Based on the 22 years experience and exposure at senior lay officer positions within the best union in the country I would say the following reforms and changes would be of great benefit and are long over due.
1. Branches must adopt at local level same principles re proportionality and fair representation when electing officers.
2. The question of one member one vote should be imported by branches (long term aim)
3. National union should do more online and reduce costs in the centre transferring resources to branches and front line services where members need it more.
4. Find a way to reallocate budgets. Branches currently receive up to 23% of what they collect locally the rest goes to national. This must be changed and local branches should get at least 60% of what they collect.
5. Savings can be found by reducing admin costs locally and centralising admin support which would involve taking locally employed staff centrally.
6. I am aware of many branches that have been unable to manage their budgets correctly and in a prudent way. Managing budgets more effectively will improve 'service delivery' and maximise confidence. More should be done to support branches with their finances.
7. Recruitment of members must be a priority but the allocation of new members needs to be done in a more sensible way so that members from smaller employers are placed in one unified branch.
Good suggestions but why don't you add election of regional officials to your list? If Unison wishes to appear more democratic then Regional Secretaries must also be elected the same way as the General Secretary is? Why are they afraid of this change?
ReplyDeleteAny comment on the Bromley saga? Just remember your Branch could be next! And to be honest its about time they dealt with Lambeth Unison.
ReplyDeleteAnon at 18.52
ReplyDeleteYes. I forgot to add that one but elected every 5 years or so which will allow for long term planning. Yes that should be on the list. Cheers
Anon at 23.52
ReplyDeleteI am still trying to get details from both sides to find out what happened. In broad terms I would imagine that the sanction or action is over the top. And I am fully aware of how the Lambeth Branch is seen by HQ I have done everything I could to avoid us getting in that position. The idea of placing Lambeth Unison under 'supervision' has been floating around. I am against that drastic move.