http://tonypwilson63.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/unison-nec-tries-to-shut-unisongate.html
but here is my report of the rest of the NEC meeting held on 9th December 2015:
The meeting moved to the rest of the business - several NEC members were welcomed back after illness and Best Wishes were sent to former NEC member Max Watson who was also ill. The President also made reference to the serious injury (from which he has now recovered) of John Jones from the North West and WET service group.
A number of obituaries were read out including for Craig Wilde of
North West Ambulance service UNISON branch.
There was a Service Group update given ‘Pay campaign/National industrial action’. It was asked by an NEC
member ‘Did we have a strategy on Pay?’ It was also asked by a number of NEC
members what were we planning to do on pay? and what would be co-ordinated
between Service groups in terms of Industrial Action? This appeared vague from the
written report that had been circulated beforehand. In reply it was stated that
‘smart forms of Industrial action’ i.e. including selective action were being
floated as a point for discussion. There had been a pay summit in the Autumn involving
service group reps, Regional activists and Self organised groups at which this
had been discussed.
John Jones from the North West reported that the Environment
Agency (EA) had got slightly better than the 1% pay increase given elsewhere.
It was hoped that the EA would not be subject to cuts any more than already the
case. The NEC was asked to send a message of support to the workers who had
done sterling work as regards the recent floods.
Forward
planning and Budgets 2016 - In response to this report it was asked by
an NEC member – how much was in the Industrial Action (I.A) fund? And over the
last few months in that NEC members branch there had been an increase in
members who elected to pay into the Affiliated political fund (APF) now increasing
from 25% to 40% of members – was this being reflected nationally?
Another NEC member asked ‘in the budget figures which line is it
where we had spent money on the General Secretary election?’ and if we had to
rerun the General Secretary election where would we find that money? The
President advised the last question would not be answered today. Finance would
be contacted over the other questions and the information hopefully would be available
before the end of the meeting. There was also an Industrial Action committee
after the full NEC at which information would be provided.
Draft
objectives 2016 – A consultation process had taken place across the union which
was a process that takes place every year with the constituent parts of the
union. The key changes this year were the reference to the Trade Union bill and
also direct reference to racism including that suffered by migrant workers and also
to combatting UKIP. The challenge of the Trade Union bill was a priority
objective in every sense.
I stated that it was commendable that the reference to racism and
combatting UKIP had been included in the draft objectives after the outright poisonous
racist comments of Farage of UKIP after the Oldham by election where Labour had
defeated UKIP and we needed to keep our eye on this as this unfolded.
Another NEC member also welcomed this reference and also referred to
the increase in Islamophobia in society at large.
General
Secretary report – Dave Prentis devoted quite a lot of his
report to updating the NEC on the campaign against the Tories Trade Union bill
which was now worming its way through the House of Lords. We had been working
with the TUC. The ballot provisions in the bill in particular were a negation
of democracy. Evidence had been given to a select committee of Parliament by a
number of the General Secretaries and Frances O’Grady of the TUC. UNITE had
surprisingly written to Cameron saying they would accept voting thresholds if
the Tories caved on electronic voting which was very disturbing as no union
should have truck with this disgraceful legislation. Dave Prentis thanked
members for attending the demonstration against austerity and the Trade Union
bill in Manchester on October 4th 2015 at the Tory party conference.
It was hoped the part of the bill removing DOCAS (or ‘check off’) – automatic
deduction of union subscriptions from salary - would be dropped in the Lords. The
2nd reading in the House of Lords was planned for 11th
January 2016. Dave Prentis again stated that we should plan for the worst if
the Tories removed DOCAS and we were putting systems in place for this
eventuality but we didn’t need a knee jerk response. To transfer members to
Direct Debit from DOCAS if we had to do it would be one of the biggest exercises
we had ever undertaken as a union.
There was a week of action against the Trade Union bill 8th
February to 14th February 2016. Information would need to go to
branches before Christmas to give 4 weeks for branches to organise for it. This
week of action had only been decided on the previous day after a debate with
all the Trade Unions. Work would have to be done nationally and from the
Regions.
One of the North West NEC members in relation to the threshold for
Industrial Action ballots stated that if the worst came to the worst and the
change came in to ballot thresholds, branches may want to go early on local
disputes so they did not get to the position whereby if the situation drags on
they did not get to the threshold level on the ballot after the change.
Dave Prentis stated that the Junior Doctors dispute was an
important one over unsocial hours and this would be a big issue for our members
in the NHS. The British Medical Association had never balloted before and they
had sought help from UNISON with regards to this. We would work closely with
Junior Doctors.
Strike action is being undertaken in Further Education colleges in
January against their funding cuts and a message of solidarity was sent from
the NEC.
Reference was also made to the Tory U turn on tax credits and the
part UNISON had played in this where the Government had tried to reduce the
income of some of the lowest paid people in the country. Also referred to was the
hit to Local Government funding. Local Government had lost half of its income
in the previous few years.
A major campaign in the New Year would be against the Tory plan
that student nurses no longer receive bursaries but would have to take out
loans to train. This would not get more people into nursing. There would be a
summit in January 2016 at the UNISON Centre in London of those groups
campaigning on this issue including the Royal College of Midwives and BAOT
(British Association of Occupational Therapists).
On the UK bombing of Syria an anti-war statement was read out and we
were right not to agree with Parliament that this would get us anywhere in
relation to defeating IS/Daesh.
In reference to the recent floods in Cumbria and Lancashire, Roger
Bannister, North West NEC member suggested that as well sending a message of
support to the public service workers who had battled the recent floods, that
we protest to the Government about the cuts in flood defence which meant that
more people would be put at risk from this type of disaster.
In the
recruitment and retention organising report, the loss of state funding for Trade
Union education was raised from the Autumn of 2016. UNISON is reviewing the way
training in the union is undertaken. The Union Learning Fund is also under
threat.
Under Any other Business
- Dave Prentis announced that Karen Jennings, Assistant General Secretary was retiring
and she was congratulated and thanked for all the work she had done for the
union. It was agreed that Roger McKenzie, Assistant General Secretary would
replace her as a UNISON delegate to the TUC General Council.
