On the final day of last week’s UNISON’s women’s conference in Edinburgh, delegates heard from Katrina Murray MP (pictured above), who was elected to represent Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch last summer, having been a branch chair and member of UNISON’s NEC.
She told delegates that she was proud to be a Labour Party MP and wants to “make a fundamental difference to the lives of the people who we represent.
“One of the first things we did was to get the low pay commission to look at the cost of living to calculate the right minimum pay rate,” she said.
Ms Murray continued by stressing that the government wants to “halve the number of incidents of violence against women and girls in 10 years.
“This is an ambitious target, but we recognise that one incident is one incident too many,” she continued, noting that the “system is stacked against women – [in terms of] housing, decent jobs, access to health care, universal credit.
“We don’t only have to be robust but we have to think about the safety of ourselves and our families – I see the Jo Cox plaque every day in the chamber.
“We get death threats. I had to get private security for my dad’s funeral last week.
“We have to ask ourselves is it worth it?” but we must “stand up to bad behaviour. Know your power. It is not appropriate to not call it out.”
Calling out sexual harassment
Conference also debated motions on sexual harassment and stalking.
“It’s about power, control, fear dressed up in banter and then the blame moves to the woman,” observed one.
“We must raise our voices. We must challenge management. We can win if we stand together,” said another delegate.
“Sex harassment – not in our homes, not in workplaces, not on the streets, not anywhere.”
In a motion on the impact of the rise of the far right on women, delegates heard that “there are no safe spaces. The threat of violence follows us into shops, refugee centres and our workplaces.” It has a “big impact on mental health.”
Delegates were reminded that 1 March is Stand Up to Racism Trade Union Day.
Conference also heard motions on the effect of long COVID on women, and the problems facing migrant care workers, many of whom are “working under conditions that equate to modern slavery,” after they had “paid a fortune for a visa”.
The article ‘I want to make a fundamental difference’ says Katrina Murray first appeared on the UNISON National site.
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