Police Federation Membership Expansion

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Conference
Police Staff Service Group Conference 2005
Date
19 June 2005
Decision
Carried

Conference notes with extreme concern, the announcement at Police Federation Conference 2005 that the Federation has set up a working party to examine pros and cons of taking police staff, with police powers into membership. This could potentially lead to the Federation seeking to recruit PCSOs, detention officers investigating officers and other police staff accredited under the 2002 Police Reform Act. Conference recognises that ultimately it would be the Government that would have to sanction such a change in the Federation’s recruitment opportunities.

Conference also notes that:-

·the majority of PCSOs have joined UNISON

·UNISON has attracted a growing number of committed PCSO activists

··UNISON has begun to roll out an ambitious PCSO organising agenda

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Conference believes that:-

·successful police reform requires stable industrial relations

··neither UNISON, nor any other trades union or staff association, can afford to be played off against each other in a debate about representative constituencies

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··the existing positive working relationship between UNISON and the Police Federation must be maintained

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·However, Conference acknowledges that the threat of incursion by other representative bodies into UNISON’s sphere of influence is a risk which must be properly managed by the union. Conference therefore instructs the Service Group Executive to:-

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··re-double UNISON’s positive organising agenda for PCSOs

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··represent the above concerns of conference to the Police Federation, particularly in the context of the Government’s overall police workforce modernisation programme

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··convey to Ministers, UNISON’s deep concern at any suggestion that the Government might open up areas that UNISON organises in to other representative bodies

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··liaise as necessary with the TUC over spheres of influences

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