UNISON NEC meeting today - industrial action on the agenda

I will (honestly!) blog a full report of today's meeting of UNISON's National Executive Council (NEC) when this is ready.

The highlights of the meeting included the following points.

• The General Secretary began his report by acknowledging the scale of cuts in local government. The Head of Local Government confirmed that UNISON national officers were looking to arrange a meeting with the group "Councillors Against Cuts" as agreed at Conference;
• The NEC expressed continuing support for members who had taken action over pay in Higher Education yesterday, and for members at Liverpool University on strike today in opposition to an attack on conditions from the employer;
• A ballot of UNISON members in the Probation service will take place with the aim of UNISON joining with the National Association of Probation Officers (NAPO) in taking strike action in January in opposition to the impact on employees of the disastrous privatisation plan of the Coalition Government;
• The threat of industrial action in the Ambulance sector had brought the employer's back to the negotiating table (the NEC received a summary report of industrial action ballots held in 2013 which indicated a revival of action across the Union);
• UNISON had been isolated at the TUC in calling for a major national demonstration against austerity in the spring, and this was now planned for the autumn;
• 22 March is pencilled in as the date for a major anti-fascist demonstration, further details of which are awaited;
• The outcome of UNISON's legal battle against employment tribunal fees is still awaited (branches can expect urgent guidance also on recent case law in relation to TUPE and collective agreements);
• UNISON will ballot our members on the retention of our political fund in the autumn of 2014 (ahead of the 2015 deadline to avoid a clash with the General Election);
• The NEC reaffirmed a message of support to members at Whipps Cross hospital;
• The 6th and 7th floors of the UNISON Centre will not now be rented out as office space but will be turned into meeting rooms.

That last one was only a highlight for anoraks...

More detail later.