Suffolk County Council has become the latest employer to sign UNISON’s Anti-Racism Charter.
The charter commits the council and its senior management to a range of pledges designed to prevent racial bias, including championing a racially diverse workforce, having a clear programme of anti-racist initiatives and providing training for employees.
The council is already undertaking some actions contained in the charter, such as reporting its ethnicity pay gap, but will take on further tasks such as monitoring disciplinary and grievance processes to ensure that outcomes are fair.
Suffolk County Council executive director of people Sue Cook said: “By signing up to the Anti-Racism Charter with UNISON, we are emphasising our commitment to ensure our policies, processes, and organisational culture celebrate and champion the diversity of our whole workforce.
“Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity, respect and humanity and we want our colleagues to know that they are supported to challenge racism in all forms.
“We recognise that we can and will do more to support our employees as part of our ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion as a council, and our goal to create a fairer and more equal society.”
UNISON Eastern regional organiser Winston Dorsett added: “Suffolk County Council should be congratulated for making this commitment to equality.
“This isn’t just about ensuring a better working environment for Black staff at the council. When workplaces are fairer, staff are able to do their jobs better, so this will mean improvements for people across Suffolk.”
