‘Getting actively involved with UNISON … got me out of the abyss’

Delegates applauded Charmaine Blaze at the Black members’ conference today, when she movingly described how UNISON helped her secure a managerial role at NHS Scotland after years of being under-employed, under-valued and lacking career progression.
She observed that, for Black women in particular, the gender pay gap is “less of a gap and more of an abyss or chasm”.
Ms Blaze (pictured) said: “Many times they offer us employment and, when we come to the table, they give us