Christina McAnea thanks activists at LGBT+ conference

Christina McAnea took to the rostrum at UNION’s LGBT+ conference in Brighton this morning, to deliver a message of hope, of pride and of gratitude, mixed with anger at the antics of the Tory government in Westminster. After a very warm greeting for what was her first live speech to a conference since becoming UNISON’s first female general secretary at the beginning of the year, she told delegates that she was “incredibly proud of the work our union has done – and you’ve all done – on getting the country through this pandemic. “Although we know we’re not through it yet,” she added dryly. She observed that the union’s activists had not only been helping communities get through the COVID-19 crisis – they’d also been helping the union’s members deal with it too, whether that was helping sort out arrangements for working from home, to helping arrange safe returns to workplaces. “I’m incredibly grateful to you,” reiterated Ms McAnea. And she noted that for LGBT+ people, the pandemic had increased a variety of problems, such as increasing the social isolation that was already experienced by many in that community. She said that she had hoped to be able to talk about a post-pandemic world, but since that is not possible, it remains a priority for the union to get COVID-19 guidance out – including that specifically for LGBT+ members. But at Westminster, what had happened, she asked rhetorically. People in power, “trying to force through changes to p...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article 2021 National LGBT Conference equalities LGBT members Source Type: news