Report from TUC Congress 2011
Action on pensions
FDA General Secretary Jonathan Baume speaking to delegates at TUC Congress 2011
For those attending or watching this year's TUC Congress, which took place in London earlier this week, the key debate was about public sector pensions. A motion, supported by the FDA, called for full support for negotiations with the Government, but also autumn industrial action - if necessary - against pension cuts.
FDA general secretary Jonathan Baume said: "If action is necessary, we will work closely with other public sector unions."
He added that although the union's members "are angry about the contribution increase - in effect, a levy on public servants", the FDA did not completely rule it out.
Ministers, he said, needed to "recognise that pensions are part of the overall reward package" and give some "clear commitments" on pay - including lifting the pay freeze after two years.
"There is still time for the Government to engage and compromise. But it is running out.
"If public sector unions stand together - committed to negotiate if we have a willing partner, but ready to take a stand if ministers simply impose unacceptable and unnecessary change - then we can make a difference."
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the Government had failed to negotiate when it announced the 3.2% contribution increase and when it changed pensions' indexation from the retail prices index (RPI) to the consumer prices index (CPI). It had also failed to provide scheme valuation and demographic data - "essential information to weigh up the options and choices".
"Ministers have to come to the table with new ideas, and in a new spirit, to give [the] talks a chance to succeed. But if those talks cannot make a breakthrough, unions are right and fully justified to plan for action."
Stressful times
FDA President Jeff Brice speaks at TUC Congress 2011
In the debate on workplace stress, FDA President Jeff Brice said there was no doubt that public servants "are facing very tough times - a two-year pay freeze, an unrestrained attack on their pensions and job losses in the thousands".
"Taken one at a time, these things are extremely stressful. Taken together, they amount to a direct assault on people's health."
Brice said FDA members face a "double-edged" problem. "Their own job may well disappear. And at the same time, they have the onerous responsibility for managing staff whose jobs are also at risk."
He added that senior managers are often working in excess of their contracted hours, which created stress and an increased risk of other diseases.
"Unless the causes of stress are tackled, this silent and debilitating illness will claim many more casualties."
Other debates
On the first day of conference, FDA vice-president Sue Gethin moved the FDA's motion on the public sector equality duty.
Gethin spoke of the union's concern that the Government had "weakened the public sector duty by failing to back it up with specific duties' regulations" and called upon the TUC General Council to "help equip affiliated unions with the expertise to work with public bodies, to ensure that progress gained to date is not lost".
Gethin also said that equality impact assessments should "not become a tick-box exercise - they should be meaningful, effective, properly evaluated and carried out by those who are trained to do so".
On Tuesday morning, Managers in Partnership (MiP) chief executive, Jon Restell, spoke in support of the composite motion, All Together for the NHS. This incorporated motions from Unison and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy - together with the FDA's amendment.
Restell told delegates: "The NHS... is number one for quality, equity and safety and [is] low on cost. So it is a shame that this Government chooses to constantly criticise the NHS and insist that it needs a complete makeover."
"All Together for the NHS is a great campaign and is uplifting - bringing together all the health unions under one banner and recognising the contribution of the whole healthcare team."
Restell urged the TUC to "keep up the campaign, keep up the united front and keep in touch with the great British public - they will not let go of their NHS".