- Conference
- 2008 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 20 February 2008
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference reaffirms its decision of 1998, confirming the right to organise, campaign and communicate to change, modify or replace policy through the constitutional channels of the union, while acting within agreed union policy.
Conference reaffirms its view that this right is universal and includes:
1)the right of branches, regions, service groups and self-organised groups to campaign to change policy;
2)the right of branches, regions, service groups and self-organised groups to participate in events which promote the policies of the unions;
3)the right of branches, regions, service groups and self-organised groups to affiliate to external organisations, which have aims and objectives in line with UNISON policies, while accepting that it is not permissible to use members’ subscriptions and branch funds to finance external political organisations other than through the established political funds or to fund organised factions within the union with declared aims and objectives or separate constitutional structures and/or set up to support particular candidates in elections;
4)the right of branches, regions, service groups and self-organised groups as they themselves determine to organise, fund and attend meetings, seminars, conferences and events to campaign and seek to initiate, develop, modify or replace existing policies and rules.
Conference notes the breadth of democratic structures and opportunities in the union involving branch, regional and national conferences, service group structures and the range of self organisation.
Conference welcomes the ‘Democracy in UNISON’ guidelines which place a primacy on working within UNISON’s official structures to initiate, develop or modify the policy of the union. A representative and vibrant democracy accountable to UNISON members is the key to UNISON’s successful development.
Therefore Conference calls upon the National Executive Council, in conjunction with all bodies of the union, to review UNISON’s democratic process with the objective of securing the active involvement of all branches in policy formation, in particular attendance at National Delegate Conference, and to provide a detailed report to Conference in 2009, covering:
a)the impact of devolution and the wider more pluralist political relationships UNISON now has with administrations in the Four Countries, e.g., in the context of the Agenda for Change Agreement;
b)effective partnership working between full-time and lay colleagues in taking forward all the objectives of the union, including bargaining, social partnership, policy development, organisation and recruitment;
c)decision making protocols for the representative bodies in the Union to ensure adequate time for consideration of proposals with constituent parts; informed debate, thus promoting development of clear recommendations to the wider membership on key issues taking account of the right of UNISON members, branches and other appropriate representative bodies to make and campaign within Rule for recommendations in member ballots;
d)creating and maintaining effective relationships within the UK union and its constituent parts.