Strengthening self-organisation in police and justice branches

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Conference
2013 Police & Justice Conference
Date
11 June 2013
Decision
Carried

Conference notes the National Executive Council review on strengthening self-organisation, which reported to national delegate conference this summer after two years work. The review confirmed that self-organisation can revitalise union membership and organisation by providing ways for under-represented groups of members to get involved. The review also stressed the importance of integrating equality issues and responsibilities into the wider union. It acknowledged that it is rare for branches to have four functioning self-organised groups and encouraged branches to have a plan of action to strengthen self-organisation in their branch.

Conference believes that the findings of the review are relevant for police and justice branches. Conference notes that a number of our leading police and justice activists started out in self-organisation.

The barriers to participation include the history of discrimination; fear of being identified or pigeon holed; and the lack of access to facility time: all issues for our service group.

Conference calls on the police and justice service group executive to encourage and support branches within the service group to set action plans on strengthening self-organisation and encouraging members to get involved. This could include sharing examples of good practice on setting up branch groups and ways to access facility time for equality work.