Gmb Annual Congress & Biennial Section

GMB ANNUAL CONGRESS & BIENNIAL SECTION CONFERENCES Held on: SUNDAY 8TH JUNE – THURSDAY 12TH JUNE 2008 at: THE PLYMOUTH PAVILIONS ------------------------------- SIS. MARY TURNER (President of the GMB Union) (In the Chair) ------------------------------- PROCEEDINGS DAY TWO (MONDAY 9TH JUNE 2008) --------------------------------- SECOND DAY’S PROCEEDINGS MONDAY 9TH JUNE 2008 MORNING SESSION Congress assembled at 9.30 a.m. THE PRESIDENT: Will Congress come to order, please? Thank you. Good morning all. I hope you all had a good evening last night and you are bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning! Will Congress please settle down? REGIONAL SECRETARY’S REPORT: NORTH WEST & IRISH REGION NORTH WEST & IRISH REGION 1. MEMBERSHIP AND RECRUITMENT FINANCIAL MEMBERSHIP Section Financial Membership (by each Section): COMMERCIAL SERVICES SECTION 25,072 MANUFACTURING SECTION 26,289 PUBLIC SERVICES SECTION 37,098 Grade 1 members 60,351 Grade 2 members 16,537 Retired, Reduced Rate & Others 10,471 Male Membership 51,531 Female Membership 35,928 Total number recruited 1.1.2007 – 31.12.2007 10,291 Increase/Decrease 1.1.2007 – 31.12.2007 Membership on Check-off 56,640 Membership on Direct Debit 17,215 RESPONSE TO THE ORGANISING AGENDA The North West & Irish Region is fully conversant with the GMB at Work document and has adopted the policies and procedures laid down by Congress and the CEC. Following decisions reached by Congress 2006, Region has adopted policies that promote lay representative involvement on committees both national and local which has the dual benefit of developing the activist and allowing organisers time to be utilised on recruitment, retention and organising. Given the high profile nature and the various challenges we as a Union face, Public Services dominates the organising agenda and in particular Single Status and Equal Pay with many Local Authorities with settlements via ACAS and moving towards full implementation of Single Status. The Region has used all methods of communication to ensure its position on Equal Pay is known across the Section. The Region actively encourages lay representatives to become involved in its Equality Committees and to assist in both recruitment and retention to this end organisers, together with local representatives, have carried out a mapping exercise for each workplace which focuses on recruitment and consolidation. The organising agenda is further strengthened by the role of the organiser in the initial support training, which is crucial in terms of the development of workplace representatives, which should lead to greater opportunities for better workplace organisation, recruitment, retention and consolidation. In Northern Ireland a series of meetings had been convened throughout the year with full time officers, shop stewards and support staff in order to determine an effective way forward in support of achieving our many objectives in line with the organising agenda. A further part of our response to the organising agenda has been to secure the full-time release of lay representatives from the many different workplaces which we cover on an ongoing basis. For example, within the five Education and Library Boards in Northern Ireland, we have now secured the full-time release of three secondees, all of whom are provided with necessary office facilities and IT backup within the offices of the Boards in question. Already we have carried out initial Induction Training for these representatives, ensuring that they become most productive at the earliest possible opportunity. In all areas where we achieve this full-time release, it is our aim to ensure that these representatives work to consolidate our membership with the respective employer, and that they also provide day to day support to our members, namely in respect of grievance, discipline and straight forward work related issues. We have now begun to engage more of our lay representatives in helping with workplace mapping, drawing up a clear plan identifying non-members in the workplace and how best we go about maximising our achievements on recruitment amongst that part of the workforce going forward. In Local Government we continue to use the work that we undertake in relation to equal pay and single status as the main catalyst to support recruitment. In Northern Ireland progress is slow in respect of concluding our negotiations with all of the Local Government Employers. In respect of Education there is no doubt that our role in bringing about an end to a thirteen year dispute effecting classroom assistants in relation to job evaluation has now begun to show real signs of our being able to recruit members in this area in a way in which we have simply not been able to do in the past. We are very much at the forefront of effectively representing the interests of our members in terms of the ongoing agenda for change here in Northern Ireland, mainly, in respect of the review of Public Administration. On the 1st April 2009 the present five Education and Library Boards will be disbanded in favour of a new single authority which will become known as the Education and Skills Authority responsible for the future administration of education right across the Province. The Education Skills Authority (ESA) brings with it a commitment to review the role of all education staff which will provide us with an ongoing opportunity to pursue our main agenda of continuing to organise and build the GMB in this sector. In Public Services many changes have already been introduced in reducing the number of Trusts within the NHS which has highlighted some inconsistencies in the matching process. This requires us as a union to become involved at both regional and staff side level in finding a necessary solution to the problems thrown up by change which we often feel has been rushed through at a pace which does not always allow sufficient time for forward planning in order to achieve the right balance for the future. In Commercial Services we continue to develop our working relationship with G4S in a very positive way. We have now secured details of all current sites where the company are involved and we are putting in place necessary organisation plans in support of our increasing our members in those areas in future. We are also rolling out a very positive recruitment exercise in relation to Federal Security Services where we have recently secured a Recognition Agreement. This has involved our newly appointed Organising Officer visiting many police stations in the Province where Federal Security are responsible for providing necessary security. In Engineering, it has been a very positive year for Shorts, presently known as Bombardier. We have seen the threat of redundancies dissipate where the company has secured new contracts providing for the longer term job security of our members and the new intake of staff which is presently coming on-line. Our branch officers have played a very key part in ensuring that we have an ongoing effective recruitment plan which has enabled us to consolidate our membership in a way that has not proved possible in the past. RECRUITMENT TARGETS AND CAMPAIGNS The Region has adopted a policy to promote recruitment and consolidation in every industry which we currently organise and which we have recognition agreements in place. In January 2007 the new North West and Irish Region implemented a Recruitment strategy that had been discussed with Officers and agreed and endorsed by the Regional Committee. This strategy involved the setting up of a Regional Organising Team, comprising of four members (with dedicated admin support), who would identify targets and carryout preparation work for their own direct recruitment activity and recruitment activity for teams of Officers who would be allocated “stand down days”. The stand down days would be for one day per week using a rota which would be provided in advance. The approach to recruitment and workplace organisation taken by the Regional Organising Team has been in line with the GMB at Work Policy and followed a similar approach, in terms of assessing targets and allocating resources, as that taken by the National Organising Team. Initially regional targets were Southern Cross and Security along with other areas of workplace consolidation. These targets were constantly reviewed and changed as and when it was felt appropriate through discussion with the team and in line with national targets. Other targets such as ASDA, schools and Wilkinson’s were added. Schools recruitment is ongoing and the Region has experimented with approaches to school recruitment initially involving the Regional Organising Team and Officers on their stand down days. The initial results indicated a lower hit rate where Officers were attending schools on their stand down days. For this reason Avril Chambers was invited into the Region and spent two days with Officers discussing all related issues. In the Autumn Term the Regional Organising Team began to carryout direct schools recruitment themselves and Officer Teams were allocated further consolidation work on their stand down days. This was partly due to absence by a number of Officers and requirement to cover some of that work. Moving into 2008 there has been a further review of the strategy and the Team has been reduced to 2 people on a temporary basis to cover absences. Public Services (schools and NHS) will be prime targets with the Regional Organising Team working closely with Organiser’s on their “stand down days”. The following is a summary of new members from the regional recruitment targets: Regional Recruitment Targets - January 2007 to February 2008 ASDA 271 G4S 679 Schools 472 (2006/7) 289 (2007/8) Southern Cross 1325 Wilkinsons 150+ In addition to the work carried out by Organisers, the Region is proud to recognise the recruitment and consolidation that is carried out by its workplace representatives which has brought about increases in many workplaces across the Region.

Load more