What's a motion?

Branch democracy #

How your union branch is run, who your branch officials are, and what you work towards collectively is decided by you and your colleagues. Many of these decisions are made, at least yearly, at an Annual General Meeting (AGM).

As part of setting up the union branch, you and your colleagues will hold a special AGM. An important part of this meeting is deciding what the rules are for running the branch and what the newly elected Branch Executive Committee should focus on. Rules are adopted and priorities are set through proposals, called "motions," that members will propose and vote on at the AGM.

The two types of motions #

There are two types of motions you'll propose and adopt at the AGM:

• Procedure and rules motions
• Positional motions

Procedure and rules motions #

Every branch at Prospect starts with a set of model rules. You and your colleagues will adopt and customise the rules through procedure and rules motions.

Procedure and rules motions make changes to the governing documents of the union branch. This can include everything from a name change to the specific responsibilities of elected officers to how meetings are conducted. These should take the form of alterations to the governing documents of the union.

Procedure and rules motion example #

Motion: Pets Officer

Add to section on elected officers the following:

Pets Officer

The pets officer will have responsibility for checking in on the pets of all members of the union and ensure union members are sufficiently supported in morale by pictures of adorable pets. This role can be shared with any other role. If this role is vacant it will be held in honorary status by a selected pet from the Branch Committee.

Positional motions #

Positional motions instruct the committee to act in a certain way and should be framed in that manner. This can include anything from setting negotiation red lines to requests for statements from the committee to work requested of the committee (such as running a survey of members or investigating an issue).

They should be clear about the work conducted and if they require resources (eg cash) be clear about how this is to be provided. These should begin with "This motion instructs…" and be a specific ask.

Positional motion example #

Motion: Free Ponies

This motion instructs the committee to ensure that all new members of the union receive a free pony on joining the union. These will be provided by Prospect Union funds as thanks for saving the General Secretary’s Pony last year. Should Prospect Union funds run low then the Committee is requested to plant a pony tree to ensure future ponies are a sustainable resource.

Motion themes #

So far, members have been discussing motions covering voting processes, representative areas, tools and methods of communication, and case work processes.

Any member or group of members can submit motions for consideration, so you don't have to go it alone, and your reps encourage you to discuss your ideas in the union slack if you're looking for feedback.

Submission #

To submit motions for member consideration, email your motion to motion@section787.org by the end of 28 October.

After the submission deadline, there will be a period of review and deduplication. If there are multiple motions covering the same rule or position, authors of each will be asked to collaborate to see if it's possible to consolidate the suggestions.

Motions will be shared with members for review prior to the AGM, and during the AGM members will vote on each.