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Myself, Ashleigh, Isatta & Kate headed to Brighton for the National Women’s Conference.  It was my second time at Women’s Conference & the first time for the others.  Ashleigh was our Young Members delegate. It was great meeting up with all the other Unison Women, especially the South West Women. We had a regional meeting which gave us time to discuss our two regional motions; Where Next With The Housing Crisis For Women and Istanbul Convention Ratification – Violence Against Women. 
 
I love hearing the actual motions, the research behind the motions & the arguments why we need to support the motion to carry out actions to support the motion, or very occasionally why we shouldn’t support the motion. Individual Women get up and put their arguments, as well as tell their own personal experiences, as to why we should (or shouldn’t) support the work. It’s not very often Women will not support motions, although it does happen, as all the motions are aimed at improving the lives of Women. When, very rarely, there are debates it’s usually overhow we should carry out this work to make Women safer & achieve equality. 
Some of the motions we passed included:
Brexit- the Women’s voice; Increasing diversity at Women’s Conference; Protecting the right of EU Women working in social care; The Trade Union Act and the government’s austerity cuts and their impact on disabled Women; Sexual harassment is rife at work; Working with dementia; Why Sickle Cell matters; Dress Code Inquiry; Modern Slavery – Closer Than You Think; Zero hours contracts – closing the loopholes; The Wage Penalty of Motherhood; Pregnancy discrimination; Women and the cuts – strategies for local campaigning; Cuts to domestic abuse support services.  The good news was that both of the South West Women’s motions got passed, which means that work will be carried out by Unison in campaigning for increased social housing for all as well as lobbying the UK government to take action to ratify the Istanbul Convention.
 
There were two highlights for me at this year’s Conference. One was seeing our Young Member’s Officer Ashleigh take the floor & get a standing ovation for her speech on why we need to lobby for the ratification of the Istanbul Convention (re violence against women). No mean feat for a Young Members first time at conference. 
The other was listening to Angela Rayner MP talking about her feral upbringing, leaving school at 16 & pregnant with little or no prospects. However she joined Unison when she was treated badly as a home care worker, attended Women’s Conference, got involved with various positions in Unison & is now Shadow Education Secretary. She was truly inspirational. I would recommend a follow on twitter. You can read more about her attending Women’s Conference here:
 
There’s not a lot of time for enjoying the surrounds of Brighton as the days are quite packed, with fringe meetings & SOG meetings in between the business of conference. Although one evening we did get out in time to see a most fabulous sun setting on the sea. Cue a whole shoreline of Women taking photos!  I would recommend to any Woman to attend Women’s Conference. It’s truly inspirational and it’s where we set out the work & campaigns affecting Women that we wish to work on & support in the coming year.  Every year there is then an annual report showing which motions were carried the previous year and what work Unison has carried out on that motion. If you would like to ask any questions about attending Women’s Conference in future or would like to be more involved in the Women’s Self Organised Group in Plymouth please feel free to contact me on: 07802 729613 or e-mail: hayley.kemp@plymouthcommunityhomes.co.uk
Hayley Kemp
(Plymouth In Unison Women’s Officer)
 

I attended the women’s conference this year and it was such a good experience, especially for my first time at conference. As a young member and being quite new to a union I was a bit nervous about being a delegate, but the pre-conference training and attending with someone I knew really put my mind at ease. Everyone was so friendly and I really felt part of something bigger!

As well as being a delegate and being able to vote on the actions we would like to take as women within our union, I made the most of the seminars and fringe meetings. I attended the Community sector meeting, where we discussed how difficult it is to recruit and support the community workers, especially within health who may work on their own and not have a base. Also, facility time is often a problem as there are fewer ‘bases’ to use and the facility time is not as freely available as it is within local government.

I also attended a seminar about getting young women members more involved. This was very interesting for me as it was an opportunity to meet other young women members as well as some more experienced member who gave their advice on how to make the most of being part of a union, as well as more general ‘life-experience’ tips. We had to write down some advice on post-its which were put up on a board. Angela Rayner MP had sent her own advice for the group as she started out as a young member.

Angela Rayner MP also spoke at conference. As a young member, it was particularly inspiring to see someone who had come from a ‘normal’ background as a single parent with little to no qualifications, to get the support from Unison to build her confidence and be the Shadow MP for Education at such a young age. She made me feel as though I could accomplish anything!

I felt so inspired by Angela Rayner and the other women delegates who had spoken on a motion that I spoke for our region’s motion: Ratification of the Istanbul Convention. I was very nervous but had such a sense of achievement and I even got a standing ovation which was very surprising!

I was really grateful for the support I received from the branch which enabled me to attend. If I had had to fund my own accommodation, transport and meals, it would have been very difficult for me to go.

Since returning from conference I have felt much more active, I have been nominated as the branch young members’ officer and I will be attending the National Conference as a delegate. I am excited to see the different opinions on the motions and also see what seminars and fringe meetings there will be this time.

Ashleigh Knowles