an apology!

An apology to the Oxford reader who complained to me earlier today that I had not updated this blog since Sunday.

In spite of my best intentions I have not found the time to blog properly yet this week. However, now that I am safely tucked away on the platform, where my NEC colleagues kindly ensure that I am not overworked, by not asking me to speak, I can try to catch up.

Local Government Conference did in the end vote down in the second card vote the position which it had adopted in the first card vote (presumably because the large North Western city branch got the card vote right second time around…)

This meant that we were left without a position on pay – a predicament from which we were rescued by an Emergency Motion from the Tower Hamlets branch which commits the Union to a campaign to encourage members to reject the pay offer in the consultative ballot and to use the consultation exercise to build up to an official strike ballot.

Therefore, by the end of local government Conference we had arrived in a strong position, with a united and credible strategy to move forward, bringing together the floor of Conference and platform, who were well aware that almost half the Conference were confident already to move ahead with an immediate strike ballot.

The underlying dissatisfaction with the recent leadership of industrial disputes at national level found expression in the outcome of the third card vote, which led to Conference condemning the way in which our negotiating objectives in the LGPS dispute had shifted from full to partial protection of the rights of current scheme members.

Branches now need to campaign amongst the membership to win support for the strike action which we will have to take – and to attend and support the lobby of Parliament called by the Service Group Executive for 10 July!