https://www.unitetheunion.org/campaigns/defend-the-winter-fuel-payment
Retired members
Unite Policy Conference 2021 – day five
Below is an update on Friday’s business – the final day of #UPC2021. Conference discussed the Executive Council report and Unite’s accounts, plus motions on Pensions & Retirement, Political & Labour Party, Union Administration & Membership Services. Key conference documents and updates from previous days were posted previously (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday).
Executive Report & Accounts
They were endorsed.
Pensions & Retirement
Emergency Motion #1 State Pension – Triple Lock (text below) – agreed
Composite 12 (motions 88+A, 89) State Pension – agreed
Motion 86 State Pension – agreed
Motion 85 State Pension – agreed
Composite 13 (motions 91, 128) Dignity for Older People – agreed
Motion 87 Pension Protection Fund – agreed
Motion 90+A National Pensioners’ Convention – agreed
Motion 132 Retirement & Pensions Education – agreed
Motion 133 Retirement & Pensions Education – agreed
Political & Labour Party
Composite 14 (motions 92, 93, 95) Preferential Voting – agreed
This was a contested debate, but the Composite, opposing First Past The Post, passed by about 2 to 1.
Composite 15 (motions 96, 97) Clause IV – agreed
Union Administration & Membership Services
Motion 142 Branch ICT – remitted
Motion 143 Trade Union Councils – agreed
Motion 131 Transport from Heathrow – agreed
Emergency Motion #3 Housekeeping and Hospitality and Unite’s use of hotels (see below for text) – agreed
Emergency Motion #1: State Pension – Triple Lock
Introduced in 2011 by the coalition government, the triple lock guarantees that the basic state pension will rise by a minimum of either 2.5%, the rate of inflation or average earnings growth, whichever is largest.
Despite a clear manifesto commitment from the Tories to honour the Pension Triple Lock, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has now stated that the triple lock will not the honoured this year and that changes will be made to how pension increases will be calculated.
The excuses and rational for reneging on the manifesto commitment, is the anticipated rise in average earnings as worker move form furlough to full wages. The Bank of England estimates this will equate to an 8% rise in average earnings.
Already the rhetoric of unfairness is in the media and it’s that unfairness card that the Tories will play to justify breaking away from the Pension Triple Lock manifesto commitment. It feeds into the already false narrative that pensioners in the UK are well off and are better off at the expense of tax payers and to the detriment of the younger generation.
This unfairness narrative fuels division and allows the government to abdicate responsibility for delivering for all sectors, whether young or old, working or not working. The reality is that compared with many of our pensioner counterparts in Europe, our pension level is low and many pensioners in the UK live in poverty. Since the pension triple lock was introduced in 2012, the highest rise has been 5% with most annual increases being around 2.5%. Conference calls on the Executive Council to mount a vigorous campaign to protect the Pension Triple Lock and ensure that it is restored at the earliest opportunity and to work alongside the NPC, SPF (Scottish Pensioners Forum), TUC, Labour Party and to mobilise support for the campaign across all sectors of the union.
Emergency Motion #3: Housekeeping and Hospitality and Unite’s use of hotels
Conference notes that hotels used by delegates during Policy Conference have a policy of not offering daily housekeeping, guests are required to opt in.
Conference calls on the Executive Council to ensure that all future block bookings made for Unite will require the hotel to provide daily housekeeping.
Conference also demands that housekeeping is provided on a daily basis at all Unite hospitality premises.
Conference calls on Unite to campaign against this threat to hotel housekeepers’ livelihoods and occupational health and safety by:
- informing sister organisations of this threat to hotel housekeepers’ livelihoods and asking them to adopt policies of requiring hotels they use for events to provide daily housekeeping
- raising public awareness, scientific evidence shows that cleaning hotel rooms yields similar public health benefits as cleaning other parts of the hotel
- campaigning for decent working conditions and collective agreements in hospitality.
Unite Policy Conference – day two
Tuesday of UPC2021 was dominated by a presentation and Q&A session with Sharon Graham, the new General Secretary. Conference also discussed motions on Economy & Industry, and Covid-19 and the Coronavirus crisis. Most of the key documents were published here. The texts of Composite motions are here and the accounts are here.
Sharon Graham’s presentation
There’s a copy of Sharon Graham’s presentation here.
Economy & Industry
Motion 16 Working Time – agreed
Motion 17 Modern Industrial Nation – agreed
Motion 18+A Trade Union Facility Time – agreed
Motion 19 Employment Charter – agreed
(Amendment fell – no mover)
Motion 20 Road from Casualisation – agreed
Motion 21 Fair Tips – agreed
Covid-19 and the Coronavirus crisis
Motion 145 A New Deal in the Post Covid World – agreed
Motion 150 A New Deal in the Post Covid World – agreed
Motion 151 A New Deal in the Post Covid World – remitted
Motion 152 A New Deal in the Post Covid World – agreed
Composite 21 (motions 146, 147) Organising Post Covid – agreed
Motion 162 Organising Post Covid – agreed
Composite 22 (motions 147, 153, 155) Covid-19 Sick Pay and Support – agreed
Composite 23 (motions 149, 156) Covid-19 and Mental Health – agreed
Composite 24 (motions 157, 158, 159) Covid-19 and Equalities – agreed
Motion 160 Covid-19 and Equalities – agreed
Motion 144 New Ways of Communicating / Meeting – agreed
Your chance to democratise Unite and raise participation
Though not a subject of hot debate amongst most members, Unite’s rulebook has a big influence over how the union operates, including how decisions are taken, who takes them, and when. The rulebook shapes the democracy and participation which are vital to union strength. In 2019 a Rules Conference, which only happens every four years, gives you an opportunity to change the rules and strengthen our union. The conference is 24-28 June, but the deadline for proposals is 1 March.
Every Unite branch and constitutional committee (so that includes sector committees, equality committees, area activists and regional committees and retired members’ committees) can submit one rule amendment on this form by 1 March 2019 so you need to get proposals drafted and in to your branch or committee soon. Branches don’t send delegates to Rules Conference, they come from constitutional committees, who may elect them at the same meeting where rule amendments are decided. Conference itself takes place 24-28 June in Brighton.
Unite Rank & File campaigns to reform and reinvigorate Unite’s democratic structures to promote a bottom-up culture where members participate, challenge discrimination and are in control. Some ideas for rule amendments are in the report from our recent national meeting.
If you are thinking of putting in a rule amendment, or standing as a delegate to Rules Conference, why not get in touch so activists can work together?
Act now to avoid exclusion from Unite structures for three years
Most of Unite’s structures run on a three-year cycle. Elections for workplace reps and branch officers should now be complete. But unless you act now you could be excluded from the rest of the union’s structures for the next three years.
Between 14 May and 1 June 2018 conferences will be taking place in every region to elect Regional Industrial Sector Committees (RISCs), Regional Equality Committees (REqCs), Area Activists Committees (AACs) and Regional Labour Party Liaison Committees (RLPLCs). This is a crucial step – these committees then elect people onto nearly all the other structures including National Industrial Sector Committees (NISCs), National Equality Committees (NEqCs), Regional Committees (RCs) and the National Labour Party Liaison Committee (NLPLC). They are also part of the route for election to industrial sector, policy and rules conferences, TUC conference and Labour Party conferences.
So if you don’t get on one of these committees (the RISC is particularly important for working members) you are likely to be excluded from most of Unite’s structures for three years, which can be a significant barrier to finding out what’s going on and having your say.
If you haven’t had an invitation to the conferences you are entitled to attend, you should urgently contact your Unite Regional Office. Note that to attend most of the conferences you must be an “accountable representative of workers” under Rule 6. If you want to stand for any of the committees, you should submit a nomination in advance from a branch of workplace – the relevant form should be provided with your invitation. If you don’t manage to do this, there’s still a significant chance you could stand for election at the conference itself, if (as is all too common) insufficient nominations have been received by the deadline.
It is important that you elect people who are actually going to turn up most of the time. The March 2018 Executive Council (EC) meeting clarified that the quorum for RISCs and AACs is 50% + 1 of those elected, so vacant seats don’t count against you as much as people elected who don’t show up. Vacancies can be filled during the three-year term but you often have to push for this. The EC also decided that if membership of a RISC or AAC should fall below five people, it will be linked with another Committee so that it can continue to function.
It’s normal for the relevant Committee to meet immediately after the Conference that elected it, and to elect its chair and delegates to other parts of the union structure.
More information about Unite Rules and a list of the Conferences and the Constitutional Timetable is available via the links.
Get your motions in for Unite Policy Conference 2018
Unite will be holding its next Policy Conference in Brighton 2-6 July 2018. This is the opportunity for every member to shape our union’s policy. The process is already under way, with branches and committees sending in motions for the conference agenda. If you want to get a motion onto the agenda, you need to act now. Motions have to be agreed by a branch or committee and sent in to Unite HQ no later than 9 February 2018.
Step one is to draft your motion. There are full guidelines here. If you’ve never done it before, don’t be put off, but do ask for help if you need it.
Each branch and each constitutional committee (i.e. Regional & National Industrial Sector Committee; Regional & National Equality Committee, Regional Committee, Area Activist Committee) can submit one motion on any general policy topic (i.e. not about a particular sector and not requiring a change to Unite’s rules). The National Retired Members’ Committee and each Regional Retired Members’ Co-ordinating Committees can also submit one motion each, but these can only be on about matters solely pertaining to members in retirement.
The meetings held round the country before Unite Rank & File launched came up with lots of ideas, including areas where we can campaign to improve union policy. Note that there’s no need to submit motions to restate existing policy – motions should change existing policy or add to it.
Here are some suggestions to get you thinking – feel free to comment with your own ideas or what you’ve already submitted:
Organising / industrial action:
- Disputes unit support, focused on winning, not just legal compliance, for all disputes from an early stage
- Improve support for company and sub-sector combines
- Increasing lay member involvement in organising
- Response to the Trade Union Act 2016
- Review / overhaul Unite education in the light of government funding cuts
- Facility for levies (e.g. for strike funds) by workplace / employer, not just branch – for many members branch doesn’t directly match employer / workplace
- Recruitment and organising of migrant workers and refugees
Democracy / accountability:
- Review of Unite structures to better support members in multi-region employers
- Investigate the role of union officials in blacklisting, and support the Blacklist Support Group
- Policy against officers approaching employers over the heads of reps / branch officers
- Tackle non-functioning branches so members aren’t left without a functioning branch for long periods
- Improve Unite grievance and complaint procedures
- Change General Secretary elections to Single Transferable Vote
- Ban branches passing member data to campaigns or third parties during Unite elections
- Ban Unite employees (other than candidates) from campaigning in Unite elections
- Official videoed hustings for Unite elections
- Limit the General Secretary’s wage
- Facilitation and control of communication with members during union elections
- Require disclosure / control over fundraising and expenditure during union elections
Equality:
- Put equality on the agenda of all branch and constitutional committee meetings
- Make regional women’s and equality officer roles full time (or job share)
- Review equality structures to ensure they are effective in representing each equality group, championing its issues, and promoting participation
- Extend the recommendations from the report on women officers in Unite to all employees
- Improve equality training for lay and full-time officers, reps and members
- Including impact on members without UK citizenship and members working overseas in materials about impact of Brexit on workers’ rights
- Workers’ rights to live and work where they want
- Trans rights and Gender Recognition
Miscellaneous:
- Cuts and privatisation
- Councils implementing cuts
- Diversification from destructive projects to good, socially useful, jobs
- Trump visiting the UK
- Housing after Grenfell
- Automation and Artificial Intelligence
- Brexit
- Labour Party
- Universal Credit