Gmb Annual Congress
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
GMB ANNUAL CONGRESS held on: SUNDAY 6TH JUNE – WEDNESDAY 9TH JUNE 2010 at SOUTHPORT FLORAL HALL, SOUTHPORT ………………………. SIS. MARY TURNER MBE (President of the GMB Union) (In the Chair) ………………………. PROCEEDINGS DAY ONE (SUNDAY 6TH JUNE 2010) ……………………….. Conference reported by: Marten Walsh Cherer Ltd., 1st Floor, Quality House, 6-9 Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1HP Telephone: 020 7067 2900 email: [email protected] 1 FIRST DAY’S PROCEEDINGS SUNDAY, 6TH JUNE 2010 MORNING SESSION Congress assembled at 9.30 a.m. OPENING OF CONGRESS THE PRESIDENT: Colleagues, come to order, please. Good morning, colleagues. I welcome all delegates and our visitors to our Congress at Southport. It is nice and sunny and it may get a bit warm in here, but it’s cosy. I remind delegates to check, please, that you have switched off all your mobile phones and your blackberries, or whatever method you have got. Have them on ‘silent’ otherwise it is going to cost you. All Congress sessions will be transmitted on GMB Congress TV. This means that your speech will be transmitted live over the internet through the GMB National website. Please remember to state your name and region clearly. THE PRESIDENT: Colleagues, let me introduce the platform party. On my right is Kathleen Walker Shaw, and also on my right, who is not normally in that spot, is Malcolm Sage, the Vice President. On my far left is Dolores O’Donoghue, our Executive Policy Officer, and of course, the General Secretary is on my left. SAFETY PROCEDURES THE PRESIDENT: I will now announce the safety procedures, which I have to do. You will find details of the fire, safety and evacuation procedures on page 103 of the Final Agenda & Congress Guide document. Please take time to look at these and to familiarise yourself with the exits. We won’t do a British Airways this morning. (Chuckling) BANNER CEREMONY THE PRESIDENT: I welcome all of you to Congress. We have asked Southern Region to form the Banner Party this year. I call Congress to order for the Banner Ceremony. Could we please stand. (The Banner Party entered the Congress Hall to the music of Jerusalem) (Applause) THE PRESIDENT: Congress, I would like to thank each and every one of the Banner Party. I think they did a magnificent job in manoeuvring around the corners. Thanks very much. 2 WELCOME TO DELEGATES AND VISITORS THE PRESIDENT: I welcome on behalf of Congress the various guests and visitors we have with us this week. I would like to welcome the General Member Auditors, who will count any votes taken this week. They are Jim Clarke from Midland & East Coast Region, Ian Burket from Midland & East Coast, and Pat Perry from North West & Irish Region. Welcome. It gives me great pleasure to welcome ex-Regional Secretaries who are attending Congress. They are John Cope from the London Region. John, where are you? John will remember Southport very well. I welcome Bill Smith from North West & Irish Region. Bill, welcome. John Whelan, from North West & Irish Region. Welcome. Finally, I welcome Peter Horan, from North West & Irish Region. It’s good to see you. I would also like to welcome some regional guests. It is wonderful to see Vic Baines, Midland & East Coast Region, back, healthy and with us again. We welcome Vinny Bloor and his wife from Birmingham & West Midlands Region. I welcome the shorthand writers, Michael Thear and Phyllis Hilder. They are the people who sort out all the different dialects that we have, and they do a wonderful job. Welcome and thank you. (Applause) Congress, the Hall has an induction loop system fitted and to use this facility you will need to set your hearing aid to the “T” position. I ask delegates to take a moment to ensure that they have three important documents which are in your wallets. There should be a one-page Summary Programme. I now move to the Congress Programme. For the first-time delegates, this is the order of business for the week, though changes may be necessary from time to time. Where changes are expected, I will try to give delegates advance warning. The one page summary programme shows an overview of the week and you will be issued detailed Daily Programme sheets at the start of each Congress Session. The second document is the Income & Expenditure Statement. These are the Annual Accounts. Thirdly, this year we have combined the Final Agenda and the Congress Programme. This document includes: Motions and CEC Rule Amendments remaining on the agenda; Standing Orders Committee Report No. 1; SOC guidelines for Congress business including time limits for speakers; representation statements for Congress; Section Conferences and Composite motions; Fringe meetings and exhibitions and seating plan; Section Conference Motions and Programmes for all three sections. All Congress documents are printed on environmentally friendly paper and there are recycling bins in the Hall for paper and plastic. 3 There is free Fair Trade tea and coffee throughout Congress for all credential holders which is available from the Promenade Bar upstairs by the main entrance. Please remember to show your credential badge. We would like to thank Liverpool Victoria for supplying our Congress refreshments. Let me say this to new delegates. I know you will be nervous coming to the rostrum to speak, but I promise you that we have all been there at one time or another. If you think that we are not nervous sitting on the stage looking at you, after many years, then I am afraid we have exactly the same nerves as yourselves. Please enjoy the Congress and don’t worry too much. Just worry about the lights when Malcolm presses them. ROLL CALL THE PRESIDENT: Would regional Secretaries please notify the Congress Office of any changes to their delegation. Thank you. I now call Malcolm Sage. APPOINTMENT OF TELLERS THE VICE PRESIDENT: Good morning, Conference. I inform Conference of the names of the regional tellers who have been appointed and are now being shown on the screen. I emphasise that tellers must remain in the Congress Hall while Congress is in session, and that delegates must be in their allotted seats when a vote is taken. (Slide 1 was shown on screen) I will now give a demonstration on the eligibility of voting. I would like everyone in the hall to put their hands up and leave them up. Could the following now put their hands down: the visitors, the guests, the auditors, full-time officials, regional secretaries, national officers, sectoral secretaries, GMB staff and members of the CEC. Only those of you who still have your hands up are eligible to vote at Congress. So I hope that clears that point up. Thank you. CONFIRMATION OF STANDING ORDERS COMMITTEE THE VICE PRESIDENT: The members of the Standing Orders Committee and of the CEC Observers to the Standing Orders Committee are now being shown on the screen. Could I please congratulate Helen Johnson on her election as Chair of the Standing Orders Committee for the third year in succession. Well done, Helen. (Applause) STANDING ORDERS REPORT NO. 1 THE PRESIDENT: Congress, I will now call Helen Johnson to move Standing Orders Committee Report No. 1, which begins on page 21 of the Final Agenda and Congress Guide document. Helen. 4 SIS. H. JOHNSON (Chair, Standing Orders Committee): Thank you, President. Congress, Midland & East Coast Region, Standing Orders Committee Chair, formally moving SOC Report No. 1. President and Congress, you will find a copy of SOC Report No. 1 in your Final Agenda, starting on page 21. I formally move adoption of that Report, and in doing so the SOC would like to thank delegates and their regional secretaries for agreeing 19 composite motions which also appear in your Final Agenda, starting at page 77. Would colleagues please note the long-standing guidelines for Congress business on page 15 of the Final Agenda. This will help all of you, especially new delegates, in understanding the procedures and guidelines that the President and the SOC work to. With regard to Congress timings, the SOC would like to draw your attention to a change of times in the Final Agenda. This is that the lunch break on Monday is now expected to take place between 12 noon and 1 pm and the fringe meetings will be adjusted to take account of this. Withdrawn motions. The SOC has been informed that the following 13 motions have now been withdrawn. These are Motion 2, Congress Visitors; Motion 14, Membership Subscriptions; Motion 15, Finance Contribution Rates; Motion 16, Subscription Increase; Motion 18, Proportionate Membership Subscriptions; Motion 21, Mileage; Motion 24, Co-Ordination of Union Services; Motion 35, Health and Safety Prosecutions; Motion 66, Right to Strike – Section 127; Motion 110, Labour Party’s Commitment to the Water Industry and its Loyal Workers; Motion 120, Training for Prospective Labour Members of Parliament, and Motion 155 on Child Detention. Just to repeat, Motions 2, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 24, 35, 66, 110, 115, 120 and 155 have all been withdrawn. Would Congress delegates please note that if any further motions are to be withdrawn during the week, the following procedure should be adhered to. You should notify your regional secretary who will, in turn, inform the SOC in writing that the motion has been withdrawn and the SOC will then report the matter back to Congress so that all delegates are aware of the position and will be able to follow the agenda. Congress motions and section conference motions. In accordance with recommendation 14 of the Framework for the Future of the GMB Moving Forward, the CEC’s Special Report endorsed by Congress in 2007, the SOC is recommending that motions should be dealt with at sectional conferences.