Tuesday, December 08, 2015

Newham Council Motion on Trade Union Bill

This motion was passed unanimously at the Newham Full Council meeting last night. The Tory anti-trade union bill has passed through the House of Commons with some significant changes. It goes to the House of Lords in January. We need to keep the pressure up to defeat or change this authoritarian and anti-democratic bill.  I will post our speeches later. 

Motion 2 – Trade Union Bill

Proposer: Councillor John Whitworth
Seconder: Councillor John Gray

This Council Notes:

·  The positive contribution that trade unions and trade union members make in our workplaces. This Council values the constructive relationship that we have with our trade unions and we recognise their commitment, and the commitment of all our staff, to the delivery of good quality public services.

·  With concern the Trade Union Bill which is currently being proposed by the Government and which would affect this Council’s relationship with our trade unions and our workforce as a whole. This Council rejects this Bill’s attack on local democracy and the attack on our right to manage our own affairs.

This Council believes:

·  That facility time, negotiated and agreed by us and our trade unions to suit our own specific needs, has a valuable role to play in the creation of good quality and responsive local services. Facility time should not be determined or controlled by Government in London.

·  That the arrangements we currently have in place for deducting trade union membership subscriptions through our payroll are beneficial. We see this as an important part of our positive industrial relations and a cheap and easy to administer system that supports our staff. This system is an administrative matter for the Council and should not be interfered with by the UK Government. 

This Council resolves

·  To support the campaign against the unnecessary, anti-democratic and bureaucratic Trade Union Bill.
·  To seek to continue its own locally agreed industrial relations strategy and will take every measure possible to maintain its autonomy with regard to facility time and the continuing use of check-off. 

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