December 2025 minutes

2025 minutes 0

Wolverhampton, Bilston & District Trades Union Council

Delegate Meeting minutes Thursday 18th December 2025

Present online: (delegates in bold): Tom Mohan, Nick Kelleher, John Clark UNITE WM/6150; Marie Taylor UNITE LE/372; Penny Welch UCU Wolverhampton University, Michael Vaughan Unison Staffordshire; Ali Rahimi UNITE WM5115, Graham Childs CWU, Jacqui Coogan, Phillipa Webster
Apologies: Si Goode, Tim Martin, Sonia Wilkins, John Oakley, Metka Potocnik

  1. Minutes of November Delegate Meeting agreed; Matters Arising: MV has been in contact with Staffordshire libraries to receive copies of our Black Country & Enslavement books – currently about 400 of each left.
  2. EC report & urgent correspondence:
  1. future speakers on threat to Venezuela; Green issues and link to colonialism
  2. AGM – launch general strike book. Venue (15 Jan 2026) to print 150 copies of annual report; will need President’s Report by 2nd Jan.
  3. 2026 affiliation forms sent out; EC/officer nominations; CWU have affiliated for 2025 and 2026; UNITE WM/6150 have also affiliated and sent nominations.
  4. Workers’ Memorial Day stone –ordered stone £3,180; £1,000 deposit paid. Due to be in place April 2026 in time for WMDay. Appeal to branches to be made. £1,350 pledged from UNITE WM/6150. £1,810 left to raise.
  5. General strike centenary pamphlet designed – 200 copies printed @£125.11; has been put online https://wolvestuc.org.uk/when-workers-ruled-wolverhampton-and-bilston/ where to distribute?
  6. Heart Unions Week planned activity Sat 7th and Sat 14 Feb 2026 – EC to decide venues; Wolverhampton market and Bilston?
  7. 2024/5 accounts MV/AT still to sign off audit – will be done for 2026 AGM.
  8. £200 grant application made to Boring Fund for non-profit organisations’ admin costs – refused
  9. Dudley TUC £200 donation and £50 received from Staffordshire Unison for our BHM launch. Chased up missing £300 TUC Development grant.
  10. London Recruits film distributor NK/MT to chase up
  11. TUCJCC reports, Special Bulletin on anti far-right, update on work from conference; 2026 TUC conference dates circulated
  12. Midlands TUC Employment Rights Bill updates sent out; Labour Research, Cuba Si, WM CND, Nicaragua Solidarity newsletters received.
  1. Education unions’ round table – MT reported on 1st Dec meeting with NASUWT, UCU, UNISON and Education portfolio holder JC. Discussed guidelines for schools involved in privatising services, since low paid workers getting terms and conditions and pensions cut so they can make profit from contracts.
  2. Countering Far-Right: local Wolverhampton in Unity and national Together Alliance against the far right – agreed to endorse. Demo Sat 28 March 2026, London – no special funding for trades councils to provide any transport. Our Anti-Reform-UK leaflet – become out of date with government back track on Act. Print 5,000 in new year unless LP wards want to use too.
  3. delegate reports:
    1. ASLEF from 1st February West Midlands Railway will be again publicly owned.
    2. UCU more course closures and redundancies including lead union negotiator. This is ruining future of city. Warinder Juss MP and Sureena Brackenridge are both grad
    3. UNISON – Andrea Egan defeated current general secretary in a very low turnout; starts January and will take her current social worker wage not the previous £181k annual salary of McKenna.
    4. UNITE – Birmingham Bin Strike Megapicket Fri Jan 30th 2026 from 6-10am at all sites
  4. TUCJCC report and Secretary report by NK circulated
  5. CODIR (Iran) report of AGM – MT attended as our delegate. Actions for affiliates required rather than just statements.
  6. Palestine Solidarity Campaign – several young people on hunger strike as being held as terrorists on remand despite not being charged with terrorism; seriously affecting health. LP just ignoring them.
  7. any other business – Employment Bill now passed as Act.
  8. @8pm speaker – Surviving Reform-UK; reflections from UNISON Staffordshire branch secretary Michael Vaughan. Tories had been in charge since 2009 in Staffordshire and already sold off everything possible. Leader of council had just been removed. Ten Reform-UK councils in England now. Incompetency, racism, misogyny now commonplace; ignoring Nolan Principles of Public Service. Councillors have been intervening over officer roles and targetting black staff. UNISON is developing national strategy with Hope Not Hate.