|
Pensions, public services and the threat of privatisation, and a new campaign to strengthen the union are among the major issues at UNISON's national conference this week.
Three thousand delegates including 6 from Herts County Branch are attending our national conference in Bournemouth. UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis called the event "our key democratic forum, which will define our policies and objectives for the coming year".
Dave Prentis said that the outcome of the debates would interest a wide audience, not just UNISON members, but government, employers and private contractors. "We have a full agenda looking at issues as diverse as our members own pay and conditions, to what happens to sisters and brothers in trade unions across the world to nuclear power" he said.
"We meet as a strong, healthy union, continuing to grow and recruit because we remain relevant to members".
Conference will see the launch of Challenge X, a recruitment drive taking UNISON membership to 1.5million members by 2007 and two million by 2010. On public services, motions address a variety of quality and funding issues that affect the NHS, local authority services, social care, housing and pensions.
In its public services motion. the NEC makes a number of recommendations on funding, closing the income equally gap and the gender pay gap, ending child poverty and fuel poverty and securing a decent final salary pension provision.
Not surprisingly, a whole section of debate will be given over to the issue of pensions, across the board. The NEC's motion 35 on pensions calls on the union to:
- Support service groups in talks on the future of public sector schemes
- Work to ensure that more UNISON members join the public sector pension schemes
- Campaign for a more generous state pension scheme that restores the link with earnings and is fairer to women but does not involve an increase in the state pension age.
- campaign for legal protections to prevent employers from unilerally cutting final salary schemes.
UNISON's work within the international trade union community is also represented in Bournemouth. Among the overseas delegates will be those from the Palestinian PGFTU and the Irraeli Histadrut, to whom conference will give the opportunity to further their co-operation and try to build bridges across the political divide in the region.
Dave Prentis thanked in advance the delegates giving up their time to attend conference, just one way in which they look after the union's members. "Our reputation and success depends on the dedication and hard work of our activists" he said.
|
