UNISON NDC14 - LGPS Members "time to govern your own money" fringe

Next week is the UNISON National Delegate Conference (NDC). On Wednesday 18 June 2014 at 5.15pm in Syndicate room 2, Brighton Centre, there will be a UNISON Capital Stewardship fringe.

This conference fringe is called  "Local Government Pension Scheme - time to govern your own money".

A certain UNISON NEC member and LGPS rep called John Gray will Chair/Speak at the meeting. The UNISON National officer for Capital Stewardship, Mr Meech, will be there and one "other" speaker.

"In April 2015 scheme members will start to make key decisions about how and where their money is invested. UNISON has won a historic concession from the Coalition government.

50% of seats on the new LGPS boards will be made available to trade union scheme members.

The fringe meeting will discuss and debate the reforms to LGPS governance, what it means for the union and for union members who want to become pension fund reps, to discuss the organising programme to support this work.

The LGPS has 100 pension funds with a collective asset value of £160bn."

UNISON NDC14 - International rally and reception (and events)

Next week is the UNISON National Delegate Conference. The international relations sent out the following information for delegates.

"If you are going to NDC next week you may be interested in some of the international activities that have been planned. We will have visitors from Swaziland and Colombia as well as the general secretaries of PSI and EPSU.

TTIP

One of the big debates at conference will be on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a proposed free trade agreement between the EU and US, that could be disasterous for public service and for UNISON members if the agreement goes through. 

Part of the reason for this is that TTIP wants services to be opened up to competition, wants ‘harmonised’ regulations (which means getting rid of a lot of hard-won rights we enjoy in Europe) and wants an Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) incorporated into the agreement which gives corporations to right to sue goverments if their ‘interests’ are threatened. 

This has already happened in Ecudor, and in Australia where tobacco giant, Philip Morris, are suing the government because plain cigarette packaging means they will sell less cigarattes which in turn harms their ‘interests’ (ie profits). If you want to know more watch this very short video http://youtu.be/f8F0UmbcSwg or listen to this interview  http://tinyurl.com/mah7vm5

FYI War on Want are planning a national tour and day of action on TTIP – check to see if there is one near you. http://tinyurl.com/pjceyzp  

Rally and Reception

This year the rally and reception will take place on the same evening. The rally will start at 7pm on Monday evening in syndicate 3, followed by the reception at 8.30. Delegates will have an opportunity to hear about developments in Swaziland and Colombia as well as hearing about European-wide issues, all of which impact on us here. Dave Prentis will also address the rally. The guests and NEC international committee will attend the reception directly afterwards to chat to delegates.

Fringes

On Tuesday lunchtime there is a fringe on TTIP. Speakers include the general secretary of EPSU and Polly Jones who is now head of policy and campaigns at the World Development Movement..

There are also fringes on Cuba/Venezuela, Palestine (NEC member Helen Jenner will be speaking about her visit to Palestine) and Colombia over the course of the week.

Conference business

Before the international debate starts on Thursday morning, there will be a photo stunt (P&C for now)

Rosa Pavanelli, the general secretary of PSI, will address conference on Thursday morning as the international speaker.

There are also a number of international motions on the agenda including, TTIP, Colombia, Palestine and Bhopal.

With best wishes