity in Scottish Higher Education Institutions’, it is commonly accepted that a governing body that is representative of the community it serves is more inclusive in its decision–making.

“We need to actively broaden the membership of these bodies, so that they genuinely reflect the organisations they serve. The effect of this change would be to ensure that women’s needs and concerns in the workplace are addressed fairly and appropriately and with a full understanding of the specific implications of decisions for women.

“There has been some recent progress in the appointment of female chairs of court, but the majority of members of University Courts in Scotland are still white, able bodied straight men, often businessmen who come from a commercial background where income generation is paramount.

“Conference calls on the Scottish Government to ensure that any consideration of equality in the governance of higher education institutions takes into account the wider issues around representation of women on University Courts. This would involve not just acknowledging that equality is desirable, but ensuring that positive and proactive measures are taken to ensure that these bodies genuinely represent the University communities they serve.”