Accord’s biennial conference 2012

Accord’s biennial Conference 2012 took place last week in Bristol, with over 250 reps, Accord staff and guests.

By the time Conference finished on Friday, delegates had debated really important  motions that had been submitted by workplaces.

Delegates heard from several speakers including senior LBG managers, Frances O’Grady, deputy general secretary of the TUC and  Anne Kiem, chief executive of the Institute of Financial Services.

During Frances’s speech she congratulated Accord on several recent achievements including extending the job security agreement, and the first recognition agreement outside of LBG with ELAS She said: “Accord is a prominent member of the TUC and the wider trade union movement – it punches well above its weight.”

Tributes were paid to Accord’s deputy general secretary Clive Webster, and founder of the union, John Simmons, both of whom passed away last year.

The conference ended with the union’s president Marilyn Morris stepping down and new president, Chris Goldthorpe took up his place. During an emotional closing speech Marilyn paid tribute to the reps, principal executive council and Accord staff and wished the union every success in the future.

Immediately following the conference, the new Principal Executive Council elected Carley Anderson and Cilla Christmas as vice presidents for the next two years. Chris Riley was elected to lead for the union on Equality and Diversity issues for the same period.

There will be full report including pictures of the event in the next issue of My Accord, out soon, including an interview with Chris Goldthorpe.

You can access the agenda by clicking on this link – Agenda for the conference