TUC Congress 2024: Sunday

This afternoon at 4pm it was the start of Trade Union Congress 2024 in Brighton Conference centre. Congress will last until Wednesday. I am here as a UNISON delegate and was really pleased that the first motion was "Standing up for care workers" moved by a UNISON care worker, Sian Stockholm. This was passed unanimously. 

The President this year is Fire Brigade Union (FBU) General Secretary, Matt Wrack,who started his career as a firefighter in Silvertown, Newham. He spoke passionately about Grenfell in his address and was also in tears after the speeches about him in the "vote of thanks" for his past year as President. 

The address by sororal delegate from the Labour Party, was by former trade union lawyer, Ellie Reeves MP (sister of the Chancellor) .  She made it clear that while there will be differences between the unions and a Labour Government, Labour under Keir Starmer will remain the party for workers. Afterwards Matt presented Ellie with a TUC Gold Badge. 

While Akhator Joel Odigie, the general secretary of ITUC Africa also addressed Congress. He reminded us that Africa supplies Europe not only with NHS workers but precious metals for mobile phones and car batteries. He wished that Labour UK plans on rolling back zero hour contracts, fire and rehire etc were not also happening in Africa.   

Final item today was remembering union activists who had passed away in the last year.

I will try and post on Congress, speakers, speeches and fringes when I can. It is exciting that this is the first TUC in 14 years to take place at the same time as a Labour Government.

TUC London, Eastern & South East Regional Council AGM 24

 

(Text largely from my twitter account @grayee) "At @The_TUC LESE AGM in Congress House, London (home of the British Trade union movement) which I am attending as a @unisonglr delegate.

After a minutes silence to remember comrades who have died in past year, the AGM starts with a Video message from @The_TUC General Secretary @nowak_paul & now verbal report from @TUC_LESE regional Secretary @GurneySam.

Bit of a shock that TUC Executive Council are considering whether they should remortgage Congress House & refurbish it to modern standards or sell it & move elsewhere.

Next @The_TUC President & GS @fbunational @MattWrack keynote speaker on ""meeting the challenges & organising to win". Matt speaks passionately about 7th anniversary of #Grenfell, the vote winning importance of @UKLabour #NewDealforWorkingPeople & 40th anniversary of #Minersstrike

@The_TUC Women's officer @louloupound gives update on workplan to build union capacity to tackle sexual harassment in workplace. Nikki does not dodge the fact that we need in our own #LabourMovement to get our House in order & address sexual harassment & discrimination.

Next update was by @TUC_LESE officer Adrian Ryan on the London union learning project Unionlearn

Now election results for @TUC_LESE executive council and elections for President, Vice Presidents, treasurer, SOC & auditors. New President @RMTunion Kathy Mazur thanks Jim Kelly & then moves RMT motion 1 "A better railway for London, SE and the East of England"

Motion passed unanimously. Now 2nd RMT motion "No more P&Os: A fair pay agreement for the ferry sector". Also passed unanimously.

Update by @TUC_LESE Laurie Heselden on "New Deal for Working People". Making it clear that this is a trade union policy as much as @UKLabour

Following some rather odd & negative comments from a couple of delegates Our @unisontheunion delegation leader @organiserjo makes the point in Q&A that the relationship of @TUC_LESE &
@UKLabour @labourunionsuk & the positive work that is done. While President @unitetheunion Jim Kelly gave a ringing endorsement of @SadiqKhan for his support 4 workers

Update by project lead Maria McCaul on London Unemployed Strategies

Final update by Daniel Shannon-Hughes on @TUC_LESE Bulletin. Only 3k out of 1.8 million trade unionists are current subscribers'. Scan to sign up! (top left of collage) or click here  https://tuc.org.uk/lese-news\

Final item Finance report. Meeting closed.

#Lab13 Fire fighters strike over pensions

 

Outside the conference hall at lunchtime there were striking fire fighters handing out leaflets explaining why they are going on strike this afternoon over pensions. The fire service is planning to raise retirement ages and contributions. It is of course completely ludicrous to expect such emergency workers to work until they are 60. Picture of UNISON Stockport Branch chair Mark Rayner showing support and sharing a joke at the picket line at King Street station. I am now sitting next to his wife Angela during Ed Miliband's Q&A.   

Why Boris plan to cut 10 Fire stations will kill Londoners

Hat tip SERTUC for this Fire Brigade Union video with voice over by Ross Kemp about what will happen if these fire stations are closed.

"- Ross Kemp’s campaign film “Every Second Counts” is available at http://ow.ly/oBEO5
- The film is being promoted by FBU members and supporters via social media.
- Petitions against the closures can be found on the Government’s e-petition site at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/41043 and on the 38 Degrees site at http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-our-firestations
- The evidence that the Mayor has misled Londoners on his plans and the script for the film are available on the London FBU website at www.london.fbu.org.uk/?page_id=527"

TUC 2012: Nationalise the Banks?

Motion 27 "Public Ownership of the banks" moved by the Fire Brigades Union saw the first real "debate" of Congress since there was a speaker against. While much of the motion makes sense I don’t see the answer to the "disastrous role of the banks" being "full public ownership of the sector". In the TUC statement on the motion it mentioned the huge cost of doing so (£180 billion) and fairly asked whether this would this include successful and well run mutual banks such as Nationwide and the Co-op?

I was surprised that during the debate there was no discussion about the role of workers capital and the governance of banks? It was mentioned that the money in banks is "our money" but we also already own significant bits of many banks via our pension and insurance funds. The problem is not just the "de-regulated, free market model" – it’s also that we have no meaningful way of exercising our rights (and responsibilities) of ownership over our shareholding in banks and other companies.

Decisions are taken by fund managers in our name with our money but often in their interests and that of the financial services "mates culture".

The motion was passed (UNISON abstained since no policy) but I understand that since the TUC Council statement was also approved then the statement overrides the motion. Classic TUC.

National Association of Pension Funds Local Authority Conference 2012

This was very informative and well organised conference taking place during an absolutely crucial time for the future of the local government pensions scheme (LGPS). I was there as a Councillor and member of the Borough LGPS Investment and Accounts committee.

I did “twitter” (in my case a very apt term?) during the conference (see hash tag @grayee and #napf).
The NAPF had amongst many other speakers the minster responsible for the LGPS, Bob Neill MP, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Charlie Bean; the Chair of the Local Government Association, Sir Merrick Cockell (who in a Q&A I referred to as “Michael”) and from the unions, GMB national secretary Brian Strutton.

The Chair of the NAPF is Joanne Segers. By coincidence the first ever trade union pension course I ever went on was delivered by her father, TUC tutor Terry Segers. Proper old school ex-fire brigade union.

Considering the number of forthright and opinionated individuals present at the conference, the Q&A sessions were quite quiet, which gave a opportunity to a certain gobby part time politician and union rep to somewhat hog the floor during questions.

Key issues to me from the speeches and seminars were:- how Housing associations are “gagging to build new homes” which if happened could help us get out of recession like it did in 1930’s; the real problem in pensions is not in the public sector but that private sector pensions were destroyed by various incompetents; if you truly want diversity on company boards why not have employee reps on them? Are fund advisers really interested in good governance and making company boards accountable? It’s a “no brainer that LGPS should share services" (if so why not just merge?); in the current LGPS if you earn £150k per year you pay less in percentage terms net than if you earn £15k pa (this is wrong, wrong, wrong); What is the collective term for Actuaries? Answer “An invoice”; the new proposed £2 billion infrastructure fund and LGPS governance (a possible national Local Government Pensions Board?)

There was clearly an expectation by speakers that the future of the LGPS negotiations would have been finalised by now. But there is some last minute hic-cups. This is immensely frustrating but I suppose they do want to make sure, as far as possible, that there is no misunderstanding or ambiguities about the “agreement”. The ultra left trade union cry babies (the so called 0.8%ers) are of course still weeping tears at the prospect of no more strike chasing to bring about the revolution but we should have the final offer very soon.

It was good to see at the final session that the conference applauded DCLG pensions lead, Terry Crossley, who is retiring from the civil service. I have crossed swords (politely) with Terry for the past 10 years or so over beneficiary representation on the LGPS. I wish him well in his retirement and told him that if a deal is reached on a new look LGPS then he should have a new part time job and go out and sell the model to the private sector who are in desperate need of affordable and sustainable defined benefit pension schemes. 

FBU rep attacks SWP "Wrecker of the Week" Minitrue

The journal of (un)Democratic Centralism (my latest Wrecker of the Week) has been forced to publish the following attacks by a very angry FBU rep over their coverage of the recent strikes.

The Socialist (minitrue) Worker is accused by this rep as follows "your coverage of the London firefighters’ dispute has  angered FBU activists".... "Your reports of the first strike on 23 October were outlandish"...attacking the FBU General Secretary; "fantasising that you were witnessing the French revolution" ...publishing a video that was "used to discredit the union"...wanting to "Have some people die on bonfire night to ‘prove’ the scabs are rubbish?"..using the media to attack the union and not bothering to contact the union beforehand...and "disparage the democratic structures of the FBU".

Well, this is no great surprise to me. Check out report in Solidarity magazine and even the modern day Socialist Minitrue itself.  Hat-tip Col. Roi.

Something very odd is happening with Socialist Minitrue and their contributors.  Is their parallel universe crashing down upon them under the weight of truth?

Check out this bizarre story here in the West Yorkshire News where the SWP Chair of a Unison branch wrote a "misleading, inaccurate and unhelpful” on Minitrue of a "successful" outcome of a meeting before the branch and the employer had finalised negotiations.  What is going on? Hmmm. 

Hat-tip thingy Tynesider

Tory Toad Plans to Slash & Burn London Fire Brigade.

It is now clear that the Fire Brigade Union fear that that the proposed changes to their terms and conditions by Tory London Fire authority Chair, Brian Coleman, was actually all about reducing the number of fire engines and firefighters - was pretty accurate.

Let us check out Tory blogger Iain Dale here 1 November 2010 where he said "the FBU have used it to put about scare stories about future reductions in night cover or a possible reduction in fire appliances. Coleman has said publicly on several occasions he will guarantee that neither of those will happen. But the union pretends not to hear".

Now check out the notorious toad of London City Hall late amendment to the London Fire budget here that

"officers [should] explore, as part of the budget process, and report back to the Committee... on whether the Brigade needs all 27 of the fire appliances removed from stations during the current industrial action to be returned or whether there is an over-supply of appliances".

This would result in 500 Job losses and a 16% reduction in the number of fire engines. Now it could be Coleman is just being his usual petty minded and vindictive self or the FBU fears were legitimate from get go. You can guess my view.

Et tu, Red Tel? (in joke).  Hat tip thingy Col. Roi.

London Fire Brigade Union Strike

Picture is from Euston Fire Station.  London fire-fighters have taken their 2^nd day of strike action against the attempt by Boris Johnson to change their shift patterns by threatening to dismiss them all and “re-engage” on inferior terms and conditions. 

Fire-fighters to not take strike action at all lightly and have been forced into action by the provocation of their employers.  An overwhelming majority of fire-fighters voted in a secret ballot and an overwhelming majority voted in favour of strike action.  If the threat to dismiss is called off then the strikes would be suspended.

The next strike will take place on November 5-7^th. Check out this leaflet being distributed to members of the public.

SERTUC Council meeting

This morning I went off to the Southern and Eastern Region TUC Council (SERTUC) meeting at Congress House.  Firstly there was a UNISON pre-meeting for delegates.  Then up to the 5th floor for Council. 

Normally we are in the basement conference area but this was being prepared for today’s “anti-cuts” Rally.  The meeting finished at 11.45 so that delegates can get to the Rally for 12 noon. 

SERTUC President Martin Gould gave his usual straight talking and no nonsense feisty opening report on the battles ahead.

We then moved directly to motions.  We passed unanimously a CWU motion “Keep the Post Public Coalition”.  UNISON delegate Brian Walters (and son of a postie) seconded this motion in fluent French to honour the protests taking place across the channel!  There was also an Unite motion “Attack on Public Services”.  I spoke on this 2^nd motion. 

I reminded Council that we must talk to our members and not just ourselves.  Some polls show that even a majority of union members think the cuts are necessary.  We need to challenge this and one way is to let our members know how sheer “nasty” they are – as a working front line secretary of the UNISON Housing Association branch we have to deal with a 50%  or £4 billion in cuts in housing; the ending of security of tenure which will mean that my members will be expected to evict Grannies whose kids have left home; in London there will be no more new public housing starts in 2011; who will house the expected extra 82,000 private tenants who will be evicted in London due to restrictions in Housing benefit?; London Councils report that some authorities are planning to block book B&B’s in south coast resorts; future rents in public housing will be 80% of “market rents” which in London could mean an average  2 bed flat rental will rise from £90 per week to £250.  Who can afford that?

Never the economics theory but surely it is madness that my members who develop homes are being made redundant at the same time as construction workers are being laid off resulting in less income tax and more claims for benefit at the same time that we have 4 million in housing need! 

SERTUC secretary Megan Dobney reminded us that the Fire Brigade Union (FBU) were on strike in London from 10am this morning (there is a SERTUC solidarity meeting for the FBU on Thursday evening at Congress House).   There is another one day strike due on 1 November 2010.  

There were a few contributions around the secretary’s report but we eventually finished early enough to even have extra items of AOB!

Off to main SERTUC rally 11.40.

“On the knocker” with Labour Fire-fighter Michael Nicholas in Canning Town South

On Monday evening I went out canvassing with Michael who is an existing Labour Councillor, a London fire-fighter and who is also on the Executive Council of the Fire Brigade Union (FBU).

I hadn’t been to this part of the Canning Town South Ward before and was impressed with the regeneration works that had taken place in the area. The older “Newham Homes” blocks have been refurbished and there were a number of small new build housing association developments. Estate management and design by both organisations seemed to be pretty good.

Michael was born in Canning Town and has lived in Newham all his life. Local residents were usually quite happy to chat with him about local issues and concerns. So much that we had to take off him the voter ID sheets (NB never let your candidate lead the canvass team).

Pictured with Michael is Charlene McLean who is standing herself as a Newham Labour Councillor in Stratford and Newtown.

SERTUC Regional Council 18 July 2009

SERTUC (South East Region Trade Union Council) meets on a Saturday morning every 3 months at Congress House. Each TUC region will hold similar meetings.

Beforehand UNISON representatives held a pre-meeting where we discussed the agenda and agreed our positions.

The first main item of business is the President’s report. Martin reported on the recent strikes in the construction and engineering sector. Workers on the “Blue book” terms and conditions. He considered that the successful outcomes of the strikes should be considered as “victories” for the workers concerned especially during these times. The Fight still goes on since employers are trying to use the recession to attack workers. He praised the CWU strike action in support of the post office. The likelihood of action by the Fire Brigade over the attempt to Privatise support services. Mind you the FBU don’t need lessons on defending themselves. Congratulations to those in this region who fought the BNP. But 2 BNP MEPs are two too many. He pressed the government to use the banks that they now own to support British companies. He reminded Council that today was the 91st birthday of Nelson Mandela. “Congratulations”. He reaffirmed our solidarity with our brothers and sisters in South Africa who are still struggling to bring about fairness.

Next the inevitable “minutes/matters arising”.

Our First Speaker was Kate Hudson – who is the Chair of CND. She led on the recent Guardian poll that 54% of the public are opposed to having nuclear weapons. It is also the first time a majority of Labour Party supporters oppose the Trident programme. The highest level of opposition is in the 18-24 age range (no surprise there). Amongst social classes CDE there is the greatest opposition at 63% (which is surprising – to me anyway). She thinks that there has been a victory that the decision on Trident will have to come back to Parliament and that there will be a 9 month delay. She argues that research shows that more jobs will be created if Trident is scrapped.

Labour MEP Claude Moraes was to speak on the European Elections results but unfortunately his Dad is sick so he has had to fly to Edinburgh. He will speak at the next meeting.

The Regional Secretary had submitted a written report on which she accepted questions and comments. She reminded us about Burston School Strikes Rally. A CWU speaker reported on the ongoing dispute in Royal Mail. We were told to expect further industrial action. Our delegation leader asked for an update on proposal to make “Workers Memorial Day” officially recognised. There is supposed to be a DWP consultation on this. Megan was not sure how much substance this proposal has but will check it out.

The only motion was the Greater London UNISON motion on “shared surfaces”. Which I kept referring to as “shared services” (which is another trade union issue). This motion had voiced opposition to the whole concept. This is (very basically) the Dutch idea that you improve road safety by merging roads and pavements. The Executive wanted the motion to be remitted. But an amendment was submitted which appeared to do away with their concerns. Many disabled groups are opposed. Nicholas Russell from London Voluntary Organisation branch moved the motion and argued “How can you feel safe if you can’t tell the difference between the road and the pavement”. There was however a good debate by speakers opposed to the motion who believed that Shared Services can actually improve road safety and that we need fresh thinking. Despite this the motion was passed with overwhelming support.

The only items of AOB – was a request for everyone to sign the petition to save Vauxhall and invite everyone to join the UNISON Beastly Boris “chicken feed” event on Tuesday.

There were 66 trade union reps present form 19 different affiliated trade unions and 20 reps from county Trade Union Councils.

(usual health warning on the accuracy of my “speed typing”)