- Conference
- 2011 Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 1 December 2010
- Decision
- Carried
Conference supports achieving secure communications for health branches engaging in times of industrial dispute. Activists must be safe in the knowledge that what they are communicating is secure and cannot be easily intercepted.
In these modern times we rely on communication methods that our employing organisations control. As we have seen in recent media investigations organisations such as the press and others can hack into systems, information can then be given to third parties such as Government departments.
Gone are the days when we put pen to paper and trusted our Royal Mail that it would arrive unhampered. Every email we send from work using our employers systems passes through filters that have word and phrase recognition; these filters can be altered and can look for phrases like strike, ballot, dispute and members’ meeting tonight. Health branches working in partnership with employers over the years have not developed separate systems as have some other service groups. Communication is the key to successful industrial action, should it be undertaken our systems have to be safe from outside interference.
We ask Conference to support our motion and commence consultation into methods of communicating and safe systems. Advice needs to be given to branches about what is appropriate and how they should interact with these systems.
We ask that the Service Group Executive engage with experts in this field and offer national guidance on this matter and training if required.