Change to number of Council meetings proposed

Annual Conference will consider changing the number of Council meetings, writes JOHN DIXON.

Delegates to the Annual Conference 2004 carried a resolution entitled "Recruitment and Activism and the Future of the Union". This decision included models for changing the timing and frequency of meetings of Federation Council and Conference. February Council 2005 authorised the distribution of documents for discussion of these matters by members at association meetings. The documents provide information as to what rule changes would need to be made at Annual Conference in 2005 if certain changes canvassed in the Annual Conference decisions from 2004 are to be implemented.

March Council debated the proposal put forward by the Executive which was based on one of the models put forward by Annual Conference 2004.

This model proposes that there be six meetings of the Federation Council per year and an Annual Conference.

Council endorsed the referral of a rule change to Annual Conference 2005 as required by decision of Annual Conference 2004. This amendment will read:

"In Rule 5.7, Regular Meetings of Council, the word 'eight' be deleted and replaced by the word 'six'.
"Note: Rule 5.7, Regular Meetings of Council, would then read:
"1. Council shall meet on a minimum of six occasions during each calendar year. Council dates must be determined by Council on or before the October 31 of the preceding year.
"2. By resolution of Council, additional meetings may be held.
"3. Should a scheduled meeting of Council fail to take place for any reason, the Executive may summon a meeting at any other time and place it considers suitable."

Council noted:

• Federation has developed an extensive program to encourage new and beginning teachers to become members of the union;
• Federation has developed a number of activities over recent years which have provided diverse pathways for members and potential members to become involved with their union; and
• such initiatives require input and funding by the Federation but such activities cannot simply be further additions to what the union and its activist members currently undertake.

Should this Rule change not be endorsed by Annual Conference 2005, Council noted the status quo would be preserved.

The proposed rule change is being sent to all Association Secretaries. Associations can submit amendments to the proposed change to Rule 5.7. Any amendments proposed by Associations to this rule must be in the hands of the General Secretary by 4pm Wednesday May 7, 2005. The amendments must be carried at an Association meeting and signed by the Association Secretary.

These amendments would then be circulated to all Associations so delegates to Annual Conference can be informed before the actual Rules debate at Annual Conference.

If the rule change is not carried at the Annual Conference then the eight Councils would remain as the minimum number of Councils each year.

The changes being proposed for discussion to the cycle of formal meetings should not be seen in a vacuum. Conference has been changed in the past in relation to the number of delegates and its timing in the school year. The number of Council meetings has been changed several times over the years, the last being a change to two Council meetings per term when the four term year was introduced. The format of Council business has also changed considerably over the years.

Further, the current Officers' structure will be examined in 2006 with a view to make appropriate changes for the ensuing triennium.

The changes now being proposed should be seen in the context of what has already been done and what is yet to come to involve new members in the activities of the union. The diversification of pathways for members to access their union has been underway for some years.

Federation has to recruit members to remain a strong force for teachers. Over the next few years, many existing members will leave the teaching service and the union. Recruitment strategies are already under development and some are currently being implemented.

Over the years, new and innovative ways to communicate with members have been developed and implemented. We are no longer simply involving members through set formal meetings and the sending out of our decisions on paper. The rate of change of communications with and involvement of members is accelerating.

Federation must continue to develop and implement other initiatives to ensure this union reaches out to its members so that collectively we can protect and enhance working conditions and make certain that public education remains strong and vital. These goals cannot be achieved by simply doing what we have done in the past and by adding on some further initiatives. We must start to set the platform which will take the Teachers Federation through the next few difficult years in what will be an increasingly hostile environment to unions if we are to ensure these goals are achieved.

John Dixon is Assistant General Secretary (Communications and Administration).

Proposed rule change notice

For further information

March 2005 contents