MOTION 1: Honoraria
The Branch propose to pay the Treasurer the sum of £1287.90 in respect of the sterling work carried out; ensuring the branch’s finances are up to date and accurate.
Proposer: Branch Committee
Motion 2: Organising outsourced social care workers
Around 30% of Aberdeenshire branch members do not work for the council. In addition, 11,000 workers in Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City’s private and community social care sector are not in a union. These workers are often poorly paid and inadequately supported.
Only a concerted organising effort by UNISON, backed by significant resources, will change this situation. There will rarely be a better opportunity to focus on this, with the Scottish Living Wage for social care workers, the spread of the Ethical Care Charter, increased SSSC registration, and Integrated Joint Boards taking over commissioning.
This AGM resolves to support the proposal for a two-year project to organise workers in “non-core” employers, including:
- Clustering of these members into the branch
- Having a fighting fund organiser using the branch Industrial Action reserve
- Having a caseworker using the dues from these members
- Seeking financial and other support for this project from the region
- Reviewing the project on an annual basis
This AGM agrees this in principle, and devolves the final decision to the branch committee, to be reported to the next AGM.
Proposer: Branch Committee
Motion 3: Budget
Aberdeenshire UNISON is appalled at the budget settlement for Aberdeenshire at a time when the North East of Scotland has seen the biggest downturn in the oil industry and its suppliers.
Unemployment rate in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire has doubled and the growth in the use of food banks is unprecedented.
These cuts to the budget allocation and the implementation of these cuts will further increase the hardship experienced by the people of the North East.
Many people that work for Aberdeenshire Council and other public service providers are the sole earner for their household. With the budget cuts come the risk of cuts for jobs; a terrifying prospect for those who have already faced job losses in their households and this not only for the Council but for those who supply out public services within the third sector.
We have to stand up and say enough is enough. We are paying more and getting less. Austerity does not work.
Cuts to Councils inevitably mean that contracts to third sector providers are also under scrutiny; wanting more for less. These services should not be public service on the cheap. They are as valuable as everything Councils do.
This AGM instructs the branch to work at all levels to fight these cuts by:
- Using the opportunity of the upcoming Local Government Elections to question candidates, to scrutinise manifestos and to promote votes for those candidates and parties that promote no cuts and protecting our valuable well being services
- To campaign locally to protect services and jobs
- To campaign nationally in conjunction with colleague trade unions to protect services
- To campaign throughout Britain to protect services
- To use every means appropriate to get the message across
These are our services, our jobs and they are not for cutting.
Proposer: Branch Committee
Motion 4: More time for communicating at conferences
This AGM recognises that there is a need to allow more time for members with communication difficulties to speak at conference.
For instance if a member is using BSL, has accent difficulty, stammers, or has other speech difficulties we believe that additional time should be approved. This would actively encourage people with any of these difficulties to speak at conferences. By allowing more time it brings them into equality with other members. It also gives the listener an opportunity to absorb the message and allows the speaker additional time to explain.
This AGM calls for a system to be put in place at all UNISON Conferences whereby the member would advise the chair beforehand of their need for additional speaking time and the reasons for it, so that approval of additional time could be given at chair’s discretion. The conference chair would then need to indicate her/his approval to both speaker and conference.
If approved at this AGM, the Branch will take a motion to National Delegate Conference to raise this matter, and call on the NEC to consult with Standing Orders Committee and National Disabled Members Committee and bring back recommendations to next year’s conference. In the meantime, the branch will also call on standing orders committees for all UNISON conferences to use their existing powers to give more flexibility to conference chairs on speaking times.
Proposer: Branch Committee
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