Recruitment of Retired Members

Conference notes that regions and branches monitor their membership figures for working members on a regular basis in order to inform an ongoing recruitment campaign. However, there is no such process in place for retired members. Conference therefore calls on the National Retired Members’ Committee to: 1)carry out an audit of the total number of […]

The Rise of Fascism

Conference recognises that many retired members will know from their own personal experience the dangers of fascism. Conference notes that the British National Party (BNP) is organising in the West Midlands, East London and in other areas across the country in an attempt to have at least one BNP candidate elected at the next General […]

Standing Order 3 – Speaking

At the end of paragraph 3.1 add new sentence: “Any member of a regional Retired Members’ Committee attending the conference as a regional or branch delegate may be appointed by their regional Retired Members’ Committee to move a motion or amendment submitted by that regional Retired Members’ Committee.”

FACILITY TIME

This conference is aware that motions to previous conferences, namely Motion 5 at the Police Staff Service Group Conference in 2001 and Motion 16 at the Police Staff Service Group Conference in 2005 have raised this issue. Both of these motions raised concerns over the increasing demands placed upon branch officers and those UNISON activists […]

Role of Retired Members in UNISON

Conference recognises the different role and contribution of retired members to their working counterparts and accepts that their involvement in UNISON is more limited. However, Conference believes that many retired members still have much to offer the union and that their preclusion from almost all aspects of its work is not necessarily in UNISON’s best […]

Adult Learning

Conference condemns the decision to remove the entitlement to concessions for pensioners attending day and evening classes other than for those in receipt of pensions credit. For many decades all pensioners could access day and evening classes either free or at a nominal cost. This allowed many people who had not previously had access to […]

Increase in the Basic State Pension and Restoration of the Link

Conference regrets that in his March 2007 budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, again failed to increase the basic state pension to restore its value if the link to average earnings had not been broken by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Government. Pensioners should have an immediate rise now to restore the pension value and […]

Challenging Racism: Challenging Islamaphobia

1.add additional final Para before “Conference asks” to read “The series of comments by MP’s such as Jack Straw and Phil Woolas on the nijab and Muslims gave a green light to media to initiate a vitriolic campaign against the Muslim community which led to racist attacks, 2.Point 2 – after the words “National Assembly […]

The Aquittal of BNP Leaders

The National Black Members’ Conference is disappointed by the decision of Leeds Crown Court to acquit Nick Griffin and Mark Collett on charges of incitement to racial hatred on 11 November 2006. Attacking Muslims and Islam in the way that the British National Party (BNP) does is racist and whips up hostility towards Muslims and […]

Black women members participation as Trade Union activists

Conference notes that recent trade union conferences have acknowledged that a working woman’s place is in her union and that UNISON should be committed to supporting those women who want to play an active part in trade union work. The North West Region has been working with Liverpool University and the Northern Ireland Region in […]

Black members’ Training schools for Black workers

Conference notes that we need to provide better access to Black members for a range of training but especially in relation to raising their political awareness. Many of the delegates to our National Black Members Conference have had limited if any opportunity to engage in political debate in terms of race; we don’t seem to […]

Katrina clear up probe

Conference notes that Cable News Network (CNN) news reported in May 2006 that almost $17m is being withheld by the state of Mississippi while authorities probe a ‘multitude of discrepancies’ in invoices that contractors submitted for the removal of debris from Hurricane Katrina. The state was forced to stop making payments in late April to […]

Opposing all slavery in the 21st centuary

Conference notes recent British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) news reports on the growing number of child brides across the world, and the growth in abduction of children from their homes, as well as the problem of families ‘selling’ children to unscrupulous businessmen. It is clear that international laws are being ignored in some countries as they […]

No place for a Black child – child detentions

Conference notes the issue of immigration and asylum management is becoming even more of an issue for vulnerable children. As Black people we are disproportionately affected by all of the aspects of the ‘race’ motivated government approach to immigration and asylum. These children have committed no crime but are held behind locked doors and high […]

Health checks for Black workers and members

Conference notes there is a worrying increase in chronic health needs amongst Black workers across all our workplaces. Branches could quite easily provide access to health checks e.g. diabetes, blood pressure, sickle cell/thalassaemia and cholesterol levels at branch committee and Annual General Meetings (AGMs) to Black members. Conference believes this could also be a positive […]