UNISON's lay representatives covering members in the LGPS met on 10th January to consider the next steps in the campaign. Each of the Service Group Executives (SGE) separately agreed a motion to proceed with detailed negotiations.
In the Local Government SGE, by far the largest in terms of the membership involved, the vote was 24 - 10 with reps from Scotland understandably abstaining as their scheme is different. The individual SGE meetings followed a joint LGPS presentation which itself followed a briefing for Regional Convenors and senior activists and staff in the morning on the latest position in the different pension schemes.
http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=2563
The vote to proceed will be a blow for those from some factions who had been calling UNISON to walk away from any negotiations - even though the staus quo has been secured and in the LGPS there is no detailed set of proposals as yet! Perhaps those officials and activists in some other unions who have openly tried to interfere with UNISON's decision making processes will now respect the democratic decision of UNISON's elected lay member bodies.
