Delegate Minutes: Thursday 20th July
Wolverhampton, Bilston & District Trades Union Council
- Present (delegates registered from affiliated branches in bold): Warinder Juss GMBx13; Graham Childs CWU; Adrian Turner UNISON City of Wolverhampton; Michael Vaughan UNISON Staffordshire; Marie Taylor UNITE LE/372; Nick Kelleher, John Clarke, John Oakley & Rob Marris UNITE WM/6150; Zahid Ali & Carol Hyatt & Ali Rahimi Unite Community
Apologies Bob Deacon, Si Goode. Nigel Harkness, Di Weaver, Dane Cross, Penny Welch, Edda Nicolson - Minutes of last Delegate Meeting (June) agreed, no Matters Arising.
- EC Report and urgent correspondence
2023 new affiliations – GMB X13 and RMT.
Not affiliated for 2023: FBU, PCS (Black Country), UNITE WM7132(Buses), UNISON Wolverhampton University [2024 affiliation forms are due to be sent out in October]
Future speakers to be arranged Edda Nicolson GFTU History. for Liz Millman (contacted but no date set) Caribbean resistance of the 1930s and the strike of tenants in Clarendon, Jamaica, & Abortion Rights.
offered help to RMT/ASLEF in designing and printing a leaflet explaining what the continued strike action is about etc and to leaflet it to commuters on a non-strike day; only ASLEF responded.
Workers’ Memorial Day plaque restoration/replacement – design competition at university suggested by UCU delegate. Large stone with new and old plaque added agreed as preference – contact council officer suggested by Cnllr Mike Hardacre
Richard Hatcher re local conference on car industry see article https://birminghamagainstthecuts.wordpress.com/2023/05/02/everything-about-carmaking-is-changing-at-once-the-industry-must-reinvent-itself-to-keep-pace/ car industry quite specific, noted not relevant to enough delegates.
“Oh Jeremy Corbyn-the big lie” screening. 100 attended. Venue changed as original proved too small. Letter from TUC, but no complaint received, discuss with delegates, film was a great success and film was well researched. Quakers letter, replies sent. Letter received by Gills. £291 gross net £221 via Eventbrite – sent to Platform Films.
Trans rights – next steps for Sept(?) conference: To promote the progressive trans policies of trade unions; To discuss the issue around trans rights- the rights of women and the rights of trans individuals are not in competition. Midlands TUC Inclusion Committee are happy to be involved. No response back from proposer.
enslavement links project – no progress
TUC guide for union reps to support members, who have had long COVID and unsure about their rights or are facing issues with their employer. https://www.tuc.org.uk/resource/long-covid?mc_cid=e3b30fb57c&mc_eid=d69cd85840
Women Chainmakers’ Festival post event review meeting on Monday 21st August at 1pm at TUC Midlands, 47 Summer Lane, Birmingham, B19 3TH
Stall sales – £90 paid from sales to Worcester TUC who supply PastPixels cards to us. Further £20 to send, £28 sales on Chainmakers/film stalls
sent: Strike Map affiliation £50; £164-50 paid for March strike rally entertainment; £5.94/mnth website fees; bought drum for printer £14.69 and 30 boxes for remaining 150th anniversary badges £18.72 Unable to make £25 payment theatre group. - delegate reports and strike updates:
ASLEF – thanks agreed to Si Goode for his written report which was circulated
CWU – member ballot accepted by 3:1 for a 2% pay rise from April 2022, a consolidated 6% pay rise from April 2023 and a 2% increase next April. and a one-off lump sum of £500.
GMB – ballot for industrial action at Rugely Amazon. Rally on Sat 5 Aug Coventry Amazon.
Warinder Juss reported on on court case by 11 trade unions and Thompsons which overturned government law at High Court, which had allowed employers to use agency workers as scab labour.
NEU – held two days of strikes. NK joined picket line in Fallings Park earlier in month
PCS – national executive due to meet to decide if a ballot on offer of 2% last year, then 4.5% plus £1500 pro-rata. Some members would lose out on Universal Credit if lump sum rather than pay rise.
RMT strike today, Sat and following Saturday. National campaign to take part in consultations by rail companies against closing ticket offices.
UNISON – local government national pay ballot ended with 2/3rd rejecting offer but failed to reach the ballot threshold, so deal was accepted.
Labour Party report – next month Wolverhampton South West will become Wolverhampton West and include Blakenall and Oxley wards. The parliamentary candidate long list was cancelled and a three person short list compiled after it had been delayed since last year. All local democratic control had been removed.,trade union nominations ignored. Delegates congratulated Warinder Juss who is on the list and the only local candidate.
Trades Union Councils’ annual conference – motion was passed which now allows all trades union councils to send motions straight to national conference and to regional TUCs and removes need to affiliate to County Associations. Our trades council first raised this as an issue around 20 years ago and success has finally been achieved.
Midlands TUC EC – recent Mary MacArthur lecture was cancelled by Midlands TUC after speaker Rachel Reeves MP’s office had demanded that Louise Regan the Midlands TUC Chair from NEU be removed. Delegates suggested that Louise Regan be next speaker at lecture.
Police very heavy handed on GMB pickets in Serco Sandwell and elsewhere and had allowed as reasonable force an employer to throw down a picketer in a headlock in front of them on company property.
Secretary report circulated – Nick Kelleher
- any other business – none
- at 8pm – Right to Boycott Bill short video produced by Palestine Solidarity was shown as speaker did not attend. The government is proposing an ‘anti-boycott bill’ that, if passed, could dramatically affect our ability to campaign for social and climate justice. ASLEF, BFAWU, CWU, FBU, NEU, PCS, RMT, UCU, UNISON, UNITE have signed the statement backing the Right to Boycott and to oppose the bill. https://righttoboycott.org.uk/ At the second reading this month 268 MPs voted for 70 against with most LP MPs abstaining. Will go to Committee stage then back to House of Commons and Lords in autumn. The Bill will restrict the ability to promote human rights and make ethical and sustainable investments by pension funds. The Government is currently also pushing pension funds to invest in non-listed firms as a growth boost.