1. Title
The name of the Branch shall be "UNISON, the Public Service Union, Westminster Branch".
2. Objects
The objects of the Branch, in accordance with the UNISON rules, shall be :-
(a) To organise all those employed, directly or indirectly, within those areas of employment which provide services to the public on behalf of the City of Westminster whether in the public, private or voluntary sectors of the economy.
(b) To seek to ensure equality of treatment and fair representation for all members and to work for the elimination of discrimination on grounds of race, gender, sexuality, disability, age or creed.
(c) To advance and protect the interests of its members and to keep members fully informed of all matters affecting or of interest to them.
(d) To establish good relations between members and their employers, to secure the settlement of disputes arising from members' employment and to participate in all joint negotiating machinery relevant to members.
(e) To ensure that there is full participation in Regional and National structures.
(f) To promote fair representation in all of the Branch's structures for members of all grades including part time workers, women, black members, members with disabilities and lesbians and gay men.
(g) To provide and maintain educational facilities.
(h) To promote health and saftey at work.
(i) To promote, maintain and contribute to a fund for the financial, physical and social welfare of members and their dependants.
3. Eligibility for Membership
Those eligible for membership are defined in the national rule entitled "Scope of Representation". The classes of membership are set out in the national rule entitled "Classes of Membership".
4. Subscriptions
(a) Members shall pay a subscription at a level prescribed by the National Conference from time to time in line with a scale relating to income bands.
(b) The Branch may fix a rate of subscription for local purposes in addition to the amount payable under the national scale. Any such additional subscription must first receive the support of at least two thirds of the members present and voting at a Branch General Meeting.
5. Administrative and Financial Year
The administrative and financial year of the Branch shall commence on 1 January of each year and end on 31 December of the same year.
6. Election of Officers
(a) The following officers of the Branch shall be elected by a ballot of the whole Branch immediately prior to the Annual General Meeting :-
i) Chair
ii) Vice-chair
iii) Branch Secretary (this post will involve full-time release under the facilities agreement reached with the City of Westminster)
iv) Branch Treasurer (this post will involve quarter-time release under the facilities agreement reached with the City of Westminster)
v) Two Assistant Branch Secretaries (these posts will involve full-time release under the facilities agreement reached with the City of Westminster. One will normally be held by a member who is on APT&C, JNC for Youth and Community Work or Chief Officer terms and conditions of service. The other will normally be held by a member who is on Manual Worker terms and conditions of service)
vi) Deputy Branch Treasurer
vii) Health and Safety Officer (this post will involve quarter-time release under the facilities agreement reached with the City of Westminster)
viii) Education Secretary
ix) Publicity Officer
x) Membership and Membership Services Secretary
xi) Sports and Social Secretary
(b) Nominations for the posts laid out in paragraph (a) above may be made by the Branch Committee, a Departmental Stewards Committee or any two members (subject to the restrictions applying to the two Assistant Branch Secretary posts). Nominations for any post may be made on a job share basis.
(c) The following officers of the Branch shall be nominated from and elected by a ballot of members who have identified themselves as belonging to the following self-organised groups of members within the Branch immediately prior to the Annual General Meeting :-
i) Womens Officer (by the Women's Self-organised Group)
ii) Black Members' Officer (by the Black Members Self-organised Group)
iii) Officer for Members with a Disability (by the Self-organised Group for Members with a Disability)
iv) Officer for Lesbian and Gay Members (by the Lesbian and Gay Members' Self-organised Group)
(d) Nominations for the posts laid out in paragraph (c) above may be made by a Committee established by the members within the specified self-organised group or by any two members of the appropriate group. Nominations for any of the posts may be made on a job share basis.
- Two Branch Auditors shall be appointed at the Annual General Meeting. They will be eligible for a payment of £200 upon completion of the audit of the accounts for the year appointed for.
- (f) Should any post become vacant between Annual General Meetings of the Branch, the Branch Committee has the authority to appoint a successor to the post from amongst the members of the committee. Such an appointee shall remain in office until the next Annual General Meeting of the Branch
7. Branch Meetings
(a) The Branch shall meet quarterly including the Annual General Meeting. In addition to these meetings, Special Branch Meetings may be convened at any time within fourteen days of the receipt by the Branch Secretary of a requisition in writing signed by at least 25 members of the Branch, stating fully the reason for the meeting.
(b) All members of the Branch shall be entitled to attend Branch Meetings which will be held at a variety of times that enable the majority of members from all grades to attend. Notification will be given to each member at least 7 days in advance.
(c) The quorum of the Branch Meeting will be 75 members.
(d) The purpose of the Branch Meetings shall be to :-
i) enable the membership to take decisions on matters of Branch policy;
ii) ensure that the Branch Committee is accountable to the membership for conducting the affairs of the Branch;
iii) provide a means of communication between the Branch Committee and the membership.
(e) Motions to Branch Meetings may be submitted by the Branch Executive Committee, a Departmental Stewards Committee, the Committee of a Self-organised Group or by any two members of the Branch. Motions must be received by the Branch Secretary at least two days in advance of the date of the meeting.
(f) At the Annual General Meeting, the following business shall be transacted :-
i) the receiving of reports from the Branch's officers and from the Branch Executive committee, including a report on the Branch's finances and presentation of Branch accounts;
ii) the confirmation of election of Branch Officers for the coming year;
iii) the confirmation of election of Branch representatives to other levels of the Union and to external bodies;
iv) any relevant business that would normally be considered by a Branch Meeting.
8. Steward System and Departmental Committees
(a) The Branch will be divided into the following Departments, or Department groups, each of which will establish a Departmental Committee comprising all stewards within the Department :-
i) City Solicitors, Corporate Team and Personnel
ii) Education and Leisure
iii) Finance
iv) Housing
v) Planning and Transportation and Environmental Services
vi) Social Services
(b) The Branch Committee shall determine the number of stewards appropriate to each work group/workplace. All steward positions may be job shared. Where, at that location, there are members under both of the two main conditions of service agreements (Manual Worker and APT&C), there shall be entitlement to at least one steward per group of members. This additional entitlement shall do nothing to prevent a steward representing members across both groups if this is preferred by members in the shop.
(c) Each Departmental Committee shall elect a negotiating team for meetings with their Chief Officer(s) which would normally comprise the following officers who will also be elected by the Committee :-
i) Departmental Secretary;
ii) Chair of the Departmental Committee;
iii) Two Service Conditions Committee representatives, one of whom should be a manual worker representative and the other an APT&C (or other equivalent group e.g. JNC for Youth and Community Workers) representative.
(d) Each Departmental Committee will meet at least monthly and will seek to meet with departmental management on a regular basis, at the very least ensuring that a meeting is always scheduled to anticipate the business of the next Council Service Committee that directs the department.
(e) Each Departmental Committee shall annually elect representatives to the Branch Executive Committee on the basis of one representative per 60 members or part therof within the department. These elections should be conducted so as to abide by the rules of proportionality and fair representation by ensuring that at least 50% of the Department's representatives are women. The representatives appointed should also include the two Service Conditions Committee representatives.
9. Branch Committee
(a) The Branch Committee shall consist of :-
i) the officers mentioned in paragraph 6 (a);
ii) the officers mentioned in paragraph 6 (c);
iii) any member of the Branch elected to the National Executive Council or the National committee of any Self-Organised Group;
iv) Departmental Committee representatives elected on the basis laid out in paragraph 8 (e).
(b) The Branch Committee shall meet on a monthly basis and be chaired by the Branch Chair or Vice-Chair. At its first meeting following the Annual General Meeting it shall elect the following post :-
Editor of the Branch Magazine.
(c) The quorum of the Branch Executive Committee shall be 20% of its membership as determined under the formula laid out in paragraph (a) above.
(d) The functions of the Branch Committee shall be :-
i) to receive at each meeting reports each Departmental Committee, from the Branch Secretary, Assistant Branch Secretaries, Branch Treasurer and other Branch Officers as appropriate;
iii) to consider and deal with all matters of ordinary current administration and all matters affecting the intersests of members of the Branch;
iv) to elect representatives to the Regional Council and to Annual Conference in line with the principles of proportionality and fair representation;
v) to deal with all questions of emergency;
vi) to appoint sub-committees with power to co-opt theron members of the Branch who may not be members of the Branch Committee;
vii) to approve the arrangement of constituencies in each department;
viii) to ensure that Branch Officers are properly exercising their functions and to ensure editorial accountability of the Branch Magazine Editor.
10. Service Conditions Committee
(a) The Service Conditions Committee should consist of :-
i) Branch Secretary;
ii) the two Assistant Branch Secretaries;
iii) Chair of the Branch;
v) Health and Saftey Officer;
vi) two representatives from each Departmental Committee elected on the basis laid out in paragraph 8 (c).
(b) The Committee shall be accountable to the Branch Executive Committee who may also co-opt further members to the Committee.
(c) The Committee shall meet on a monthly basis.
(d) The functions of the Service Conditions Committee, conducted on behalf of the Branch Executive Committee, shall be :-
i) to co-ordinate local negotiations conducted by stewards in the Branch;
ii) to elect Staff Side representatives for the formal negotiation machinery;
iii) to ensure that the Staff Side representatives are properly exercising their functions;
iv) to formulate claims and responses to local employers' initiatives for submission by the Staff Side representatives.
11. Alteration of the Constitution
This Constitution may only be altered or rescinded with the approval of at least two-thirds of the members present and voting at a Branch Meeting, notice of the change having been set out in writing in advance. Any changes so made shall not become operable until approved by the National Executive Council.
