Unison’s Local Government Service Group Executive met on Thursday of last week.
The executive debated whether a motion from the North West Region Local Government Service Group could be allowed onto the agenda.
The motion argued that the Service Group Executive has the right to offer suggestions about strategy.
It is up to Unison’s National Joint Council (NJC) Committee to make decisions on pay for council and school workers.
Delegates argued that the full resources of the union need to be deployed if a national strike ballot is to meet the turnout required by the Trade Union Act.
Workers covered by the NJC have seen their pay cut in real terms by over 20 percent.
As one delegate said, “It’s like working one day a week for free.”
Supporters of the motion spoke of learning lessons from the CWU and PCS unions who have achieved high ballot turnouts.
The debate included lots of ideas.
These included workplace meetings and a social media strategy such as videos of Unison activists informing members about the campaign.
The North West motion was voted on to the agenda and was passed.
It argued for a consultative ballot to build up support for a formal strike action ballot backed up by a wide range of campaign initiatives.
The Local Government Association is expected to respond to the NJC unions’ claim for a 5 percent pay rise for all workers and a minimum of the real living wage on 13 December.
Unison NJC committee meets on 14 December and will decide how to respond.
Jon Woods, Unison Local Government Service Group Executive (personal capacity)
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