Unison Greater London Young Members demand equal parental leave

Greater London Region UNISON Young Members have started to campaign on increasing maternity, paternity and adoption leave. This was after inspiration from hearing about the Fire Brigade Union’s Fight for 52 campaign, which calls for 52 weeks full pay maternity leave and UNISON members in Wandsworth Council winning an increase in maternity/adoption pay to 17 weeks full pay. The first step young members have taken is to collate all policies of local government and higher education employers, which are often enhanced beyond national standards. This is unlike many NHS Trusts (an industry also organised by UNISON), which rarely offer enhanced benefits beyond the national standards set out in Agenda for Change.

London Young Members also voted to amend a motion to their conference that UNISON policy should be 52 weeks full pay for all parents on the basis that both parents should equally be part of the child rearing. Employers and the government should not enshrine the gendered division of domestic labour into maternity/paternity leave policies and law. The University of the Arts London has equal maternity and paternity policies at six months full pay.

While it has long been the argument that the birthing (and potentially breastfeeding) parent requires more physical time off to recover, leaving this parent alone with a new baby does not help their recovery and means that this parent (traditionally the mother) is left with the majority of the child rearing. Further, non-birthing parents (traditionally fathers) often want more time to spend with their new babies but are deprived of this right because of restrictive and reactionary leave policies. Feminists and trade unionists should call for equality in child rearing, starting at birth.