GFTU BGCM 2019 Minutes

police cars, you did not need to make a phone call and if you did make a phone

call and say, “I have tripped over it” or something, they would still send people.

My official classification was “At serious risk of violent sexual assault”.

It is something that is not spoken about a lot. We have members that are

affected by it and I am really pleased to see this motion here at the GFTU and I

just wanted to make the point that quite often people think that stalking is not

that serious or it happens to somebody else. Well, it happened to me for years.

It took a while for me to start to do something about it and the impact that it can

have on your life, your relationships, your family, where you go, you do not do

anything regularly at all. So I just wanted to share that to give a personal lived

experience and I am sure conference will support it. Thank you. (Applause)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much for that. Any other speakers on

this motion, colleagues? (No response) If not, I will move to the vote.

Motion 8 was CARRIED unanimously

THE PRESIDENT: We are motoring through these motions, so I think we will take

one more, Motion 13, and then we will take the coffee break and then we have

got word that Dave Ward is on his way. So I call TSSA for Motion 13.

MOTION 13 – MENOPAUSE

SIS KEELEY LIPSCOMBE (TSSA) moved the following motion:

That this conference believes the trade union movement can and should do

more to help our sisters who are going through the menopause. In September

2017 over 70% of all UK workers were women, all of whom will experience the

menopause.

Some of the symptoms associated with the menopause include hot flushes,

palpitations, night sweats and sleep disturbance, fatigue, poor concentration,

irritability, mood disturbance, skin irritation and dryness. For most women this

happens between the ages of 45 and 55, although a minority experience these

symptoms in their early thirties. These hormonal changes and symptoms can

last from four to eight years.

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