Defending, Valuing and Organising the Community and Voluntary Sector in Northern Ireland

Conference notes that:

1. The community and voluntary sector in Northern Ireland employs approximately 57,000 workers across hundreds of employers and over a thousand sites, with trade union density below 5%.
2. The sector delivers frontline services to some of the most vulnerable people in society, including youth services, women's aid refuges and women's centres, disability organisations, addiction services, food banks, housing, health and community organisations, ethnic minority support groups, environmental projects, and training and education programmes.
3. These are the services that are the first to identify families in poverty, women fleeing domestic abuse, young people at risk and mental health issues.
4. Since the end of European Social Fund support, each successive replacement funding stream has been reduced by millions of pounds, leaving the sector in serious crisis.
5. Over the same period, local councils have attracted funding to deliver services that were previously delivered by community and voluntary organisations, and new council-led training, education and environmental projects have been established alongside them.
6. The workers delivering these services are among the lowest paid in our economy, often on short-term contracts tied to funding cycles, with little job security.

Conference believes that:

1. Workers in this sector are undervalued relative to the vital work they do, and this is a direct result of chronic underfunding and short-term funding models.
2. The movement of funding and delivery from community organisations to councils reflects a pattern that threatens the survival of independent, community-rooted organisations, and with them the trust, expertise and reach they have built over decades.
3. Cuts to the sector will fall hardest on the communities that depend on it, and on the workers who keep these services running.
4. Short-term funding, late decisions and disproportionate scrutiny cause low pay, insecurity and staff loss, and put frontline services at risk.
5. The sector's low union density, fragmented employers and dispersed workplaces make it one of the most difficult to organise, and it will not be organised without a dedicated, well-resourced and coordinated effort.

The community and voluntary sector acknowledge the support of the trade union movement and the engagement, particularly around May Day that provides a platform to meaningfully engage with our sector. 

Conference resolves to:

1. Demand a transparent public audit of funding streams previously available to the sector that have been redirected to or retained by councils and other public bodies.
2. Call on councils and departments to commission services in partnership with the community and voluntary sector rather than duplicating or displacing its work.
3. Campaign for funding conditions that require fair work standards, including at minimum the real Living Wage, secure contracts, full cost recovery, TUPE protection where services transfer, and access for trade unions.
4. Provide support and resources for sector-wide social partnership forum of unions, employers and government, with the aim of establishing sectoral collective bargaining.
5. Commit resources to a dedicated organising strategy for the sector, including an organising team, workplace representative training, and a coordinated approach with other unions through NIC-ICTU to avoid duplication across such a fragmented workforce.