UNISON delegates yesterday agreed a number of rule changes, including two relating to branch finances.
Rule amendment 14 on Rule G, branches, calls on branch committees, as of 1 January 2014, to develop an appropriate annual budget as part of the joint branch assessment process. Branch committees must also maintain records of their financial transactions, assets and liabilities, using the national online branch accounting system (OLBA).
The rule change is one aspect of the union’s two-year branch resources review.
Mike Hayes of the NEC told delegates that 445 branches were already using OLBA, with others undertaking training. He said OLBA was a useful tool for branches, which revolutionizes the way they can account for their finances. “It takes the accounting out of accounting.”
Rule change 15, on Rule H, collection of subscriptions – also a result of the branch resources review – dictates that with effect from 1 January 2014 such sums remitted to branches should be paid into branch accounts in one bank only, namely Unity Trust Bank.
Other rules changes agreed included:
- Amendment 4 to Rule D on composition, which now reads: “Branches failing to submit annual returns in accordance with Rule G.10 shall not be entitled to attend National Delegates conference and service group conferences for the remainder of the financial year following the year to which the financial return applies, unless otherwise determined by the NEC”;
- After a card vote, an ammendment to Rule G on the branch committee was passed, adding two rules. From 1 January 2014, every branch will “maintain records of its financial transactions, assets and liabilities using the national online branch accounting system (OLBA)”, and from the same date, every branch shall “develop an appropriate annual budget as a part of the joint branch assessment process in accordance with the union’s objectives and priorities”;
- Amendments to 2.4 C and 2.6 C on membership criteria for retired and unemployed members;
- An amendment to Rule D on the nature of self-organised groups and their relationship with the union as a whole;
- An amendment to Rule K on qualifications for legal assistance.