CWU RETIRED MEMBERS CONFERENCE 2026.

Birmingham Amal. Offices, 47 Summer Lane, Birmingham, 14th October 2026

REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS & DECISIONS TAKEN.

The 2026 Retired Members Conference  was held once again in the offices of the Birmingham Amal. Branch , on the outskirts of Birmingham City Centre. The attendance was slightly down on previous years with just over sixty delegates, visitors, and admin staff in attendance.

As the Retired Members Representative on the Executive, Norman Candy, was unable to attend due to ill health, the Conference was Chaired by National President, Mick Kavanagh with Andy Mercer vice-President acting vice-Chair.

Best wishes were extended from all at Conference to Norman Candy and all other retired members unable to attend conference with health issues.

General Secretary Address. Dave Ward.

General Secretary, Dave Ward joined the Conference via Zoom and in his address he brought Conference up to date on the union’s current deliberations with Royal Mail and other issues. Dave once again, paid tribute to the work of the retired members section and their importance to the day-to-day business of the union from grass roots level up. Many of the larger trade unions did not have the retired members structure the CWU were privy to.

Dave closed his address by wishing the Retried Members a successful and productive conference.

Guest Speaker : Steve Thompson ( CEO Age UK Birmingham )

Steve gave an interesting presentation on the work of Age UK (Birmingham) and covered a range of issues of concern to pensioners in today’s rapidly changing information technology led  world. He highlighted the alarming growth of AI data centres and the possible threat this could pose to high tech employment opportunities in the future.

Steve also spoke on the continued importance of maintaining the Triple Lock. Large numbers of our pensioners, on only the state pension, are dependent on the built-in protections in the Triple Lock. All UK pensioners groups need to continue the campaign for its survival.

The UK continues to have one of the poorest pensions in the European community, currently sitting fifteenth in the “League Table”

And remember, a decent rise in the UK State Pension rate would make legislation like the triple lock unnecessary!

Note : A copy of Steve’s PowerPoint presentation is available should anyone wish to avail of it.

Motions.

There were fifteen motions on the agenda with one Emergency Motion relating to the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham’s reference to possible changes to the Pensioners Triple Lock. All motions were debated and a full report of their progress is included at the back of this report.

Note: Motion five standing in the name of Plymouth & East Cornwall was Withdrawn and Motion fourteen standing in the name of the London Region RM’s was Accepted.

The Motion from the Northern Ireland Telecom Branch was competently moved by John Leydon, and I seconded it on behalf of the National RM Committee and the Motion was carried unanimously.

I am also glad to report that the Emergency Motion on the Triple Lock, submitted by Greater Manchester, was also carried with minimal opposition. Certainly, any dilution of the Triple Lock which would result in even one pensioner being worse off financially must be opposed.

Closing Remarks: National President Mick Kavanagh.

The National President, Mick Kavanagh, congratulated all delegates for dealing with the business with efficiency, dignity, and respect for each other. He also gave a commitment to organise a face-to-face meeting of the National Retired Members Committee, in the coming weeks to discuss our structure and what  the introduction of Biennial General Conference will mean reference the decisions taken at this year’s Retired Members’ Conference.

Obviously, this will also give us an opportunity to discuss the motions carried in Birmingham and the ramifications of moving them forward. The fact there is no General Conference next year (2027) would suggest, we need to agree on how the motions carried are now dealt with, by whom, and what the likely timescales involved are. Certainly, the protocols for dealing with Retired Members issues in a non-conference year has been raised before at our branch retired members section meeting.

Representation.

The NITB Retired Members Section was represented by Roy Guinn, Chair and John Leydon and I was there as a member of the National Retired Members Committee.

Retired Members Annual Conference – Motions 2026.

For ease of reference, I have included a matrix of Retired Members Conference Decisions 2026 below:

1

Commissioner for England/Scotland

Eastern No5

Carried

2

Commissioner for England

South East No 5

Falls

3

Oppose Palantir US Data Co. in NHS

North West Region

Carried

4

Universal Dental Reform

Retired Members Comm.

Carried

Emergency Motion

Triple Lock. Opposition to change

Greater Manchester

Carried

5

NHS Dentistry

Plymouth & East Cornwall

Withdrawn

6

Correspondence by e-mail or post

South West Region

Carried

7

Reform of Care Service in Scotland

Scotland  No2

Carried

8

Staying Safe in Heatwaves

Leeds No1 Amal

Carried

9

Resist AI Bots in NHS

Retired Members Comm.

Carried

10

Extend 26 week to 52 week period to join Retired Members Section

NI Telecom Branch/RMS

Carried

11

Prostate Cancer Screening

South Wales

Carried

12

Regular Branch updates (No delegate)

Great Western

Falls1

13

Report back on Conf. Motions.

Somerset/Devon/C’wall

Carried

14

UCW 2001 Pension Scheme

London Region

Accepted

Policy

15

Nat Register or RM names for Reps in Non-Recognised Sector

Harrow& District

Carried

Lawrence C. Huston

Nat.RM Committee / NI Region. / Branch Retired Members Section Rep.           

mob: 07802 787733