Today (Tuesday 17 June) was day one of the UNISON National Delegate Conference 2025, which is taking place in the ACC, Liverpool. This is certainly the largest trade union conference in the UK, if not Europe, with over 2,000 delegates and visitors.
I am here as an elected member of the UNISON National Executive Council. So I had to be up early for firstly, a short morning run/jog along the River Mersey, breakfast, then a pre conference meeting of the NEC at 8.30am. Which went I think pretty well and there was a couple of interesting votes.
Then as also being a UNISON Greater London elected Regional Council officer, I was asked to help out our regional delegates with the sometimes "difficult" but important task of assisting our London delegates with finding out where their allocated seats are on the conference floor.
Conference started a little late due to queues of delegates and visitors waiting to get through security at the main entrance.
The morning debate was chaired by current NEC member and respected former President, Maureen le Marinel, who is a super competent and very fair chair. Such a relief to have someone like Maureen Charing NDC after some shambolic and very destructive chairs in the recent past.
We all watched the names of UNISON members, activists, friends and officers who have died during the last year displayed on the screen behind the platform while listening to beautiful music.
I was so pleased that conference supported our elected Chair of the Standing Order Committee, who had to report that motions that broke the rules of our union (decided upon by 2/3 majorities by previous conferences) could not be debated at this conference. It was in my personal view, a complete and utter waste of conference debating time that we had to listen and vote on the same arguments, time and time again for every single similar challenge.
Conference went largely ok afterwards. We had the Annual report and the Financial statement. Then we debated motions. There were many good speakers on important issues but also in my view some completely negative and I suspect deliberately destructive views by political opponents of the current Labour Government. Which is fair enough, but please declare your party card when you do so. I hope and think, I always make it clear my affiliations when I speak?
During lunch I attended a really good panel fringe on DC pensions. My question to the panel was how can we protect our members in DC pensions schemes, who are not able to physically to carry out their job but have no ill health retirement protection. I think that we need the Government to intervene on this.
It was great that current NEC member and former President Margaret McKee chaired the afternoon session in the similar fair but no nonsense manner as Maureen.
After conference I attended a fringe on a new proposed UNISON app for members which looks really good and as long as we have sufficient resource to keep it updated and relevant should be brilliant.
Catherine McKenna – UNISON President
