Women's TUC in Scarborough threw down a challenge to the whole trade union movement. It is possible and necessary to recruit hundreds of thousands of women in the next five years, but only by rising to the challenge of attracting and retaining them.
This means that trade unions have to become flexible organisationally, but more importantly, they have to be fighting organisations that defend and extend the conditions under which people work and the social environment in which they live.
Conference understood the importance of fighting for equal rights at work and the importance of full rights for all workers from day one of employment, and the ronts of all workers to join and be represented by an independent trade union.
Women's TUC also debated the whole question of bullying at work and the need to combat this.
The conference unanimously passed an emergency resolution which expressed concern at the contents of the Amnesty International Bulletin of 7 February regarding the imprisonment of Roisin McAliskey.
The resolution calls on the "Women's Committee and the General Council to support the call for ball to be granted due to Rosin's mental and physical condition and to support the campaign for mother and child to remain together after the birth". This was moved by MSF and seconded by the FBU.
Another emergency resolution from the Society of Telecom Executives ralsed the issue of the attack on working women launched by the Panorama pro4. gramme. It called on the Women's Committee and the General Council to "highlight and publicise media attacks on working women" and to "campaign for recognition at work of the demands of all parents, and the need for workplace policies to accommodate working parents and their children".
This resolution linked into the discussion of the HAFTHE resolution on the whole Issue of women's rights. Moving this resolution, Mary Davies made the point that it is necessary to combine theory and practice. We cannot let the right wing ideological offensive against women go unchallenged.
They blame women for all the ills of society and try to strengthen the traditional family. We must defend the gains of the women's liberation movement of the sixties and fight for women's right to choose how they live and the material conditions which allow us to do so. rights for part timers, training for all employees and cancer screening These positive aspects are massively overshadowed by the attacks on conditions that are also involved both now and in the future. Integral to the whole package is a new proposed Job Evaluation Scheme which will not be compulsory for local authorities to use and which will not even be available before mid-April.
All jobs will be subject to local grading reviews and pay is protected for only up to three years. Whole areas of conditions which are currently determined nationally will only be subject to minimum terms at this level.
The main negotiations will take prace locally immediate problems include the introduction of a "code of conduct and attacks on various existing provisions for leave.
Within the glossy literature producca by tac unions natonsis some of the key issues are hidden *Working hours will be set for all full time employees from April 1 sell it to the membership is unbelievable. Jane Carrolan, Chair of the Allo referred to the document as a "socialist agreement" and Local Government Officer Keith Sonnet said that "It is UNISON's destiny to bring in this agreement.
Some of the media have used an image of an office worker emptying dustbins to illustrate stones about the agreement. Such proposals on flexibility are not actually part of the package.
worrying phrase in the "principles" set out at the beginning which talks of "a flexible approach to providing services to the community, which meets the needs of employees as well as employers."
One wonders if the press have been told something that trade union members have notr In any event the left has a major task on its hands to moblise oppost• tion to these proposals. UNISON is holding a special conterence on May 20 and after that the proposals will go out to a ballot of individual members. These proposals must be rejected.