Wolverhampton, Bilston & District Trades Union Council
Delegate Meeting MINUTES Thursday 19th June 2025
- Present online: (delegates in bold): Michael Vaughan UNISON Staffordshire, Nick Kelleher, Tom Mohan UNITE WM/6150; Marie Taylor UNITE LE/372; Penny Welch UCU Wolverhampton University, Graham Childs CWU, Dane Cross, Peter Kipplewhite UNITE WM7132, Warinder Juss MP, Ali Rahimi UNITE WM5115
Apologies: Kieran Bott, Metka Potočnik , Barbara McGarrity, Adrian Turner, Robert Lipke, Si Goode, John Oakley, Kay Cresswell-Green. - Minutes of last Delegate Meeting (May) agreed; matters arising – all payments made except Migrant rights donation so far due to error with Unity Trust website. Problem with info@wolvestuc.org.uk, emails received but tell sender its bounced. Use wolvestuc@gmail.com and NK to try and address.
- EC Report and urgent correspondence
a) 2025 FBU and NEU affiliations received and UNITE WM5115 and UNITE WM7132 affiliation fees paid. Requests sent to UNITE region for WM5203 affiliation fee. Re-affiliation requests sent again to RMT, UCU University, CWU.
b) Agricultural implement production for enslavement research project launch meeting in person/hybrid in September. NK to layout research for potential A5 printing and get costs. For use by teachers/students?
c) NK took part in Chainmakers leafleting 12 and 15 June. We have a stall at event on 28th June. To distribute Migrants Rights Network’s Words Matter material to regional unions at event.
d) TUC Development grant £300 applied for May Day: has been agreed by Midlands TUC, sent on to London. WB&DTUC donation – agreed £250 and seek further £233.56 from UNISON City of Wolverhampton to underwrite.
e) Workers Memorial Day stone. NK drawn up examples and wording has been redone. RM visited stonemasons in Pennfields but not suitable, so Wilkinsons to be contacted again.
f) spent: Institute of Employment Rights re-affiliation £70; £2.17 additional bill for 1st May Facebook ad; we received £25 for providing the WMDay wreath for Unite WM/6150. - delegate reports:
ASLEF – report from Si Goode: 2025 pay update East Midlands Railway and London North Eastern Railway Driver members both have pay offers on the table with a referendum called for EMR Drivers with a recommendation to accept. We have had two rounds of pay talks with Avanti West Coast at executive level with our sister Trade Unions RMT and TSSA. It was agreed at the last round of pay talks that the talks now become grade specific i.e. each Trade Union negotiated with separately. We have further talks With AWC next week in Preston. At this moment there is no offer on the table. Hull Trains ASLEF Diver members remain on strike over the sacking of one of our members for highlighting a genuine safety concern. A fighting fund has been set up to assist with our members financially, its a dispute we cannot afford to lose as the ramifications for the rest of the industry are obvious.
NEU – report from Kay Cresswell-Green: NEU ran an indicative electronic ballot over the teacher pay proposal that ran up to conference at Easter – Conference decided to wait for the official publication of the STRB report – following that and the announcement of some funding, executive met early this month and decided to run an indicative ballot starting this coming weekend for a week to gauge opinion.
The funding given for the 4% uplift to teacher pay is not fully funded as we had campaigned for and will leave most schools having to find 1% from already tight budgets.
We are seeing a huge rise in fixed term contracts not being renewed and support staff roles being having hours reduced or not replaced at all when people leave. SEND pupils in particular will be hardest hit by the reduction in support staff.
The executive wants to know if members are prepared to strike over the pay award not being fully funded – should the indicative ballot be successful then we will move to a formal ballot with the plan to strike come the autumn.
Education is most definitely at a crisis point & restructures and redundancies are almost inevitable if more funding isn’t available.
UCU – stewards/officers overloaded with work. Lot of voluntary/compulsory redundancies and course closures at Wolverhampton university. Very disappointing for our city.
UNISON – MT reported redundancies of school support staff and non-renewable of contracts. Topic for September meeting Future of Education – ask NEU secretary to speak. MV reported from UNISON conference that Divestment motions had been passed including holding the unions investments/financial links to account too.
UNITE – report by DC circulated of rally outside Parliament for Birmingham refuse workers. NK reported Wolverhampton Unite WM6150 had agreed a second £7,000 donation to the dispute at their meeting last night. TM reported a 2% pay offer by ArcelorMittal steelworks; seeking FTO involvement, as at a stalemate. - Trades Union Council annual conference report was circulated NK and TM gave verbal reports of a successful and enjoyable conference. Motion from the conference to TUCongress concerns opposing the disability benefit cuts proposed by the government.
- Secretary report – none produced; NK organised an Iran solidarity meeting with CODIR, to which we affiliate, as TUCJCC rep. 3 Trades councils attended and several from ours. Reports given on lorry drivers strike and current situation. Unite WM6150 subsequently affiliated to CODIR and donated £500. AR gave report from his links in Iran since the Israeli attack on Iran this week and retaliation by Iran. Internet currently been cut for 48hrs by regime. Prisoners still being hanged in Kurdistan and Tehran., regime not giving up. Petrol scarce so people unable to leave Tehran, no cashpoints available, electricity cuts, some leaders seem to have fled. People not unhappy leaders being killed, no support for government.
- Wolverhampton Palestine Solidarity Campaign – protest this morning at WM Pension fund Committee, less than half the councillor were in attendance. Birmingham Council leader responded with supportive letter. National demo this Saturday
- any other business – none
- @8pm discussion of trade union responses to the far right and what are our unions doing?
WJ reported that Reform MPs are poor attenders in parliament and rarely speak. One recently wasted at question at Business Questions, having zero substance and just an attempt at schoolboy misogyny.
People feel left behind; historic loss of manufacturing; 12 years of austerity and now Labour’s apparent austerity 2.0. labour ministers not coming across well on radio 4 news. Optimism when Blair came to office, but not for Starmer; lacking charisma.
We should be attacking Reform’s leadership, not those tempted to vote for them.
Reform using Tiktok better than labour and unions, though TUC has produced good social media video shorts.
Reform now in control of some East Midlands councils and in Staffordshire, so UNISON will have to deal with their councillors. Region assisting. Cross union work needed too.
SUTR tactics threaten to further alienate those who say they will vote Reform.
General election will be held by 15 August 2029. Labour needs to deliver.
Delegates reported unions offering rep training. 10% of TU members voted Reform in the general election and up to £25% in some elections.
Hope Not Hate report REFORM UK: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW https://hopenothate.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/HOPE-not-hate-reform-uk-what-you-need-to-know-2024.pdf
see also https://hopenothate.org.uk/research/reports-investigations/