The trade union movement uses a lot of jargon, which while it can be useful, can also make it harder for new people to understand what's being said or to get involved.
Over time I would like to build up this page as a glossary and jargon buster. If you come across a word or phrase in UNITE that you don't understand, please leave a comment below and I will try to add it along with an explanation.
AAC: See Area Activists Committee
AAM: See Area Activists Meeting
AEEU: Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, one of the unions that became Amicus
AEU: Amalgamated Engineering Union, one of the unions that became AEEU
AGS: Assistant General Secretary. AGSes report to the General Secretary, while National Officers report to AGSes.
Amendment: A proposal to add to, delete from or otherwise modify a remit
Amicus: One of the unions that became UNITE
Area Activists Committee (AAC): Each region of UNITE is divided into a number of smaller "areas", each of which has an elected committee which meets quarterly. The AAC sends delegates and can send remits to the Regional Committee. In addition, each area has an Area Activists Meeting (AAM).
Area Activists Meeting (AAM): The AAM takes place quarterly and is open to all activists in an area, but unlike the AAC is not a formal decision-making body of the union.
BAEM: Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority
CAT: Civil Air Transport sector
Challenge the chair: Where someone in a meeting believes that the chair has taken a wrong decision, they can "challenge the chair". It normally requires a 2/3 majority to overturn a decision of the chair.
Chief of Staff: Senior member of staff, reporting to the General Secretary, to whom the Regional Secretaries report.
Composite: It is common practice at union conferences to "composite" or merge two or more motions or amendments on the same subject which do not conflict with each other to produce a single "composite motion", avoiding wasting the time of conference in debating and voting on the same issues several times
EC: See Executive Council
EETPU: Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union. One of the unions that became AEEU.
Executive Council: The main committee for the union nationally, with members representing each region, sector and equalities strand.
F&GP: see Finance & General Purposes Committee.
Finance & General Purposes Committee (F&GP): a subcommittee of another body such as the EC or RC that deals with financial matters and may take urgent decisions between meetings of the main body.
GEC: an out of date term for the EC, mainly used by ex-TGWU members
GPM&IT: Graphical, Paper, Media & Information Technology sector
GPMU: Graphical, Paper and Media Union. One of the unions that became Amicus
GS: General Secretary. Elected full-time head of the union.
Lay-member: any member not employed by the union.
LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
MSF: Manufacturing, Science & Finance. One of the unions that became Amicus.
Motion: see remit
National Industrial Sector Committee: the national committee for each sector, elected from the RISCs. The NISC can send remits to the Executive Council.
National Officer: full-time officer, typically with national responsibility for one or more industrial sectors
NEC: an out of date term for the EC, mainly used by ex-Amicus members
NISC: See National Industrial Sector Committee
NO: National Officer
Point of Order: An interruption during a meeting to complain that the meeting is not being conducted in line with the Standing Orders.
RAAW: Rural, Agricultural and Allied Workers sector
RC: see Regional Committee
RCO: Regional Coordinating Officer
Regional Committee: The main committee for each region, with representatives from each sector, area and equalities strand.
Regional Coordinating Officer (RCO): An RCO reports to the Regional Secretary and has a number of Regional Officers reporting to them for the 100% campaign
Regional Industrial Sector Committee (RISC): An committee for each industrial sector in each region, elected at the Regional Industrial Sector Conference. The RISC can send delegates and remits to the Regional Committee and National Industrial Sector Committee.
Regional Officer (or sometimes Regional Industrial Officer): a full-time officer with responsibility for a number of workplaces and branches within one region.
Regional Secretary: the senior full-time officer responsible for a UNITE region.
Remit: This has two meanings:
- As a noun, "a remit", resolution or motion is a piece of text agreed by a meeting which expresses a policy or other decision
- As a verb, a meeting can "remit" or send an item of business to another body for consideration.
RIO: See Regional Officer
RISC: See Regional Industrial Sector Committee
RO: See Regional Officer
RTCL: Road Transport Commercial & Logistics sector
Standing Orders: A set of rules to govern the conduct of a meeting
Substantive: the version of a remit including one of more amendments that have been made to the original
Suspend Standing Orders: Agree that for a period of time the meeting will not adhere to the Standing Orders, for example by running past the official end time of the meeting, or to allow someone to speak for longer than normally allowed
TGWU: Transport and General Workers Union, one of the unions that became UNITE
Trade Group: an out of date term for sector, mainly used by ex-TGWU members
UNIFI: Finance union that became part of Amicus
Young: 30 or under
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