UK stewards' committee

The committee provides a network for the feedback of information to local stewards and boards and advises on the RCN's employment policies. The committee is made up of an elected representative of stewards from each national and regional section, and they also have a place on the relevant board.

Constitution

1. Title

A United Kingdom stewards' committee shall be established.

2. Purposes

 The purposes of the committee are to:

  • promote the role and value of stewards within the RCN and workplaces and identify the support that they need
  • ensure that the role of stewards reflects the needs of members in the workplace
  • contribute to the development of RCN policy on employment relations
  • assist with the programme development of the national stewards' conferences.

3. Membership

3.1 The committee shall consist of:

  • An elected representative from each of the twelve RCN sections. The elected representatives shall have an ex-officio seat on their Regional or National Board.
  • A council member, appointed by the Membership, Representation and Diversity Committee to be a link to Council.
  •  A representative student steward appointed annually by the RCN association of nursing students executive committee.

3.2 If the geographically elected representative is temporarily absent, then a non-voting substitute (appointed by the stewards in the section) may attend the UK Stewards' committee.

4 Powers of the committee

4.1 The committee shall appoint a steward to serve on other RCN committees or groups as requested.

4.2 Committee members shall provide a link between the Committee and their Board across the UK and be a network for the feedback of information from the UK committee to local Stewards.

4.3 The Committee shall have the power to submit items for to the Agenda Committee and attend RCN Congress, in accordance with the Congress constitution.  The voting places will be available to all members of the Committee and they will agree how the voting places will be filled throughout the week.

5 Committee procedures

5.1 The committee shall be accountable to Council, through the designated council committee, and report to them regularly.

5.2 The committee shall elect from within their number a chair and vice chair.  The elections will be held every two years at the first meeting of the new committee after the RCN AGM.

5.3 The committee shall meet at least four times per year. 

5.4 The quorum for each meeting shall consist of six members of the committee.

5.5 The committee may remove any of its members for non attendance at three consecutive meetings, or for breaching the RCN code of conduct, within the procedure laid out in RCN rule 6.

6 Elections and terms of office

6.1 The term of office for elected geographical members shall be four years, and members will be eligible for election for a further four-year term of office.  As Committee members are also members of the National/Regional Board, those committee members who have served two consecutive terms of office will be ineligible for re-election for a further term of office or co-option to any position on the Board (except Council), until a two-year period has lapsed. 

6.2 The term of office of the nominated student steward shall be one year.

6.3 Committee members will take up office at the first meeting after the RCN AGM.

6.4 Elections shall be held every two years, alternating between elections for six English sections and those remaining English sections (three) and for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Any accredited steward employed within the RCN section can be nominated for election.

6.5 The elections will be for both the committee and a place on the board and therefore an individual's eligibility to stand for election, will be determined by both this committee constitution and that of the board. Individuals may not serve more than eight years on the board without a break, and therefore will not be eligible to stand for the committee, if election would take them over their eight year maximum on the board.

6.6 To be eligible to stand for election to the geographical positions, a member must not be a member of Council, the agenda committee, any other UK committee, including any national (UK) forum committee.

6.7 The RCN returning officer shall be responsible for the conduct of all elections.

6.8 In the event of a vacancy during a term of office, an election will take place if there is two years or more of the term of office left to run. If the term is less than two years an appointment will be made by the committee, in consultation with the stewards in the section.

7. Alteration of the constitution

7.1 Council may amend this constitution, but will only do so after consultation with the stewards, safety representatives and learning representatives' committees. The constitutions committee shall regularly review the constitution and may recommend to Council any amendments to the constitution, after consultation with the committees.