- Conference
- 2015 National LGBT Conference
- Date
- 1 June 2015
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that each UNISON Branch is entitled to send 10 Delegates to Conference. Conference further notes that this lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) conference is unable to send sharer delegates to our conference?
This branch believes that this restricts participation in our self-organised group. This is due to that fact that every delegation’s 4th delegate must be low paid and every 5th delegate must be a young member, if branches cannot fill these seats then the branch cannot send any more than 3 delegates who would be able to participate on the floor of conference but would be able to send visitors who cannot participate on conference floor. Whilst this branch fully agrees that there should be seats for our low paid and young members in every delegation to the unions conferences this is sometimes difficult to achieve if they do not have LGBT members within the branch who wish to participate. Yet the branch may have members who wish to participate and become active who do not meet this criteria.
Branches encourage participation and all work very hard to achieve this, if branches were able to send a sharer delegate as per the union’s national delegate conference and service group conferences then they would be able to send delegates who would then get the experience of participating on conference floor, this branch believes that this would further encourage our LGBT members to become active not just in the branch but in our union as a whole, therefore meeting one of our unions main objectives.
This branch further notes that there is no provision within this conference’s standing orders in respect of including sharers or within the union’s national rule book in respect of self organised groups’ conferences for the make-up of a delegation to its conference, to make submission to amend either the standing orders for this conference or national rules.
We therefore request that the national LGBT committee to:
1. Liaise with the relevant sections of the union and the appropriate UNISON officers in order to seek the inclusion of sharers as part of a branch delegation in time for the requirement to submit delegates for LGBT conference 2016.