UNISON’s national delegate conference in less than two weeks needs to be “a uniting conference that signs us up to that big campaign we need to be running after conference and into next year on behalf of our members.”
That was the clear call from today’s national executive council meeting in London, articulated by general secretary Dave Prentis.
The gathering of the union’s leading lay activists identified two key campaigning priorities for the months ahead – both of which need to involve a central focus on recruitment to build the strongest and most effective union possible.
First is mobilising for the TUC March for a Future that Works on 20 October, the NEC agreed. UNISON called for the march, and all parts of the union need to step up to the mark and deliver.
And while the NEC called on the union to pull together and deliver – and make sure the union is active and visible in every workplace – it also stressed that 20 October must be a beginning, not an end.
The key question is what follows on 21 October and the days, weeks and months following.
The second big issue facing the union and our members over the next year or so will be pay, the NEC declared.
“As people move through this year, looking at the fourth and fifth years of a pay freeze, this union needs to generate a campaign across all service groups, all branches, on pay,” said the general secretary.
And he reported that UNISON will hold a pay summit in November, adding: “We have to campaign to break the pay freeze.”
The meeting received an update on planning for the 20 October march and on future plans for the next stages of the union’s Million Voices for Public Services campaign which will link bread-and-butter members’ issues with a wider campaign for public services, with a massive focus on recruitment.
The NEC reviewed the union’s campaigning – through the Labour Link and general political fund – in the run-up to May’s local elections and in particular congratulated local campaigns which had seen electoral defeats for Tory councils which had targeted the union and its activists in places such as Swindon, Birmingham and Barnet, in north London.
The NEC also:
- received on update on the draft order of business and suggested composites for the national delegate conference this month;
- updated its policy on various motions and amendments on the conference agenda;
- was brought up to date on equal pay litigation, including an employment tribunal victory against an attempt to argue that the union was partially liable – and should pay toward compensation – for unequal pay;
- heard the latest recruitment figures, which are down slightly, and agreed plans to assess the impact of resources – including 123 new organisers – put into recruitment and organising through the union’s fighting fund;
- approved the management accounts for the first quarter of this year, as well as the full financial statement for last year, which will go to conference.