Engaging retired members

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Conference
2013 National LGBT Conference
Date
2 August 2013
Decision
Carried

Conference recognises that UNISON has many retired members, and these numbers are growing year on year.

Conference believes that retired members bring huge value to self organisation: strengthening our voice and campaigns and retaining the experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) members when they retire. Further, retired members gain from their continued involvement in self organisation.

However conference notes that only a relatively small number of LGBT retired members are currently involved in UNISON LGBT self organisation.

Conference recognises that some regions now have specific LGBT seats on regional retired members committees and a retired members liaison rep on their self organised group committees (SOGs).

Conference further notes the successful and well attended meeting on involving retired members at last year’s national LGBT conference and welcomes the ideas and insights that arose from this meeting.

Conference welcomes the endorsement secured by the National LGBT Committee from the other three national self organised committees, the National Retired Members’ Committee and UNISON’s Equality Liaison Committee for the proposal for a rule change giving the national retired members group the right to send representatives to national SOG conferences, with speaking but not voting rights.

Conference calls on the National LGBT Committee to continue to work with the National Retired Members’ Committee and to:

1. Publicise good practice on involving retired members in branch and regional self organised groups;

2. Encourage regional LGBT self organised groups to engage with their retired members committees and explore joint working, asking LGBT groups to circulate details of their meetings and events to regional retired members’ secretaries;

3. Continue to feature retired members’ stories in Out in UNISON and other publications.