NEC Report, meeting held on 6 December 2023
General Secretary Report
The General Secretary raised the situation in Israel-Palestine. There has been an escalation in the violence in Gaza. UNISON policy remains the same, with a call for a ceasefire in our statements and a two-state solution in our policy. She said it was good to see our President speaking at the Palestine solidarity demos.
Regarding the King’s Speech, the General Secretary said tax is ever-increasing, with the tax burden now the highest on record, but there is less and less spending on public services. In N.Ireland there is still no sign of a pay award for our members.
In Scotland, local government have accepted an improved pay offer from the employers. There is a crisis in local government elsewhere, such as Birmingham and Nottingham, where years of Tory austerity is destroying public services.
Health and social care workers: Immigrants applying for visas are under more attacks with the new rules from the Tory government. Many of these workers are getting super exploited and tied to poor private employers.
Minimum Service Levels – the TUC is involved and held a special conference on 8 December to discuss the issue.
Questions and points re Israel/Palestine
We discussed the attacks on Gaza. Over 22,000 people killed in Gaza and over 80% of the population displaced, with attacks on health services, all tell of the massacre in Gaza. We are witnessing some of the “heaviest conventional bombing campaigns in history.”
We need to look at a stronger statement on Gaza, with the Labour Party criticised for not even calling for a ceasefire. We discussed how we can work more closely with other organisations that support the call for a ceasefire. UN investigation of sexual violence is getting no support from the Israeli Government. We should include a call to support anti-war activists in Israeli. Trade unions need to play a more significant role in developing a mass movement to challenge the slaughter in Gaza.
Statement on Palestine strengthened following intervention from NEC members. Read it here: https://www.unison.org.uk/news/2023/12/unison-condemns-the-resumption-of-violence-in-gaza-and-calls-for-an-immediate-ceasefire/
We raised the issue of the Labour Link affiliation to the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM). Some NEC members argued that the JLM supports the policies of the Israeli state, and the affiliation cuts across other policies and statements by UNISON. JLM have been posting on social media, giving the impression that the whole union has affiliated. This needs to be challenged and clarification sought.
Others felt that there should be sanctions available if parts of the union affiliate with organisations that do not support UNISON policy. Another NEC member stated that as the NEC sends 12 elected representatives to the National Labour Link Committee, they should be accountable to the NEC for their decisions there or at least report back on them.
There should be a call to branches to give donations to MAP and PSC, and encourage members to get more involved in the demos, taking their branch banners, etc. It is important that the leadership of the union increases their profile at the solidarity demonstrations. More pressure needs to be created by Labour Link members to force the Labour Party to change its position on a ceasefire.
The chair of the International Committee reported a £5,000 donation to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign had been made.
Questions on part two of general secretary report
We discussed how school staff’s ability to strike will be attacked by the minimum service levels bill. The Ash Field Academy strike has shown how effective strikes can be, and this ability to take strike action is under threat. Matt Wrack from the FBU is calling for opposition and defiance of the bill. Will UNISON do the same? There was a call for a more robust position of defiance against the attacks.
We also discussed the high number of motions at conferences that are ruled out of order, given the experience recently at Young Members conference at which much frustration was reported. Over 70% of motions were ruled out of order at the Young Member and LGBT+ Member conferences. There is something wrong to produce these results and we need to have a clearer rationale for these decisions from Standing Orders Committee.
We had a good discussion on the need to be bolder in our support for Trans rights, with the Labour Party less vocal on the issue, especially with the Tories likely to increase their rhetoric during a general election campaign.
Presidential Team report
The President, Libby Nolan, discussed the conferences that she had attended. At the LGBT+ conference there was a lot of discussion on supporting the Trans community that is under attack. She has received a lot of anti-Trans social media posts. UNISON’s Trans Ally Training has been a real success and needs building upon. She also mentioned that the President`s charity, Swansea Asylum Seekers Service, continues to need our support.
Questions and points: In the discussion we agreed that the union needs to be stronger in its opposition to transphobia, especially in our relationship with the Labour Party. We discussed the ongoing industrial action of the HCAs in Wirral and Warrington, with a need to increase our focus on the Tory anti-trade union laws.
Organising Update
Andrea Egan as chair of the Development & Organisation Committee reported on membership, with a net increase so far this year of 9,346 from 1st January 2023 to 26th November 2023. The health sector has been losing members, even though branches taking industrial action over re-banding have increased membership. There has been a 40% increase in activists recruited since last year. The numbers of members leaving also remains high, and joiners exceeded 200,000 in one year for the first time in UNISON’s history.
Every service group has reported 5 consecutive months of growth. A detailed cost/benefit analysis of the union’s organising activity would be reported at a future meeting.
Questions and points: In the discussion, we heard that Scotland has recruited over 10,000 new members this year, on the back of industrial action, and membership in Wales has also increased. All these figures are offset by the number of members leaving the union, but we have a small net increase overall.
Service Group Pay Campaigns
The report highlighted the ongoing issues with the Northern Ireland Health pay campaign. In the NHS, the Put Our Pay Right Campaign, is getting organised, and the NJC claim for next year will be 10% or £3,000. In Scotland FE action continues on pay. The discussions with the Government on DOCAS have been unhelpful.
Questions and points: We discussed that industrial action remains a key tool in campaigns, and really helps with recruitment. It is important to learn lessons from these campaigns, and increase work on getting better results in ballots, with a focus on how to get higher turnouts and results. The union has the resources and ability to win ballots, but there has to be a determined and serious effort to focus on this issue. This work needs to be overviewed by the NEC.
Industrial Action Committee
Mark Fisher reported as chair. It has been a busy year, with more members demanding to take industrial action and fight for a better wage. The increase in strike pay to £50 and on occasion in request up to £70 has helped.
Questions and points: We discussed the victory at Ash Field Academy, where some of the low paid workers won a 25% pay increase. We discussed how this campaign has a lot of the key lessons for a successful campaign on pay, and we should consider inviting a striker from the campaign to speak at National Delegate Conference.
Finance Update
Dan Sartin as chair of the Finance Committee introduced the Management Accounts for the first 10 months to October 2023 and presented the UNISON Budget for 2024. Some of the ‘invest to save’ initiatives of the union which had been developed in the last two years were discussed in response to an NEC member’s question. Both the management accounts and the budget were approved by the NEC. The Budget for 2024 was approved by 55 votes for, 0 against, and 1 abstention.