A74 and a75 were heard, discussing lean and call centre conditions. The Branch interjected on lean, Chris Wade doing a great off the cuff contribution and building a paper plane at the same time.
Both motions were carried, though one delegate did ask for remission on a75 in a bid to try and get it given to the NEC to deal with and expand to all areas not just call centres. Conference rejected remission as the motion was sound.
Motion a76 was welcomed to try and put in place safeguards for members like the ao in the child benefit centre who was scapegoat for the loss of the data disk. The motion is aiming to protect members from criminal prosecution for instances out of their control within work or due to internal proceedures. There were some very good contributions, which were in fact horror stories of investigations that had gone on in other areas. The motion wap overwhelmingly carried.
Motion a79 dealt with better equipping reps to deal with issues arising in the workplace due to domestic violence, and also bringing any current policies in to line so that they covered LGBT members too. There were several stories recounted to the Conference that certainly helped the vote and made people think about the issues at hand. The motion wap carried easily.
Several more motions were debated in the section covering quality of working life, sick absence management, post natal depression, all being carried after debate. Opposition was given to a82 in that tribunal costs on sick absence can be awarded against members and the union, the motion did allow for consideration of cases by group before taking then, the motion was remitted after NEC opposition.
A83 on bullying in the workplace was debated and carried. The Branch Chair was to attempt to get into debate on a86 on "leap years" to oppose as it was factually incorrect, however the motion was guillotined.
The Pensions section was next. With several emergency motions debated and the NEC motion carried after some slight adjustment to take into account some of the sentiments of the motion set to fall if theirs was carried.
The section before lunch was the Health and Safety section, the first motion, a110, was to campaign for a maximum legal temperature in the workplace of 30 degrees C. The motion was carried.
Motion a111 against hotdesking was also carried.
The afternoon session opened with the green issues section. Conference endorsed the PCS Green Issues document, a115.
A116, a motion about expanding the high speed rail network proved quite an issue with a good few opposition speeches. The motion was passed, after Conference failed to vote in the positive for remission.
The financial report was given and accepted.
There was a good debate, around the credit union motion proposed by the NEC, however the opposition to it was very persuasive in that many delegates did not want to join with the civil service benevolent fund and open any services under the scheme to non-members. The Conference voting seemed too close to call, a card vote resulting in the motion being lost. The NEC won't be best pleased i'm sure.
The Services and Structures section started with a reasonably close vote on a135, which was carried but certainly left some delegations wondering which way to vote. One branch apparently had three delegates on the floor at the time, one voting for, one against and one abstaining!
A136 included a planned intervention by our Branch, Chris Wade, who stated his experiences at tribunal and for costs awarded. To be fair to Chris, his input certainly seemed to sway Conference totally rather than the moving Branch's speech, there were many shouts of "here here" and "well said" - The motion on reviewing the access to legal advice from our solicitors was carried even though the NEC asked for remission.
Distinguished Life Member Awards were given out next.
The final section of the day, Social and Economic, started with a148, a motion proposed by the gangmasters licensing authority in a bid to campaign actively for more resources from the Government to expand the service nationally. The motion was carried easily.
Composite 3 was a motion combining many other motions submitted on the issue of two members of serving staff in csa actively campaigning to stand for the BNP, obviously the employment of facists, and active ones that had been reported for intimidating behaviour (with no action taken) towards a black member, should not be allowed. The whole ethos of the BNP is completely outwith the standards of behaviour and diversity policies, not to mention the equal ops policies. The motion was carried wholeheartedly.
