- Conference
- 2006 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 28 February 2006
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference welcomes the 2005 recruitment figures which show that UNISON recruited 162,000 new members with a net gain of 32,000 members. With the exception of 2002, this is the highest number of members recruited in any year since 1994. Conference welcomes the challenging recruitment targets set by the National Executive Council for 2006.
Conference further welcomes the success UNISON has had in encouraging young people to join and that, in 2005, 1 in every 6 new members was aged 26 years or under. This has had the impact of reducing the mean average age of UNISON from 46 in 2002 to 43.8 now.
Conference also notes the recent National Executive Council research looking at the impact of our organising strategy on membership growth, which confirms that branch development and organising plans and techniques, like workplace mapping, active plans to recruit non-members and partnership working with regional organising staff, are essential building blocks of successful branches. The organising approach, which Conference recognises as the most effective method of recruiting non-members, is currently used by just under half of all UNISON branches.
Conference recognises the contribution of “partnership” and “individual servicing” techniques to higher recruitment rates, but acknowledges that the emphasis should continue to be on the organising approach. Branches should however continue to take advantage of employer support for Union membership by recruiting new members at employee induction sessions and using new starters’ lists.
Conference notes that some experienced stewards are not familiar with the organising approach and its advantages to UNISON and therefore welcomes the new refresher-training programme One Step Ahead that equips stewards with the latest organising and recruitment skills to deliver real results in workplace revitalisation and membership growth in line with National Executive Council Objective 1.
Conference recognises the importance of finding an accurate and reliable means of measuring organising performance nationally, by service group, regionally and in branches. Conference acknowledges that union density – measurement of actual against potential membership as a proportion of the workforce – is one such performance indicator and welcomes the establishment of a national project team to evaluate union and UNISON density among all employers that UNISON organises. Conference further notes the importance of obtaining accurate turnover data and welcomes the work being undertaken to identify turnover rates.
Conference further welcomes the Labour Government’s commitment to review the facilities, support and time off available to union representatives and believes there is ample scope to improve the existing arrangements to give union representatives the support, training and tools they require to enhance their already valuable contribution to the development of positive workplace relations and to assist union membership growth.
Conference therefore resolves to call on the government to support the recommendations put forward by the Trades Union Congress in their response to the Department of Trade and Industry review paper; in particular the proposals to assist union representatives who find it impractical to exercise their right to time off because of workloads and to broaden and modernise the current range of union duties to include organising and recruitment and union organisation.
Conference notes that women activists in UNISON often have less facility time than male activists due to the nature of employment and outmoded facility time agreements that do not reflect the changing role of female activism in the 21st Century.
Finally, Conference further notes that over £2 million was held in regional pool balances at the end of 2005 and is available to finance organising activities of branches and regions.
Conference calls on branches to:
1)adopt the organising approach to build and revitalise membership and workplace organisation;
2)use all available means to encourage experienced stewards to attend the One Step Ahead programme, which will rejuvenate and revitalise branch organisation and membership growth;
3)work with the national union density project team to establish accurate and reliable employer density figures;
4)review and revise facility time agreements to take account of the interests of shift workers, part-time workers and self-organised groups;
5)access regional pool funds to finance branch organising campaigns including activist secondments.
Conference calls on the National Executive Council to
a)build on the young member recruitment success story, ensuring the union reaches out to young non-members around organising issues, and to call on all levels of the union to prioritise development of young member activists;
b)set a five-year target for the reductio of the average age of UNISON members, to direct resources to recruitment of young members, and
report annually on progress;
c)review and renew the current materials produced to support branches in
their work with schools, and encourage more branches to get involved in this work.