Branch, Steward and Workplace Organisation

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Conference
2003 National Delegate Conference
Date
25 February 2003
Decision
Carried as Amended

Conference notes and welcomes the progress made in implementing the organising agenda into mainstream UNISON activity whilst recognising, as with any medium term objective, much remains to be achieved.

Conference further notes the tangible benefits of this policy include:

1)contributing to the annual increase in membership over the past four years;

2)helping to substantially boost the recruitment of young people; and


3)listening to the views of activists and members through regular surveys.

Conference recognises that the growth of UNISON workplace organisation and membership crucially depends on our ability to attract, recruit and train more stewards. Yet, despite the recent welcome rise in membership, one-third of workplaces have no steward and in four out of ten workplaces, there is only a single steward.

Conference welcomes the recent report on UNISON stewards survey as a vital step towards the development of a strategy for improving workplace organisation. The report identifies paid release as the key to union effectiveness in the workplace. Conference therefore notes with concern that nearly a quarter of stewards do not receive paid release and that on average stewards have to spend four hours of their own time on union business.

Conference further notes that the report highlights the under-representation of women in general, and women part-time workers in particular, among our elected stewards. This serves as a reminder of the need to continue our work to achieve proportionality throughout our structures. We must accomplish this in the steward base if we are to attain and maintain proportionality in the rest of our democratic structures.

Conference notes that one of the chief factors identified in the report for the shortage of stewards is that members do not know enough about the role of a steward and that the office is too time consuming. Conference therefore welcomes the success of the pilot project on Pathway training in Northern Ireland Region to bring women into activity in UNISON and to support new activists.

Conference further notes and welcomes the report on the 2002 UNISON membership survey, which confirms that more work needs to be done to improve branch and workplace organisation and build an organising culture.

Conference therefore urges branches, working with regions, to:

a)give greater priority and more resources to improving local organisation and building an organising culture;

b)launch local campaigns to recruit more stewards, including from among those members traditionally under-represented as stewards such as women, part-time workers, black members and young members and encourage and ensure that action is taken to enable disabled members to play an active role as stewards;

c)review their ways of working to ensure that they enable and encourage these members to take up the role of stewards;

d)campaign with the National Executive Council for improved paid release arrangements from their employers; and

e)review the allocation of paid release to stewards as part of branch development and organisation plans.

Conference further urges branches to support and participate in organising our future campaign to build greater commitment to the organising agenda, encourage the sharing of good practice on organising and to develop a common approach to the organising challenge

Conference calls on the National Executive Council to:

i)work with regions and self-organised groups to develop training initiatives to encourage under-represented groups to become stewards;

ii)develop and implement a communications and media strategy to promote the positive role of stewards and their success in securing greater fairness at work;

iii)explore how to improve the support given to stewards as their role changes to meet the demands of members, potential members and the modern world of work;

iv)develop a programme of improving organisation in further education colleges.