Motion 106

Motion 106 on the agenda for UNISON National Delegate Conference, which takes place in Glasgow from Tuesday 16 to Friday 19 June 2015, is the only motion Conference can debate on branch funding.

This is what it says;

Conference notes that a review of branch funding in UNISON has been ongoing since 2011. Conference accepts that branch funding is a complex and controversial topic. However we believe that it is self-evident that, in the years since the current branch funding regime was adopted at National Delegate Conference 2001 there have been substantial changes in the environment in which UNISON operates, and that these have generally increased demands at branch level.

The key changes include;
• Reduced significance of national collective bargaining with an increase in local bargaining;
• The fragmentation of public services leading to almost all branches becoming multi-employer branches;
• Devolution of administrative processes within the Union to branches (e.g. the RMS).

In the opinion of Conference it is clear that there is a general need to devolve UNISON resources to the level at which they can best assist the Union to meet the interests of our members. Conference calls on the NEC to continue with the review of branch resources and report back to conference in 2016 and in so doing to recognise that significant devolution of the Union’s resources to its branches is required. In particular, Conference anticipates that the overall proportion of the Union’s resources allocated to branches will increase significantly over time under a future branch funding regime.