- Conference
- 2022 National Retired Members Conference
- Date
- 27 June 2022
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
This Conference acknowledges the substantial financial and other support given by the union for UNISON retired members activity, e.g. Retired Members’ Conference, and its other democratic structures and activities, providing staff resources, etc.
This Conference recognises, however, that the level of support is not consistent across all branches and regions, and that this can lead to some retired members sections beginning to fail or becoming inactive.
This Conference further recognises that such inconsistency can arise from a number of causes, including:
1)some branch retired members groups experiencing a fall in new members because of
outsourcing, etc.
2. the impact a rising age profile can have on participation and activist numbers;
3. rising costs of basic resources e.g. printing, postage, accommodation, refreshments,
travel;
4. failure to properly include retired members’ activity in branch planning and budgeting;
5. increasing pressure from cuts making it harder for our volunteer activist base in some
branches to meet the growing need for support for members.
This Conference calls on the National Retired Members Committee (NRMC) to:
a)conduct a survey across the union of the activities of branch retired members’ sections
and the level of financial and other support from their branches for those activities;
b. submit for debate a report on the findings to National Retired Members Conference
2023, along with any recommendations the NRMC feel appropriate that aim to:
– support branch development and organising planning processes that
effectively include retired members’ sections activities;
– improve efforts to recruit retired members generally, and particularly
amongst those members retiring from outsourced etc. employment;
– increase the support by retired members’ groups of working members’
activity and/or organisation;
– consider ways to improve the consistency across the union of financial and
other resource support for branch retired members’ sections, noting
which matters would need to be raised with the National Executive Council
(NEC);
– assess whether it may be appropriate to make representations to the NEC
on increasing the level of subscription for new retired members.