Now -read the book!

Here is a link to my memoirs which, if you are a glutton for punishment, you can purchase online at https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/an-obscure-footnote-in-trade-union-history.
Men fight and lose the battle, and the thing that they fought for comes about in spite of their defeat, and when it comes turns out not to be what they meant, and other men have to fight for what they meant under another name. (William Morris - A Dream of John Ball)

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Regional Committee AGM

Today was the Annual General Meeting of the UNISON Greater London Regional Committee (so that explains why you awoke with a sense of deep foreboding this morning…)

As a member of the National Executive Council (NEC) representing the Region I attend the Regional Committee in a non-voting capacity, and so offered to act as scrutineer in the elections for Regional Committee representatives on various SubCommittees.

In a proactive interpretation of the role I ended up counting the votes – whether I will be asked to do so again remains an open questions since we ended up with a seven-way tie for five of the six seats on the very important Recruitment and Organisation Committee!

I suspect that the innovation of holding a ballot for these positions was misguided (as well as being contrary to the established policy of the Regional Committee which has always been happy to conduct such elections by show of hands). Elections were, as I recall, forced through in 1996 against the wishes of a former Regional Secretary who thought that he should decide which members of the Regional Committee served on which SubCommittee…

Happily such control freakery has no place in today’s Greater London Region.

I shall blog a more considered and substantial report when I have time, but will record here and now my pleasure that the Committee was informed that Chairs of Committees within the Region may take Chair’s action.

This arose as a delegate had been appointed to the Regional Committee to represent the Regional Disabled Members’ Self-Organised Group by the Chair of the relevant Committee which has not met for some time.

The seemliness of this course of action is a matter for others to consider, but it does at least settle the debate about whether Regional Chair of Local Government, David Eggmore, had the authority to endorse a very useful briefing on pensions called by some local government branches on 1 February.

I should add that my friend and comrade Malcolm Campbell, representing the Local Government Committee on the Regional Committee behaved with characteristic and commendable restraint in articulating the unhappiness of that Committee with some foolish and childish statements made at the recent Special Conference.

1 comment:

Sean said...

Oh Well lol ties and USA style run off's and well done to our good comrade Sonya Howard who did make it out of the malaise of the multiple way tie :) First meeting for me it was certainly interesting in places I also look forward to Mr Jarman's written response to the RLGC Complaint (sicne when did we have to put everything in writing to get a response though?) And then theres the subject that we didnt disucss that doenst exist and which we must forget if we did talk about yes Single Status is alive and kicking!