Maureen Le Marinel former president of UNISON is chairing this afternoons session and welcomed everyone back to conference.
Motion “Media Portrayal of Older People” discussions continued and the motion was passed.
Standing order committee have reported back with report seven, two orders have been questioned and are being referenced back to the SOC.
Amendments to rules and schedules were now discussed and the following amendments were brought to conference. You can read more about the rule amendments in the conference document below…
Rule C – “Becoming a member” this adds an amendment that ensures that membership with the union commences as soon as details are submitted online when joining. this amendment was approved.
Rule M – “Data Protection Act Policy” this amendment asked for reference to the Data Protection Officer, and that referral to the Data Protection Officer must be made for a data protection request. This was approved.
Rule D – “Structure of the Union at National Level” this amendment allows for two young members to be elected on to the NEC (National Executive Council). this amendment was approved.
Now we return to discussions on Motions and the first one is “EU Exit – Protecting the Northern Ireland Peace Process” speakers on this motion gave emotional accounts of the current situation in Northern Ireland. this motion was carried.
“The Great Repeal Bill – Protecting Devolution” was next motion to be discussed more detail of this can be read in the conference document above. This motion was passed without the amendment 74.2 was lost.
The next motion “Exiting the EU – A Fair Deal for Workers and Public Services” this was debated in depth with five amendments put forward. there were cases for and against these amendments and lengthy discussions were held. This amendment was passed with all amendments.
Discussions now take place on Composite F “EU Exit and Workers’ Rights”, this contains a collection of motions to be considered together. you can read this here….
This Composite was passed.
Now discussions continue to discuss Motion “Immigration and the effects of the EU Referendum and the Brexit Vote” this had personal accounts on the issues that maybe faced. You can read this in more detail by looking at the conference document above. This motion was passed.
Composite B – Pensions and Climate Change – more details of this can be read in the composite booklet above, this composite was carried.
This concludes todays conference and we will see Jeremy Corbyn Leader of the Labour Party addressing conference tomorrow so stay tuned for an update on his speech and the last day of conference tomorrow.
Now we receive a special message from Sonia Howard, Branch Secretary from Kensington and Chelsea Local Government Branch, she speaks of the Grenfell Tower Tragedy and how hard her members have worked tirelessly to support the victims and pays tribute to all those that have donated and sent messages of support and solidarity to the branch. this leads in to the discussion of the next motion “Why we need to build a new housing consensus for affordable and decent homes for all”. There are many accounts showing how important social housing is for those suffering domestic violence, those on low income, those in debt due to high university costs, higher rent prices, and damage that the right to buy scheme has had on social housing. To read more about this motion and its amendments please see the above conference guide. This motion was carried with all amendments.
Wendy Nichols former President of UNISON chairing this mornings session welcomed all to conference and informed everyone of housekeeping rules and the levels of security for the conference.
Stephen Lewis – CDo-Director of AIDS Free World is the guest speaker before a discussion on the motion “Child marriage is child labour”.