Walking along Bournemouth Beach

Last weekend Gill and I were in Bournemouth and the weather Gods were kind to us as we walked from the Pier to Boscombe, then as far as Port Man Ravine, before turning back. A little windy but largely blue skies and sunshine. The surfers were out in force chasing the waves, we passed the oldest Council built beach hut in the UK and enjoyed the winter peace and solitude. 

We did a figure of 8 walking route' alternating between the beach and the cliffs, there and back. My Zepp Life app recorded 10.48 miles (it is a little basic and I think it over estimates distance).Good training anyway for my 26 mile homeless charity walk in January. 

Check out further photos in my walking Facebook page. 
 

UNISON Community Conference 2023 - Day 2

I posted on Day 1 here on the UNISON annual Seminar/conference for Community (Housing Association & Voluntary sector workers). Which went pretty well. 

Denise and I started the 2nd day leafleting delegates as they arrived for conference and chatting to them about us standing in the forthcoming UNISON NEC elections. 

Supporters of our opponents were there, handing out leaflets, which is fair enough, however they were being supplemented by local non UNISON members, selling ultra left papers and some (not all) were being typically aggressive and intimidating. Water off a duck's back to me. 

I welcomed the opportunity to explain to delegates why I walked out of conference last year due to the NECs imposturer President being there.  https://www.johnslabourblog.org/2022/03/why-we-walked-out-of-unison-community.html

Check out my account of the day based on my twitter feed below:-

Conference opened with a welcome speech by our Chair followed by standing orders report (some very nice words and gift of flowers to long serving @unisontheunion staff who are retiring). Next, our
@UNISONCommVol annual report was accepted.

Then motions & amendments. Powerful arguments & sharing of personal experiences- Young Members, fire & rehire. Sick pay in Social care & levels of sick pay.

My Greater London Vol org branch colleague @jcreed551 moves his branch motion on the outrage that many low paid workers are being charged for their own #DBS checks!

Motion 7: Championing a real #livingwage for Community. This motion had a bumper of great speakers - low paid workers telling it as it is...especially Denise Thomas my NEC running mate.

More imp motions & debates on social care, charity sector pay, women in community, staff crisis, survival of LGBT+ services, regional development and legacy of year #disabled worker.

There was a standing ovation for our long standing, Cymru Wales, NEC member, Sian Stockham, a low paid care worker, on the announcement she had been awarded an OBE. 

Conference is now over. At station with my branch and employer colleague @JoeOgundemuren. It was great to hear so many young members from London and elsewhere speaking & participating in our
@unisontheunion democracy. 

There was some great debates but disappointing that a small number of speakers chose to spend all their time attacking the Labour Party rather than the Tories. Then they all finished their speeches calling for unity? Shows their priorities I suppose. 

UNISON Community Seminar/Conference 2023 - Day 1

 

UNISON holds an annual Seminar and Conference for members who work in our Community Service Group (Housing Associations and voluntary sector).  This year it was held in Bournemouth. Unexpectedly I stepped in to chair a workshop on pensions due to illness.  Once again I will use my twitter feed to report on the day. 

At @unisontheunion @UNISONCommVol annual conference in sunny Bournemouth. Started 9am with meeting of Service Group Executive. Now #HousingAssociation sector meeting addressed by @CityHallLabour @Semakaleng

Our speaker @Semakaleng is Chair of @LondonAssembly #Housing committee & @CityHallLabour spokesperson. I asked for appropriate support for our campaigns against pay cuts, breaking #pension promises & trade union victimisation. Sem is willing to listen & work with us

After @Semakaleng we had a roundtable feedback from Housing Associations @UNISONCommVol members from all over the UK. Common themes were Cost of Living, pay cuts (below inflation offers), breaking #pension promises, bullying, discrimination, stress, workload but some positives. I made a suggestion about a new campaign to improve Housing Association Governance and accountability.

After lunch the @UNISONCommVol annual seminar kicks off with welcome from our Chair Malcolm Gray (long lost cousin) & speech/Q &A from @unisontheunion regional secretary Clare Williams. The actual #unisoncomm23 conference starts tomorrow

Next Nye Cominetti from @resfoundation on report "who cares" "exp of social care workers & the enforcement of employment rights in sector" clearly care workers are being unlawfully under paid by not properly inc travel time. #ucommunity23 @UNISONCommVol @GavinEdwards77

Final presentation by @organiserjo the @unisonglr regional secretary on "organising & recruitment strategy development project". We need to build on our strengths. While we need to acknowledge our weakness we should not beat ourselves up. Need to learn & evaluate.

After break I will be leading a #ucommunity23 workshop on "Find out what is happening to your pension & how to organise to improve it". @unisontheunion pension guru, Glyn Jenkins is not well. 4.20pm at Meyrick suite. Finish 5.20pm. All welcome but register beforehand at conference desk

Chatting to delegates outside #UCommunity23 with @DeniseT25475880. Both of us are standing for
@UNISONCommVol NEC seats. Many thanks for the support we have received so far from so many branches. Ballot papers drop 17/4/23. Any delegates who want to speak to us are very welcome

After a meeting of all London delegates there was a Conference social. Afterwards we went for a #UCommunity23 @unisonglr delegation meal with great comrades @JoeOgundemuren
@MarcelaBenede10 @CllrLolaOyewusi @rachangeli @TLJM44 @jcreed551

UNISON Women's Conference 2023: Denise Thomas report

Guest post by Denise Thomas.

"I attended Women’s Conference as a delegate from Cymru Wales, Ymlaen/Forward Branch.

This year it was held in the wonderful seaside resort of Bournemouth. Firstly, it was great to see so many friendly faces as this was the first face to face Women's conference since Covid.

Conference held a minute silence to remember Brianna Ghey and other Transgender people who died at the hands of violence

There were many interesting motions and great speakers on Cost of living, sexual abuse, industrial action and mental health amongst young workers. These were all motions that resonated with me, working as a Black support worker for a national charity supporting vulnerable residents, who live in a 24/7 residential project.

Our General Secretary, Christina McAnea gave a great speech to conference, which was well received, explaining how Women are at the forefront of so many of our disputes and campaigns, fighting for fair pay and for the future of our public services. Women are empowering women to not give up with the challenges we are facing.

Labour Bridget Phillipson, Shadow Secretary of State for Education addressed conference about the importance of childcare and education in Labours plans to form the next UK government. Many exciting ideas and plans.

Attending the Community Service group meeting, which continues to struggle and still experiencing the same issues, lack of pay due to the lack of local government funding, lone working, shortage of staff plus recruitment due to low pay, facility time plus the difficulties of organising due to the workforce being so fragmented.

With the cost of living continuing to rise, members are having to work extra hours or having to take on a second job in order to just survive.

Conference congratulated Sian Stockham, Unison Member for National Executive Council, on receiving an OBE for her Political and Public Services".

Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) Annual Conference 2022: Day 1

 

Last week I went to the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) Annual 3 day Conference in Bournemouth. I have been one of the Joint Vice Chairs for the past 3 years and an active participant in LAPFF both as a trade union pension rep and a Councillor for many years. 

LAPFF is the leading voice for Local Authority Pension Funds in the UK and its members assets exceed £350 Billion.  

There were Councillors, Council officers, trade union reps, fund managers, advisors and guest speakers from all over the UK and even the world. Some joined virtually while most were present in person. 

On day one, the Chair of LAPFF, Cllr McMurdo, formally opened conference and the first presentation was by a representative of  French energy giant Total on its recent (welcome) withdrawal from  Myanmar. 

The conference is held under what is called "Chatham House" rules which means that you should not repeat what is said without the permission of the speaker. I have reached out to the speaker since I am genuinely interested on the reasons why Total did not decide to pull out in the past (also see picture in collage) during previous horrible military dictatorships and repression. It would be good to understand why now and what actually changed their mind?

Next was a powerful presentation on the recent visit to Brazil by LAPFF to the local communities who had suffered grave loss of life and devastation following the apparently negligent collapse of  the so called Tailings Dams. 

There was a virtual video with a community leader from Brazil (name withheld due to fears for their safety) and from a concerned Brazilian investor. The Chair of Vale (the 5th largest Mining Company in the world) actually came in person to conference and also spoke to us. 

It is more than a pity that some large mining companies have failed to engage with LAPFF on this very important matter. 

"Engaging for Change" - Local Authority Pension Fund Forum Conference 2021

 

On Wednesday I arrived in Bournemouth for our annual conference (which was cancelled last year due to Covid-19) looking forward to the next 3 days of pretty non stop pension and investment debates, sharing of ideas and presentations #nirvana. 

LAPFF webinar highlights video 2020 Dec 2-4

Check out highlights of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum virtual conference for 2020 (only 1 minute 40 secs). Despite the challenges of online webinars there was a number of excellent speakers and lively panel debates. 

Check out some provocative statements from different speakers on varied subjects such as "the only bank willing to do business with Donald Trump...ending up with heroin in a vending machine...everyone wants to talk about achieving Net Zero but not about the social consequences...Covid is a signal that we are not managing the planet...companies are not publishing the Covid deaths of their workers since it is "not a very nice statistic"...Covid has made us realise how reliant we are on workers who are not well paid"

Lets look forward to the possibility of attending a physical conference next year in lovely Bournemouth. 

I will post a LAPFF report on the conference later including the session I moderated on Workforce engagement with representatives from the TUC, FRC and an actual real life worker director on a company board. . 

UNISON Community Conference 2017: Day 2 (& many thanks to Kevin)

Collage from last week's day 2 National UNISON Community Conference in Bournemouth. Check out first 24 hours here.

Steve Reed MP gave the keynote speech for the seminar and took no prisoners from those who said in the Q&A that it was possible for Councils to pass "legal no cuts" budgets.

I gave a presentation at workshops on "Democratising Housing Associations" with my London Regional Officer, Colin Inniss.

Our long serving Chair of our Community Service Group, Kevin Jackson, (top left)  announced that he will be stepping down this year. He told me that he will be expecting a blog post on this since I did one for his predecessor! Kevin has been a fantastic Chair and will be hard to replace.

Both of my UNISON branch motions were passed. I spoke on the one regarding Housing Associations on behalf of the SGE. A number of branch members spoke on a number of different motions.

There were many fine speeches but I remember the most the personal contributions from a number of delegates, who were from Eastern Europe and were obviously very concerned about their future in the UK following Brexit. They were all care and support workers. How disgraceful that they fear for their future, when they provide so much desperately needed care for our elderly, sick and vulnerable.

#TUC13 Congress 2013 and the State of the Unions

On train to Bournemouth to be a UNISON delegate at this years TUC Congress. I have just read through (again) the final agenda and finished off reading the mammoth 184 page General Council Report.

There are many good motions to be debated including combating austerity, improving housing supply, employment rights, fair pay, on line union voting and the Bangladesh Accord.  

For the first time in many years the trade union movement had a welcome increase in membership in 2012 by 59,000. Not a huge increase but a start in the right direction at a time when many have predicted a fall due to cuts in public services and the recession. The density rate of union members in the public sector is 56.3% but in the Private sector it is only 14.4%.

This very low density rate is our achilles heal yet there are still 6.5 million members of trade unions, the largest membership organisation in the UK by a long way. 

The Tory led Government coalition onslaught on workers rights is now in full swing. Fees for employment tribunals, reducing rights on redundancy, TUPE protection, health & safety etc. I suspect that this has something to do with our slight improvement. Workers are first and foremost fearful of their jobs and want protection at work. It is our distasteful duty to build density and organisation in all unions on the back of all this misery - but it has to be done.

You cannot rely on the law to protect you at work. You can only rely on your fellow workers and your trade union.

We also have to keep making the case for a practical alternative economic policy. Not only within the Labour Party but in the unions as well. I still have "difficult" conversations with union members about the real reason for the financial crisis of 2007 being the theft and recklessness of the Banks and not social security.
 
I'll try and post on as many debates and fringes as I can during the next few days.

UNISON NDC 2012

I took this picture this morning on route to the UNISON National Delegate Conference in Bournemouth. This is my first conference as a member of UNISON’s National Executive Committee. So it feels very strange to be on the “platform” and not part of the branch or regional delegation.  

At 8.30am we had a brief NEC meeting on conference housekeeping. Then I went to meet my branch (Housing Association) delegation before the conference started at 10am.

The President, NHS theatre nurse, Eleanor Smith opened conference. First was the usual formal reports and Financial Statement. Followed by motions. The first was an excellent debate on Health and Safety. 

There is a live blog at the UNISON website here and even a Live Stream. Twitter hash tag #undc12

I’ll try and post on key debates and fringes as and when.

LAPFF Conference 2010 - Stewardship: New Strategies for Corporate Governance.

The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) is an association of 52 UK based public sector pension funds who manage over £90 billion of assets.

LAPFF exists firstly to protect local authority pension investments. It also uses members shareholdings to promote corporate social responsibility and corporate governance in the companies that we part own. LAPFF hold an annual conference in Bournemouth every year.

There were over 150 Councillors, pension fund officers and the investment fund industry representatives registered. I was there with other LGPS trade union reps. I last came 4 years when I took part in a panel debate on governance.

Despite the heavy snowfall most delegates and speakers were able to get here in time. I’ll try and post on some of the highlights and things that I thought interesting. Please note the usual disclaimer about the literal accuracy of all my hurried note taking.

Chair of LAPFF Ian Greenwood (Leader of Bradford Council) started the conference with an Actuary joke (specialist financial advisers to pension funds). An Actuary dies and goes to heaven. At the pearly gates St Peter asks the Actuary what he had done in his 127 years on earth to justify going to heaven? The Actuary replies he is only 84 years old not 127? St Peter replies “No, you must be 127 I have seen the hours you have charged” (Well, I thought it was funny).

I’ll post on the speakers and debates later.

Snow on the Bournemouth beach

I'm in Bournemouth for the LAPFF Pension conference.  It started snowing late last night and this morning before breakfast instead of my usual Bournemouth run along the beach in shorts and tee-shirt, I wrapped myself up with loads of layers and walked along the Pier and beach in hiking boots. It must be horrible for people travelling or working outdoors but I don't think I have ever walked along a beach in thick(ess) snow.  I'll post on LAPFF Conference later. 

UNISON NDC 2010 – Tuesday morning

I started the first day at conference with a glorious early morning jog in the sunshine along West Cliff headlands,  I went as far as the Tropical Gardens then back along the beach towards the Pier. The branch secretary of Waltham Forest and assistant branch secretary of Havering passed me bye at a great pace (they are real runners – nothing personal I am sure :).

Back at the hotel I carried on writing a speech, then had a spot of breakfast then more speech writing followed by a walk down to Bournemouth International Centre for NDC 2010 and a 10am start.

This morning’s business started off with the President’s address; Standing orders committee reports (no real bun fight for a change – just a little  local difficulty with Somerset). Next was the annual report and UNISON accounts. There was a good debate on Social Care which I watched in the UNIZONE while finishing off a speech. There was then apparently some excitement on the conference floor over PFI and ultra left grandstanding - but I missed it – typical.

During lunch I went to the anti-bullying health and safety fringe (see next post)

UNISON Local Government Conference 2010

This is the first time for many years that I am not at the UNISON Local Government conference either as a delegate or visitor. Due to recent internal union constitutional changes those of us who work in the housing association and voluntary sector have been moved out of the Local Government organisational umbrella into a the new “Community” Service group.

Our conference will be held in Telford in November which I am sure will be just as nice as sunny Bournemouth!

In the meanwhile UNISONactive is posting here on the action and debates at this year’s local government conference. Picture (left) is from the last time we were at Bournemouth in 2008.

UNISON Conference 2008

Off soon to Bournemouth to be a delegate at the UNISON Local government conference which begins on Sunday morning and finishes late on Monday afternoon. There are about 850,000 (nearly 80,000 in London alone) UNISON members who work in sectors associated with local government such as my own Housing Association branch. All UNISON conferences are of course notoriously quiet, reasoned and sedate affairs. I have no doubt that this year will be the same.

Immediately afterwards it is the UNISON National Delegate Conference (the “NDC”) which is the UNISON “parliament” for its 1.3 million members (130,000 in London).

Blogging may be a little intermittent during the next several days as I will be doing my best “to fight the good fight” (as I see it of course). So, there will be lots of writing and practicing speeches, plotting and planning and maybe, just maybe the odd occasion to have a drink or two (strictly shandy or diet cokes).

If you have never been to a UNISON conference before, make sure you get a photo for your ID badge BEFOREHAND; go to the Regional delegate meeting (its really useful); don’t buy any political newspapers or magazines unless you really want to; expect to spend ages finding your seat; check out your Regional newsletter; find out in advance the time and location of last bus back to your hotel, go to the pension Capital Stewardship fringe; NDC health & safety fringe. The NDC Labour Link and London Regional social are the best; consider supporting your democratically elected NEC recommendations and especially your poor old conference Standing Order committee; if you don’t support Far left motions and want a dabble at speaking but don’t know who to speak to in your region then give me a pull; tell GK to stop heckling speakers and be quiet if you are sitting next to him; ask me if JR suggests you do or sign anything. Finally, it is also a tradition of conference for London delegates to buy their Regional Finance convener a drink.

There is a lot to divide us but also much to unite. There are a number of interesting motions on health and safety, pensions, equality, workers’ rights and pay to debate. Core trade union issues in my views. Also a whole load of nonsense as well. But such is life.

(picture from last NDC at Bournemouth 2006)

Labour Party Conference - arrived Saturday

Just a very quick post from the (free) trade union Community Internet stall, about to go to start of conference.

First impression, the massive security presence is a bit of a shock. The Police have cordoned off a big chunk of the area around the conference centre. Even pubs have been shut down. No-one is allowed into this area without passes. I suppose this is necessary in this day and age but it is quite a contrast to UNISON conferences. Lots of armed Police and helicopters, even apparently a navy gun boat off shore!

I couldn't find the T&G Unite demo, but there was a colourful "lobby" by GMB over Remploy outside.

Up 7AM today for run along beach then delegation meeting (I am a UNISON Labour Link delegate for London) at 9.30am. I'll try and write something up on this, especially about the rule change. Future delegation meeting start at 7:30am!

Picture of sunset while taking a walk along the beach last night.