UNISON NDC 09 - Housing Debate

I'm still trying to finish off reports about conference. This was a speech on Composite E on the future of public Housing that I also “bumped off”. Interestingly two former tenants from my estate did speak on the debate and there was a current tenant also listening as a delegate (that I know of).

“Conference, we all know that there is a overcrowding crisis in Britain. I myself work I in a large housing estate in East London where it is not uncommon for families to try and bring up several kids in 2 bed high rise flats. So what should we do about it?

Well, in my branch we have experienced and highly qualified specialist development staff who are being laid off because in many areas there is simply no new housing development taking place. At the same time planners are being made redundant in Town Halls.

At the same time we see builders walking off existing sites and laying off their own people. There is practically no new housing development taking place in either the public or private sector. At the same time we land prices at a all time historic low.

At the time same time we have millions of people on local authority waiting lists – a figure estimated soon to reach 5 million.

At the same time we are in the midst of a economic recession and we are being told that the best way out of it is to encourage people to spend, to restore confidence, to pump money into the local economy.

Conference you often nowadays hear the expression “Win, win”. Well, this composite is “win, win”. Let us start a mass housing building programme across the country. Get my members doing what they do best – building homes – get construction workers back on site; get their wages recycled into the local economy helping others into work; and best of all conference get people off waiting lists into real homes we can proud of - Conference. Please support this motion

UNISON NDC 09: Economic crisis and public services

Click on this link for UNISONTV to see a vaguely familiar red faced delegate stumbling and mumbling on this important issue (about 1 minute into clip)

UNISON NDC 09: Capital Stewardship Motion 63

This motion was just missed out being debated on the Friday afternoon. This is a first draft. I can't find the final hand written version. It is pretty much the same.

"Conference I am a UNISON member nominated representative on a Local Government scheme investment pension panel and pension committee for the last 16 years. In London I convene a regional network of pension reps and have been a member of the national UNISON Capital Stewardship forum.

Let me share some of experiences I have come across that has gone on Pension schemes during this time and explain why it is so important that we have more UNISON trained and supported reps on all our pension committees and trustee boards.

Firstly it is absolutely essential that we push for fair balance of trade union reps on the LGPS who have full membership of the committee - with voting rights. In the past many of us were called “observers” on these pensions’ schemes. This mean that in some schemes trade unions reps were literally only allowed to observe meetings, not allowed to raise questions, see documents or ask enquires about how their own money, their deferred pay is being managed.

A number of Treasurer and Council leaders in the past have told trade unionists trying to negotiate representation that – quote - “it would be over my dead body that I will allow a trade union rep on my pension committee”. Often these have been the schemes that had taken pensions holidays in the past or invested your money unchallenged and unquestioned in Icelandic Banks and Lehman brothers.

Also many of you would have had the company Fidelity as your fund manager. Fidelity is one of the leading contributors to the Conservative Party funds despite not declaring this conflict when they tout your schemes for business. This means that profits from your pension contributions, your deferred pay, are being funneled back into the hands of David Cameron who is ideological opposed to secure pensions and of course is planning to dismantle all public sector pensions.

Finally conference you need to be a pension rep to be a champion of human rights. Many of you will attend lobbies, go on demos, buy fair trade products or write letters in support of the environment, free trade unions and anti-poverty campaigns. Why then not be a pension rep and learn from your Union how to challenge your fund managers and make sure they take your members concerns on board with the companies that you own.

Conference – please support this motion and please get local reps to start looking after their own money.

(photo of some early UNISON pension activists preparing to do battle to save our LGPS scheme)

UNISON NDC 09 – End of Conference

Conference finished at about 4.20pm yesterday afternoon and I am currently recovering in Worthing - relaxing and drinking coffee in The Denton overlooking the Pier and the beach.

No more motions, composites or standing orders papers to read, no more speeches to write (and never actually deliver) no more fringes, no more plotting and gossiping – thankfully, no more sitting in the most uncomfortable and cramped of seats.

I have a mass of notes made on fringes and controversial debates which I will hopefully write up and post before they get too out of date.

Some initial thoughts. It was a constructive and informative conference, a little quiet compared to previous years, yet there were important debates and decisions taken. I hope that my branch first time delegates enjoyed themselves and that they were not too fed up about being “bumped off” debates without being able to address conference.

Brighton itself, as always, looked after us all. I still prefer Bournemouth but look to forward to I think Manchester next year?

I remember listening to a weather report on Radio 4 one morning last week which described the out look for the day's weather as “warm sunny spells with occasional thundery outbursts”.

Which I thought also summed up UNISON conferences pretty well.

(Picture is of London Regional Convenor, Gloria Hanson, addressing conference. Afterwards I was then quite rightly told off by the President for forgetting to turn off my camera flash)

UNISON NDC 09 - Saving Public Sector Pension Schemes

Conference, Vice President, John Gray, London Region, Housing Association Branch speaking in favour of of Composite B.

It is clear that if the Tories are elected at the next election they will dismantle and destroy public sector final salary schemes. In pensions as in many other things there is clear red water between the Labour Government and the Tories.

But the tory attacks on public sector pensions are based on spite and on lies. The “Big lie” is that our pensions are unaffordable. This is nonsense. Conference, as mentioned before, I was TUPE transferred from a Council to a housing association. We were able to keep our membership of the LGPS. However, if I was to give up the LGPS and join the housing association group personal pension plan it would actually cost my employer more money.

It would cost my employer 16% of my salary to join the Group scheme. At the moment it only costs my employer 13.8% to remain in the LGSP. They actually put this amount on my payslip.

Not only would it cost more up-front but they would also have to pay even more to match the “Death in Service” payment. There is also yet another additional cost they would have to pay - membership of the permanent health insurance scheme needed to replace the LGPS medical retirement provision.

The truth conference is that pensions are costly. If the Tories got rid of the public sector final salary schemes then they would have to replace it with something else that could cost them even more. It is just sheer Tory spite and Tory right wing ideological cant that are schemes are under threat.

Conference it is time to stand up for public sector schemes, stand up to Tory lies and spite and campaign to save our pensions.

Finally, conference the only way that your pensions will be safe is if a Labour government is re-elected next year. Despite our differences at this time - Remember only by Voting Labour will your pension be safe.