SUE held its 30th Biennial Conference at Wortley Hall, “The Workers’ Stately Home,” near Sheffield on 14-16th May 2019.
Delegates came from Branches across the country and also from the various Forums set up inside SUE to represent specific groups of workers. A wide range of issues were discussed ranging from terms and conditions of employment through to the impact of climate change.
The guest speaker at the Conference was Emilie Oldknow, Assistant General Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of UNISON who spoke and answered questions on a range of employment issues facing SUE members.
Conference also heard from Jon Dunn, Chair of Trustees of the UNISON Pension Scheme and David Sorensen of Morrish Solicitors, who both led workshops.
Conference was an opportunity to recognise the past contributions of three former SUE activists: Stan Rupa, President of SUE at the time of the merger of NUPE, COHSE and NALGO into UNISON; Dave Saunders National Secretary of SUE through the period after the merger, when the issue of harmonisation of terms and conditions for staff was at the forefront of the agenda; and Keith Hodgson former member of the Executive who was instrumental in setting up the first SUE training course and Branch Secretary in the Northern Region for many years. All three were made Honorary Life Members of SUE.
Conference also expressed its thanks to Angela Gerrard who stood down as the SUE National Education Officer after 6 years in that role and 10 years in total on the Executive. Many of the delegates at Conference, had become active within SUE after attending one of the training courses she ran.
Conference ran smoothly under the auspices of the National President, Jocelyn Pettitt-Rose, who was supported by members of the Executive Committee.
The next conference will be in 2021.
The union for all UNION Staff 