2014 National Delegate Conference UNISON FINAL AGENDA Brighton Centre 17 Jun 2014 20 Jun 2014
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
2014 National Delegate Conference UNISON FINAL AGENDA Brighton Centre 17 Jun 2014 20 Jun 2014 Organising and Recruitment Organisation and Development 1. Campaigning and Organising: Developing An Integrated Approach Conference notes with massive concern the ongoing savage cuts in public expenditure as a result of the Tory-led coalition government‟s dogmatic pursuit of its austerity agenda. These policies have already led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs across the public sector as a whole with estimates that the overall number of public service job losses is likely to be well in excess of one million by 2018. In this situation, it appears increasingly likely that many local councils will have only halved the directly employed workforce that they had at the time of the General Election in 2010. This disastrous situation clearly has major implications for UNISON in terms of continuing to recruit and retain members. The unelected coalition government‟s policies are also leading to the increasing fragmentation of public services as a result of ever more privatisation, outsourcing and the relentless drive toward academy status, trusts and free schools. This fragmentation is leaving more and more workers very isolated in areas where it is more difficult for UNISON to organise. It is also leaving many members in situations where it is harder for them to access support from branch activists who are frequently working for other employers and who may themselves be increasingly restricted as a result of the terms of their trade union facility agreements. This increasing fragmentation has affected all services in which UNISON organises - with sectors such as schools, social care and the voluntary sector having been particularly affected - and with many low paid women members being especially badly hit. Conference recognises the positive work by Fighting Fund Organisers (FFOs) in strengthening UNISON's organisation and encouraging good recruitment and campaigning practice in the face of the government's sustained attacks. This work needs to be further developed as a key part of UNISON's response to the developing challenges. Conference believes that in this climate of relentless cuts and organisational challenges it is more important than ever to recruit, train and develop the skills of new activists at a time when existing activists are under ever greater pressure and in a situation where existing trade union facilities are often under increasing threat. Conference also believes that new members will be best attracted to UNISON if it shows itself to be actively campaigning against cuts and fighting job losses. In this situation it believes our trade union needs to further consider ways in which it can better integrate its organisation, recruitment and retention strategy alongside, and as part of, these fights and campaigns. Conference calls on the National Executive Council to: Page 1 of 173 2014 National Delegate Conference UNISON FINAL AGENDA 1) Continue to campaign as visibly and vocally as possible against all service cuts, privatisations and attacks on jobs, pay and conditions of service and to maximise publicity on the devastating impact of the government‟s dogmatic pursuit of its austerity agenda; 2) Co-ordinate the work of Regions, Service Groups, SOGs and Branches in campaigning against cuts and ensuring that the recruitment and organisation of new members and activists is fully integrated as part of these campaigns; 3) Ensure that the vital importance of the retention of existing members and activists is given a key organising priority as part of UNISON's recruitment and campaigning strategy; 4) Adequately resource activities aimed at developing sustainable strategies for communicating with and supporting activists and members in fragmented and isolated work places; 5) Continue to evaluate and develop the role of Fighting Fund Organisers in assisting Branches to implement good recruitment and retention practice alongside, and as part of, vigorous and visible campaigns against cuts in jobs and services. South East Region 1.1 Insert new sixth paragraph: “Conference welcomes the increase in recruitment of members in 2013 – and especially the substantial increase in recruitment of young members compared with the previous year - which appears to have been as a result of the union‟s recruitment campaign, although this has yet to be established.” Add new point 6): “6) Survey the young members recruited in the period of the recruitment campaign to establish why they joined the union at that time.” National Young Members' Forum 1.2 Insert after the words "fighting job losses”: "and co-ordinating action, where possible, as a more effective way to defeat job losses than leaving branches to fight alone." South Derbyshire Healthcare 2. Learning from Community Organising Conference applauds the work undertaken by Citizens UK, a community organising movement, to develop and build a network of broad based community alliances of civic institutions working together in their common interest in London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Milton Keynes, Cardiff and Glasgow. Page 2 of 173 2014 National Delegate Conference UNISON FINAL AGENDA Conference notes the approach taken in late 2010 when East Midlands UNISON began working with Citizens UK on building a Nottingham Citizens organisation. Starting with an initial conversation amongst a small number of community leaders the process of using the tools of community organising to build a self funded alliance of communities who would identify the common ground they shared and were prepared to commit to working together for the common good began. £100,000 was raised by institutions working together to fund its creation in an initial organising drive in which over 1,000 individual meetings were held, over 200 people have been trained in community organising and 40 plus different organisations have been recruited to become dues paying members of Nottingham Citizens. In June 2013 Nottingham Citizens held its first formal Founding Assembly with almost a thousand people in attendance and a joint agenda for the City – an agenda that has been developed by a powerful alliance of schools, faith communities, unions, housing associations, universities and charities which will then be pursued intelligently, persistently and powerfully through joint action to see justice done. Conference recognises the power of the tools and techniques adopted in the Citizens UK approach to community organising and their potential relevance and applicability in a trade union organising context – especially the importance associated with the identification and development of new leaders – one of, if not the key issue for our union moving forward. Stewards are our workplace leaders, the most fundamental building block of our organisation. Where we have stewards who are informed and active, who listen to members and who are focused on working with members to do things for themselves as opposed to doing things for them – then we build strong workplace organisation. Strong workplace organisation builds strong branch organisation, strong branches build strong regions and strong regions build a strong national union. This has been overwhelmingly proven by adopting this approach to organise in Derbyshire Schools throughout the Autumn of 2013. Conference therefore calls on the National Executive Council to investigate the organising methodology adopted by Citizens UK with a view to: 1) Identifying the relevance and applicability of that methodology in a trade union organising context; 2) If applicable, consider how that methodology might be incorporated into UNISON Organiser and Activist training and development programmes; 3) Roll out any such training programmes across the union nationally as a priority in 2015/16. Conference also calls on the National Executive Council to: a) Encourage Branches to become involved in existing or developing new “Citizens” organisations across the UK and; Page 3 of 173 2014 National Delegate Conference UNISON FINAL AGENDA b) Work with the GPF Committee to see if it is possible to make provision from the General Political Fund to meet 50% of the cost of membership dues of any UNISON branch joining a “Citizen UK” backed alliance anywhere in the UK. Derbyshire County 2.1 Delete point 3) and replace with: “3) Roll out organising training programmes across the union nationally including lessons learned from Citizens UK organising.” Delete “Conference also calls on the National Executive Council to:” And also delete points a) and b). National Executive Council 3. Organising, Recruiting and Equality The emphasis on organising, recruiting and negotiating around equality has become even more important than ever as the pressure is forced upon branches to become the membership protectors and organise around that. When the doors are open to all in the same way our branches should provide support to all members, the fact that no one is excluded from branch secretaries, branch officers and stewards, guiding and setting good examples by showing inclusion not division it will draw more workers in the workplace into our union and encourage our existing members to become more active. With our members looking for direction out of a relentless attack on our terms and conditions, fearful of losing their jobs, careers and livelihoods as we mitigate against reorganisations and redundancies, while our employers remove or re-negotiate facility agreements. The equality agenda must go hand in hand with retaining, organising and recruiting new members. The coalition and recent figures claim that the economy is growing and more people in employment, many of these figures do not take into account zero hours contracts and more part-time mainly women workers being subject to unsuitable working conditions and hours– the propaganda has to stop. We must not become complacent as we look at our trade union movement‟s success at tackling and facing up to challenges of inequality, as this coalition government has entered into the implementation and eradication of UK‟s basic employment rights that the movement has fought so hard for over the past 30/40 years.