- Conference
- 2025 National Retired Members Conference
- Date
- 13 June 2025
- Decision
- Carried
Retired Members Conference shares the widespread horror at the ongoing events in Gaza and the West Bank.
We welcome the comprehensive policy UNISON has developed on Palestine.
We share the hope that a ceasefire will be achieved before our Conference meets in October but the intransigence of the Netanyahu government, whilst they retain the support of key western governments, means this is by non means certain. It is also clear that the aggressive policy of further settlement in the West Bank, and potentially Gaza, is intensifying.
It is of particular concern to retired members that our Pension Funds may continue to have investments in companies that are complicit in providing weapons and military technology to the Israeli Government used in violations of international law, or on the United Nations list of business enterprises involved in or with the illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
We welcome the work UNISON continues to do on BDS, in particular in relation to the LGPS, and the progress that has been made in many branches and regions in progressing this.
We recognise that as part of their fiduciary duty LGPS pension funds must take due notice of the legitimate concerns of fund members as stakeholders, including critically those in receipt of a pension from the funds, and that our Trade Unions are the best placed democratic organisations to represent and express the views of those stakeholders.
We call upon the National Retired Members Committee to continue to work with the NEC to promote UNISON’s policies on BDS within retired members and to encourage and support retired members to actively support BDS campaigns.