Unite Executive Council Report September 2019

Previous Executive Council Minutes from June 2019: Read and Adopted

Minutes of Special EC from 22nd June: Read and adopted

FGPC minutes from 18th July: Read and Adopted

General Secretary’s Report Activities of the General Secretary for the period since the Executive Council meeting of June 2019:

Public Meetings and General Events • Attended TUC Executive and General Council Meetings; • Attended Durham Miners Gala.

Political, International and Inter-Trade Union Matters • Meeting with Owen Jones • Meeting with MP and Ian Lavery MP at Westminster. • Meeting with Jen Gavito, Minister Counselor for Political Affairs; Jason Ullner, First Secretary for Political Affairs and Naomi Chalupczak, Political Analyst from the US Embassy in London. • Meeting with Stephen Cavalier of Thompsons and Jo Stevens MP. • Meeting with Naz Shah MP. • Meeting of the Big 5 union GSs. • National National TULO meetings at Westminster. • Meeting with John McDonnell at Westminster. • Attended Installation of New Officers of the USW in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. • Special TULO meeting. • Meeting with MP. • Meeting with Comms Director Pauline Doyle and AGS Howard Beckett regarding Unite’s “No Deal” campaign. • Meeting with the Mayor or Istanbul, Murat Ongun.

Administrative and Organisational Issues • Meeting with CoS Andrew Murray; RS Paresh Patel and ExDir Ed Sabisky regarding Derby/Leicester Regional Office proposal. • Attended RO Grievance Hearing • Meeting with Cos Andrew Murray and HRD Barbara Kielim re Sick Pay.

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

• Meeting with Dave Anderson and Ross Forbes – Friends of Durham Miners Gala. • Meeting to discuss the National BAEM Officer Survey Result with NO Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe, RO Fazia Hussain-Brown; NO Harish Patel and HRD Barbara Kielim. • Regional Secretaries meeting during Rules Conference in Brighton. • Meeting with Unite’s JUNSC reps regarding Sick Pay. • Meeting with EdD Jim Mowatt and ExDir Ed Sabisky regarding Energy & Sustainability Assessment with Retrospective Design Appraisal for Birmingham. • Meeting with NO Louisa Bull. • Meeting with PD Anneliese Midgley; CD Pauline Doyle; AGS Howard Beckett; CoS Andrew Murray and COMMS Jenny Walsh regarding 2019 Labour Party Conference. • Meeting with AGS Howard Beckett regarding the post of National Youth Co- ordinator. • Meeting with NO Joe Clarke and Kuehne Nagel convenor. • Conference Call with Regional Secretaries regarding Accredited Companions. • Meeting with EC member and Chair of Service Industries NISC, Howard Percival. • Meeting with AGS Gail Cartmail regarding Construction. • Meeting with HRD Barbara Kielim regarding SE issues. • Meeting with NO Louisa Bull. • Meeting with EC Chair Tony Woodhouse; AGS Howard Beckett; EdD Jim Mowatt and HRD Barbara Kielim regarding ULF. • Meeting with NO Jerry Swain, NO Ian Woodland, AGS Gail Cartmail; members of the Construction sector; officials with a construction allocation and EC members plus the NISC co-chairs. • Meeting with EO Sharon Graham regarding figures and the TUC. • Meeting with HRD Barbara Kielim; Officer Reps. Ian Methven and Mike Eatwell re: Rule 27.

Constitutional Committees and Industrial Matters • Telephone call with Stuart Rowley, European VP Ford Motor Company. • Bilateral meeting with Secretary of State, Stephen Barclay at No 9 Downing Street. • Meetings with DCoS Adrian Weir regarding 2019 Rules Conference. • Attended Unite’s 3rd Rules Conference in Brighton. • EC meeting during Rules Conference in Brighton • Meeting with David Connell HRD and Xavier Chereau, Exec VP/HR/Digital & Real Estate of PSA. • Meeting with AGS Diana Holland regarding the current BA dispute. • Meeting with NO Oliver Richardson, AGS Diana Holland and RS Peter Kavanagh regarding BA pay dispute. • Meeting with NO Oliver Richardson and EC member Jas Gill.

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

• Meeting with AGS Diana Holland; NO Oliver Richardson; RS Peter Kavanagh and RO Wayne King regarding the HAL dispute

Principal Speaking Appearances • Durham Miners Gala

Media • Morning Star article;

Filming • Script filming for Durham Miners Gala promotional film from NEY&H region. • Preparatory portrait photos taken by artist Daniel Fooks for a portrait to be displayed at Conway Hall next year, along with others of people on the left.

Interviews • With Iain Dale at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. • With Donald Macintyre, Prospect. • Pre-record Interview for BBC Radio 4’s World at One with presenter Mark Mardell.

At this stage a remit from the NW Region Calling on the EC to allow RISCs to revert to previous meeting minute’s format was considered. In light of the change of rule (agreed at Rules Conference) on the taking of comprehensive minutes, this was agreed. It was also agreed at this point that RISC’s would have the availability of MSA’s to take minutes if they so wished.

ORGANISING REPORT

Work, Voice & Pay Work, Voice & Pay, our industrial strategy is designed to help deliver co-ordinated bargaining and improved central support for our Shop Stewards and Representatives on the frontline. The Executive Officer is continuing to develop the overarching plan, but the central focus on core workplace issues remains the same:

• To intensify focus on core industrial work. o Re-energise the Union’s industrial ‘brand’.

• To improve industrial outcomes. o Deliver better T&C’s and more effectively fight for jobs.

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

• To be better prepared industrially. o Strike ready workplaces. o To be proactive as well as reactive.

• To echo industrial demands politically. o Manifesto for the Workplace – Workers’ Voice. Rules Conference 2019: Collective Bargaining included in the Rule Book Delegates at our Rules Conference in June made a particularly important statement of intent with regard to our role in the workplace. Thanks to this motion collective bargaining is now enshrined in our Rule Book for the first time. A central aim of the Union is now set to extend collective bargaining and the role of Union organisation in redistributing wealth and power is formally acknowledged. New Clause 2.1.3: “To extend collective bargaining and bring more workers under collective bargaining agreements, this being the best and most effective means of distributing wealth, improving the wages and conditions of workers, and giving workers collective power in the workplace.”

WVP toolkit: New Database for Collective Agreements We are pleased to confirm that the first edition of the new Database for Collective Agreements was launched on the 6th June. Progress has already been made in populating the database and as of 26/07/2019 there are 341 collective agreements covering 4,590 workplaces accessible for Shop Stewards and Officers / Organisers to search and analyse. We have now added what we hope will prove to be useful help videos to the Work, Voice, Pay section of the Unite website. We want to encourage as many of our Shop Stewards as possible to upload their collective agreements to the database. We now have agreements covering every Sector and Region and we should be aiming to get at least a total of 500 uploaded by the end of the year.

WVP toolkit:Pay Claim Generator(PCG) and Employer Profile Generator (EPG) We continue to develop both the PCG and EPG. Alterations and improvements are made every quarter based on an assessment of the feedback we receive.

PCG Stats as of 26/07/2019 The Pay Claim Generator continues to grow and remains an essential part of the WVP toolkit. We have had 48,755 users and 10,621 pay claims have been produced since the launch in March last year. Since Launch (March 2018): • Shop/Stewards/Reps and Officials logged onto the Pay Claim Generator – 48,755

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

• Pay Claims Generated – 10,621

Since last EC: • Shop/Stewards/Reps and Officials logged onto the Pay Claim Generator – 6,109 • Pay Claims Generated – 1,079

Employer Profile Generator Stats as of 26/07/2019 We are pleased with the progress of the Employer Profile Generator. The trend for usage continues to grow as more activists become aware of its existence. We have changed the methodology for calculating the number of users so that we can more accurately and conservatively record progress. Since Launch: • Shop/Stewards/Reps/Officers logged onto the Employer Profile Generator – 13,357 • Employer Profiles Generated – 1,881

Since last EC: • Shop/Stewards/Reps and Officials logged onto the Employer Profile Generator – 3,780 • Employer Profiles Generated – 844

MANUFACTURING REPORT

As in previous manufacturing reports the sector as a whole continues to suffer, as UK Plc bears the brunt of on-going uncertainty over the UK’s future relationship with the EU and the growing potential for a hard, no-deal , now on 31st October 2019 following the election of Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and therefore Prime Minister, increases. Unites manufacturing sectors have taken a number of initiatives including a very well attended, cross party manufacturing lobby of Westminster to highlight the campaign to say ‘No2NoDeal’.

Manufacturers are being forced into diverting significant amounts of time, resources and money (an estimated £300 million to date), into stockpiling components and supplies to avert on-going fears about supply chain disruption, while suppliers and first/second tier component manufacturers, with little flex in human or financial capital, simply cannot address the demand for stockpiling or red tape associated with no-deal customs declarations. Meanwhile we continue to hear from global corporations their concerns and indeed threats to future investment in the UK, from Airbus and Roll-Royce to BMW, JLR and PSA. PSA going as far as to say their planned investment in the new Astra for Ellesmere Port is now dependent on the UK’s future relationship with the EU. Other strategic investments in research and development, new tooling, product, models and plant are also drying up

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected] with a collapse in manufacturing investment over the past period.

• Belfast’s iconic Harland and Wolff shipyard falls into administration and the workforce takes up a 24/7 occupation to save it from collapse. • British Steel continues as a going concern while a suitable buyer is found under the protection of the official receiver. • Unite and the GMB win the six month fight against 291 redundancies at Cammell Laird without a single compulsory redundancy and 20 new apprenticeships. • GE concede to union demands to maintain the Rugby power conversion facility safeguarding hundreds of jobs and skills for the future. • JLR announce a £1 billion investment in three new fully electric models to be built at its Castle Bromwich plant in the Midlands. • Brexit uncertainty continues to stoke fear across manufacturing and the chances of a no-deal exit increase with the election of Johnson and his imposition as Prime Minister.

Across our manufacturing sectors this uncertainty is no longer just a side effect of Brexit; it is the main feature. New orders, output, employment, delivery times and stocks of purchases are measured together in the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which combines these factors to gauge industry confidence. By July PMI fell to 48, the lowest reading since 2013. This is significant because any reading below 50 indicates contraction. This suggests manufacturing output has shrunk in 2019, although this was masked in the first quarter of the year by Brexit stockpiling ahead of 31st March. This slowdown in manufacturing has had a major impact on UK GDP throughout 2019. In the first quarter the economy grew by 0.5 percent, but this declined to 0.4 between February and April and 0.3 between March and May.

Aside from - but not entirely separate to - Brexit this loss of momentum must be seen in the context of a global slowdown in manufacturing and trade. This is partly the impact of escalating trade tensions between the US, China, India and the EU.

The threat of a hard Brexit, whereby the UK leaves the EU without a deal, will continue to dominate discussions across the UK’s manufacturing sectors between now and 31st October and beyond. At best this will mean a re-run of the preparations and stockpiling seen in March and at worst would be, to quote Make UK, ‘catastrophic.’ This is a view echoed by all of the major manufacturing trade federations. It is our considered view that a no deal Brexit would be a catastrophic disaster for UK Plc, and the UK economy as a whole.

The collapse of British Steel into the hands of the official receiver and not the immediate bankruptcy sought by its owner Greybull Capital is a testament to the hard work of our shop stewards and membership, as well as the practical working relationship built up with the then Secretary of State for BEIS, Greg Clark and supportive Ministers. Three months on we are now hopeful of a resolution with a

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected] number of credible long-term business interests looking to bid for the business as a whole and going concern. Such a relationship is yet to be forged with the new Secretary of State, an issue to address across many Ministries and departments of government following the recent Johnson reshuffle.

The government’s on-going failure to introduce an effective cross departmental industrial strategy is laying UK Plc open to unprecedented fears for the future of manufacturing. Whether it’s the failure of government to accept its role as strategic investor in the necessary infrastructure to support the transition from the combustion engine to fuel cell, hybrid or the full electrification of future vehicles, to a positive integrated procurement strategy supporting manufacturing and our ‘Buy Local / Build UK’ strategy.

Bombardier’s operations across Northern Ireland remain ‘up for sale’ as part of a wider divestment strategy of the parent company for their aerostructures business. On- going discussion are taking place on future guarantees and protections for our members in the event of a sale. Across Northern Ireland we see the serious threat of a complete collapse in manufacturing, with Harland and Wolff falling into administration and Wrightbus seeking further investment and loan guarantees to protect is operations in Ballymena. Harland and Wolff have been forced into administration following a refusal of government to protect the business as a going concern, as had been the case with British Steel, following the collapse of its parent company into bankruptcy in June. The shipyard is iconic and a remains a viable going concern, despite the completely unnecessary loss of an £80 million contract following the administration. This executive should pay a special tribute to the actions of the workforce, and our convenor and local officer, in taking immediate steps to occupy the yard, on a 24/7 basis. An occupation that has put the yard on the global map and seen three serious investors come forward with future plans for the yard. The occupation will continue until a suitable buyer for the yard as a going concern is secured.

Despite our on-going concerns over the future, we have seen some positive developments over the past quarter, despite record first quarter losses in 2019 JLR has committed a £1 billion investment in its XJ replacement and new range of electric saloon cars to be built at Castle Bromwich and the BMW confirmation of the electric Mini at Cowley. Further, while we are aware of PSA’s Brexit concerns over its investment in Ellesmere Port, if they or any other company think we will simply sit back an accept their withdrawal, scaling back or undermining in any way of UK plants without a fight, they should think again. We will not allow corporations to exploit the uncertainty of Brexit to undermine our collective agreements, union organisation or further investment plans.

Despite the difficulties above, we have secured some significant victories we can be rightly proud of over the past period: in addition to the investment at JLR and BMW,

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected] the fight to retain the GE power Conversion business at its home in Rugby has been successful, a fantastic victory and a tribute to the work of our shop stewards and of the union as a whole in its industrial and political work. Additionally, we have finally signed off without a single compulsory redundancy, an agreement to end the long running dispute at Cammell Laird, with not only a secure future for the 291 workers under threat of redundancy but a commitment for 20 new apprentices for the yard starting in September. I want to put on record my thanks to all those involved but particularly our shops stewards, at GE and at Cammell Laird, who gave confidence to our membership to take the action necessary to win.

Further afield, the on-going refusal by the MoD to recognise the disastrous consequences of their decision to issue an international tender for building of three Fleet Solid Support Ships is only adding to pressure on UK yards. We’ve seen the closure of Appledore in North Devon and the forced administration of both Harland and Wolff in Belfast and Ferguson’s on the Clyde. This is seriously undermining our capabilities for the future as well as thousands of skilled job right now. We continue to pressure the Scottish parliament to nationalise Ferguson’s and the UK government in the absence of any action to bring together the Northern Ireland Assembly, to do the same at Harland and Wolff, as well as making powerful representations to the Defence and Business Select Committees. We will continue to make all and any arguments necessary to place the order with the UK consortium, alongside a pipeline of future work necessary to maintain jobs and skills and to ensure we maintain the UK’s future capacity and capabilities. This includes on- going positive discussions over the reopening of the Appledore shipyard.

Finally, we continue to work closely with all appropriate trade bodies, government and the Labour front bench on all issues affecting our members both here and internationally and we will continue to do so. We are developing our ‘Manufacturing Matters’ industrial and political strategy with our sectors and have started a major consultation exercise with our NISC’s and RISC’s with a view to launching a sector wide industrial strategy proposal and campaign later this year.

SERVICES SECTOR

Construction, building materials and associated suppliers are hard hit by the sector’s tagnation. Examples in the private sector that have led to this and the forecast decline 2020 and 2021, include Japanese disinvestment in two nuclear new builds, the mothballing of major projects, contractors withdrawing from sites, e.g. MGT, plus market uncertainty for example financing Sirius Minerals Polyhalite (‘Yorkshire potash – organic fertiliser) mining. This all adds up to a reduction in employment in areas hardest hit by decades of underinvestment – not least Teesside and North Wales.

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

That is why investment in government funded major infrastructure projects is of critical importance. I will provide an update on Unite’s campaign to unionise HS2 and lobby for the extension to Leeds and Manchester.

AGS Gail Cartmail & AGS Howard Beckett met Dave Smith BSG and Frank Morris EC and agreed the structure and process to underpin the Unite investigation into alleged officer collusion in blacklisting. Advice of evidence gathering and process has been sent to construction NISC, RISCs and branches. A major trade union conference 'Undercover Policing and the Trade Unions: The Political and The Personal' is taking place at the University of Greenwich on Saturday 16th November 2019. The event is jointly organised by the Blacklist Support Group and their sister campaigns Police Spies Out of Lives and the Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (COPS). The conference is officially supported by UNITE the Union. The EC is urged to promote and publicise this event.

Asbestos is a key issue for all sectors and currently in GDPC specifically Sea King Helicopters exposure to past and present employees and for MOD Guards at DE&S Ashchurch.

The AGS attended the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Unite’s Faith Worker’s Branch, a multi-faith group with impressive self-organisation including a helpline tacking bullying, harassment and other job related issues faith workers experience.

A range of sectors are engaging with reps, members and employers on tackling mental health needs, for example following the CY&NfP member survey the sector is negotiating specific policies. Unite in RBS are moving forward the equal pay victory in respect of Lucy Williams into collective bargaining with meetings set up for October. Period Dignity agreements have been signed up by Unite at L&G and Diligenta. I attended the Barclay’s Unite Pride celebration in Sunderland, a terrific event at which many new members were recruited – and met the team that handled the homophobic backlash from customers who objected to Barclay’s Pride logo. The sector has signed two new recognition agreements – JN Money UK Ltd and JN Bank.

The Public Sector Combine held another useful meeting with detailed briefings on public sector pensions, the exit cap consultation and in-sourcing. The LA working group work on the pay claim, reclaiming collective bargaining, tackling pay regression and working hours is detailed in this report. Notable is the sector’s work with Labour’s shadow team on insourcing and the pilot course, ‘Influencing Local Government’.

Within the comprehensive Health Sector report is industrial action by a range of groups. This includes the unprecedented strike – nine days – by health visitors employed by Lincolnshire County Council. Established 123 years ago the foremothers

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected] of present day health visitors in Unite, campaigned alongside the likes of Sylvia Pankhurst for public health and disease prevention, women’s suffrage and opposed child poverty, neglect and abuse. Our 58 members have rejected a divisive ‘buy off’ of some members and the Executive Council got an update of the next stages of their campaign.

TRANSPORT AND FOOD SECTORS

BUILDING UNITE IN TRANSPORT & FOOD Across Transport & Food sectors, Unite’s membership is reporting a net increase. As previously, it is the significant increase in Civil Air Transport that is particularly important, together with a steady ongoing net increase in Docks and Rail, and the minor net decline in Food, Drink & Agriculture. While there are also net declines in Road Transport, Warehousing & Logistics, and Passenger Transport, these sectors are still growing significantly, offsetting decline. Membership information reports developed with research in Transport to support a more strategic approach have now been presented to all 4 Transport National Industrial Sector Committees, and this is also developing with Food, Drink & Agriculture.

ORGANISING IN TRANSPORT & FOOD Across Transport and Food Sectors, there is increasing progress in moving away from the “agency worker model”, with agreements to move agency to core workforce and temporary to permanent. In CAT, Ryanair, Unite’s membership continues to grow. In FDA, Avara Foods has suffered declining membership in some areas and the threat of derecognition by the employer if there is no change. There is identified potential of 3,000 members, and a strong campaign plan has been drawn up by the National Officer which is now being moved forward. In RTCW&L, UPS coordinated action between London & Eastern region and the National Negotiating Committee/National Officer, the sector, region and organising department, has led to growth in membership and more shop stewards

“STOP A DISASTROUS ‘NO-DEAL’ BREXIT” Transport and Food Sector members joined Manufacturing members on 24 July to lobby Parliament over this vital issue in terms of our members’ jobs, conditions and the future of major sectors and our economy. Food security and safety is a vital issue for everyone, and the impact of transport distribution uncertainty across all sectors and communities is stark. The AGS met again with Minette Batters President of the National Farmers Union in Smith Square to further discuss key issues relating to Brexit, and this was also an issue of concern at the Downstream Oil Distribution Forum where discussion

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected] focussed on tariffs and their reach, uncertainty over the new PM, forward planning. It was noted that there is a round table meeting for the sector employers on Brexit.

DOWNSTREAM OIL DISTRIBUTION FORUM The latest meeting was a vital one for this important group of our members in RTCW&L. Over 12,000 petroleum driver passports now issued, pass rates for written and practical assessment, and annual refresher. The standard relating to petrol forecourts is developing, and a full discussion took place on the key issues of Lone working and Security. It was agreed to take this forward in a further sub-group with a view to developing the appropriate minimum standard. Support for these proposals came from across all parts of the DODF, and demonstrated again how our members in downstream oil distribution are challenging the ‘race to the bottom’ and ensuring community safety, while advancing key issues for our members.

TRANSPORT WORKERS AND CHANGE UNITE FILM & ITT CONFERENCE 2019 Plans are underway to develop the film as agreed at the Transport Sectors joint working group, and our thanks to campaigns and communications. The AGS was a keynote speaker with ACAS on “The Opportunities of Change” at the 2019 Institute of Travel & Tourism Conference held in Split, Croatia in June. Also the AGS attended sessions led by key players in the sector, including on sustainable travel and aviation, Brexit impact, BA centenary, blind and disabled travellers.

FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE STRATEGY Plans are underway to take forward the “New Beginnings” in FDA, following the more strategic approach developing now that two National Officers are in place for Food Manufacturing, Drinks and Beverages, Food Retail, Agriculture & Fresh Produce. Following contact with all regions regarding officering in FDA and ensuring greater understanding across the union of key issues for the sector as a whole, we are now making arrangements to bring regional officers together. This will strengthen the strategic approach needed to rebuild membership and ensure ecognition of Unite as the major union for Food, Drink & Agriculture. The Centenary of the Landworker the paper/magazine of the former agricultural union continued into Unite, has been widely marked. This has included at Tolpuddle and plans are in hand for a fringe meeting at the TUC Congress in September.

GANGMASTERS & LABOUR ABUSE AUTHORITY GLAA LICENSING There are currently 1,033 GLAA licence holders in GLAA regulated sectors : agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering, and any associated processing and packaging – sectors core to Unite’s FDA sector, which is why we were central to the establishment of licensing and the GLAA (formerly GLA) itself. The most common areas of licence non-compliance are : the licence-holder “not being fit and proper’

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

(honesty/credibility issues), competency, tax and workers’ pay; and the most common issues dealt with by inspection officers are : non-payment of holiday pay, not receiving a P45 and being held on the books, not being paid from time called in to work, no payment for inductions, using micro-companies to transfer workers without their knowledge.

TRANSPORT & FOOD – industrial • BA pay negotiations; discussion with General Secretary, National Officer, Regional Officer, Legal Department and others involved. Contact with Alex Cruz CEO British Airways • First Bus – discussions with National Officer following letter from First Group and announcement on sale of First Bus. This has been strongly responded to. • Rail subsector discussions with National Officer in relation to Unite in Rail Engineering, Maintenance and Manufacturing, CSEU Network Rail developments, Bombardier and Hitachi, Talgo, Rail Supply Group, Unite Rail reps meeting • Passenger Transport NISC in Liverpool to discuss key issues for the sector and the development of the Transport and Change film. Also met with Manchester Bus Campaign to discuss key plans and how Unite is involved; and have been in contact regarding plans for activities to Celebrate the Bus in the coming year • FDA discussions with National Officers in relation to Heinz, Sainsbury’s

EQUALITIES REPORT

Rules Conference 2019 and Unite Equalities A number of important decisions were taken at Rules Conference to ensure equality at the heart of our union. This is also to confirm the commitment to supporting implementation of the Rule amendments and taking forward the Equality Task force established by Rules Conference. A very well-attended and positive Unite Equalities Fringe meeting took place during Rules Conference called : “It’s Time for Equality – No turning back the clock!” The meeting included a powerful analysis of the impact of austerity on equalities and the need to mobilise and organise, resisting the pressures to divide. In addition to Unite Reps, Wilf Sullivan from TUC Equalities supported the fringe.

Since the Rules Conference the AGS : • has met with the National Women’s, BAEM, Disabled Members and LGBT+ Committees to report back on the decisions taken, and to thank everyone for the positive way in which they had responded to the proposal to draw up the EC Statement on Equalities and the Equality Task force, both of which were welcomed by the Committees

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

• has been taking steps to identify key issues and discussing with a range of people the concerns which were raised during the Conference equality debate about ensuring Unite support for all facing the “hostile environment” on immigration, citizenship and nationality. This obviously also links with the Brexit specific legal helpline we have established as well as the Unity over Division campaign • held National discussions have been held between Unite disabled members and Unite Community to discuss first steps in the development of regional liaison structures

“It’s Time for Equality!” Unite support for reps and members Increasingly, there is the need to make the case for union action on equality. With all the pressures being faced, it is essential that there is recognition of the importance of action on equality in building and strengthening our union and our achievements. Unite are therefore developing a pack of equality cards to make the case and provide the support in a short, accessible and straightforward way.

Unite evidence to the Low Pay Commission The AGS again led the Unite team to present our submission to the Low Pay Commission regarding the rate of the National Minimum Wage for the coming period. In addition to confirming Unite’s evidence that an uplift to £10 will be positive for low paid workers, communities and the economy alike, we supported the ending of unfair age rates, and the role of the minimum wage in tackling the gender pay gap and other pay gaps. We highlighted issues around zero hours contracts, bogus self-employment and other ways of working which deny basic rights, as well as calling for migrant domestic workers’ rights to be restored so they can truly have access to the national minimum wage. We also rebutted challenges to the higher rate.

TUC and Labour Party and Equality Unite has played a central role and made important contributions at TUC Disabled Workers Conference and TUC LGBT+ Conference. Unite has responded to the TUC Consultation on governance structures in relation to TUC Equalities committees and conferences, and will respond to the next stage of the consultation. While there are always concerns, this is an important opportunity to evaluate and strengthen the effectiveness of these structures, which we want to be part of. The AGS has also attended meetings of the Labour Party Equalities Committee and TUC Women’s Committee, and chaired meetings and evidence sessions of the Labour Work, Pensions & Equality Policy Commission, which has now concluded its report for the 2019 Labour Party Conference.

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

The Labour democracy review development of equality monitoring and equality structures has also been discussed during the past quarter, and Unite has fully participated. The AGS participated in a round table “Making Ends Meet” organised by Alison McGovern MP bringing together unions and anti-poverty organisations, which included input from Gordon Brown and John McDonnell. Ending Child Poverty was a major priority of the last Labour government, and it was reduced year on year. Since 2010 that progress has not just stalled, child poverty is growing again.

CSEU Congress 2019 and Alex Ferry Foundation It was an honour to be part of the CSEU Congress at this time, setting an important agenda, committed to ensure implementation. I moved the motion on “Digitalisation and Automation and its impact on women and black workers”, which was taken in a group debate with a motion on “Shorter Working Time”. It was agreed that the CSEU will use the positive commitments to rebuild its strength and purpose; and the final establishment of the Alex Ferry Foundation to take forward the legacy of the 35-hour campaign fund was welcomed.

POLITICAL REPORT

Political Situation Since the EC last met we have had a change in Prime Minister of the country, a new Cabinet, and a change in Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Boris Johnson was selected by a Tory Party membership of around 150,000 votes to be the 77th Prime Minister after beating Jeremy Hunt.

The result was announced on 23rd July. He won 92,153 votes (66%) to Hunt’s 46,656 votes (34%).

The Tories have elected a hard right PM and the Cabinet he has appointed is the most hard right cabinet since the war. His premiership makes both a ‘no deal’ more likely and a general election highly likely.

A number of ministers resigned from the cabinet before they were pushed including Anne Miton – education, Alan Duncan – Foreign Office Minister, Phillip Hammond – Chancellor, David Gauke – Justice secretary, Rory Stewart – International Trade and of course Jeremy Hunt.

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

The rest of the report was technically out of date as the Political Situation was changing daily, as some of the Tory party’s most senior figures got sacked from former Chancellors Sir Ken Clarke and Philip Hammond to Churchill’s grandson Sir Nicholas Soames. Boris Johnson’s own brother Jo Johnson even resigned from the Government in the national interest rather than stay for family loyalty during the week of the EC. This is all driven by Brexit which could see Parliament force legislation against a “No Deal”, the Prime Minister pushing for a General Election which the Opposition will oppose and win the vote. The situation is so volatile and fluid that most statements or positions are out of date within the week, day and even hours.

Tory Policy announcements since Boris Johnson’s election as PM Since Boris Johnson has been elected as PM he has pushed out a flurry of election friendly policy announcement’s including 20k more police on the streets, 20 hospital upgrades, less than 3 weeks waiting time to see a GP, a cash boost to front-line NHS, fix the social care crisis, and a level up per pupil of funding in primary and secondary schools. This is coupled with him touring the country and promising rafts of money to regions and nations. It will be interesting to revisit to evaluate the results of these promises. Parliamentary Activity

Period Dignity In the last EC report, we were able to announce the Metro Mayors for Manchester and Liverpool, Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram respectively, had pledged their support to our period dignity campaign as employers in the city hall buildings in both cities. This was a great boost to our members who work in these buildings and was a great example of politicians practicing what they preach. We can now announce that the Metro Mayors for London and Bristol, Sadiq Khan and Marvin Rees respectively will shortly be announcing that they have signed up to the campaign. We have also managed to get Parliament to sign up to the period dignity campaign meaning that MPs are eligible to get sanitary products free for their staff and office guests to use, which is a great step forward for the thousands of workers in Parliament – many of whom are our members.

Parliamentary Staff Industrial Issues As well as the success of the period dignity campaign for parliamentary staff, Unite has also been involved in discussions around protecting our members in Parliament from the culture of bullying and sexual harassment which thrives in Westminster. Our latest meeting was with representatives from the Labour Party in the House of

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

Commons and the House of Lords – including the Chief Whip, Nick Brown and Labour Leader of the House of Lords, Angela Smith to discuss the challenges. They were very receptive to our suggestions for creating a better working environment for Parliamentary staff and this was the start of what we hope is a productive dialogue on the issue.

Toxic Air Following the high profile fume event on board an aircraft, as a commercial jet recently filled with smoke as it landed we wrote to the Chairs of the Transport and Health Select Committees to request a meeting to discuss the very real danger of aerotoxic syndrome. Unite will continue to push for an inquiry into this on behalf of our members who have fallen victim to this and their families, as well as to safeguard aviation workers and passengers going forward.

INTERNATIONAL REPORT

Since the last meeting of the Executive Council the key points to note in relation to UNITE’s international work are given in the summary below:

General context: Global political tensions remain extremely high and have increased significantly in the Middle East with tit for tat seizers of Iranian and UK oil tankers and the deployment of a US strike force to the Straits of Hormuz.

Turkey is massing troops on the border with Syria and threatening to launch a full scale offensive against the Kurdish North East and Israel has launched a new wave of Palestinian house demolitions and settlement building.

In the US Trump is increasingly belligerent in his tone supporting far right demonstrators, threatening to designate and anti-fascist group as a terrorist organisation, and playing an active personal role in getting two congress women banned from entering Israel. At the same time the US is increasing pressure on Cuba and Venezuela and fully supporting the far right Brazilian president.

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

Solidarity Work: In relation to Turkey and the Kurds the Unite General Secretary visited Istanbul and met with the new mayor of the city as well as leaders of the KESK and DISK unions and the HDP Deputy Leader.

Concerning Palestine unite supported and participated in the Palexpo event in central London during July and is fully supporting the trade union solidarity event taking place in October 2019.

In relation to Latin America Unite has continued to support events and activities in relation to Venezuela (against US intervention), Cuba – forthcoming 60 anniversary trade union conference, and Brazil – against far right president Bolsanaro and for the liberation of jailed former president Lula da Silva.

Multinational Companies: Important meetings with the management of Safran were held to address the shortcomings of the global framework agreement and ongoing support was given to reps and officers in Princess Food, SPX Flow, Nissan, IAG, Vertiv, Collins Aerospace, Menzies, Swissport, Facilicom, Norwegian Air and Westrock.

Workers Uniting: General Secretary Len McCluskey attended the ceremony to inaugurate the USW’s new incoming president Tom Conway as well as a host of other new senior appointments; Workers Uniting has continued to be active in relation to Campero/Bull Moose and Rio Tinto and has made interventions concerning the EU- Mercusor trade agreement and the situation in Colombia and Mexico.

International and European Federations: Unite’s has continued to play its full role in the activities of the European and global federations to which it is affiliated including taking part in the Industriall Global Executive and Congress Preparation committees, the EPSU congress, ITF company networks and ETF social dialogue committee, UNI post and UNI-Europa political meetings and the BWI and EFBWW Executive and multinationals conferences.

ADMINISTRATION AND CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES MEMBERSHIP OF THE COUNCIL The term of office of the current Executive Council comes to an end on 30th April 2020, it is therefore necessary to hold an election to elect the new council to hold office from 1st May 2020 to 30th April 2023. In accordance with rule the breakdown of constituencies based on the regional and industrial sector membership along with the proposed timetable for this election is being circulated to the council for consideration. The rules and guidelines for the conduct of the election will also be circulated.

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

The changes to rule agreed at the recent rules conference have been incorporated into the guidelines. It will be necessary to draw up more detailed guidance regarding the rule change requiring the Union to provide webpages to candidates. These will be provided at your next meeting in December.

NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL CONFERENCES

3rd Rules Conference 2019 The conference took decisions on 4 Executive Statements and 36 motions to amend rules, the report of the conference has been circulated for your information. There were 34 amendments remitted to the Council, 19 of which are covered by executive statements, the report on motions remitted for your consideration has also been circulated in advance.

A draft of the new rule book resulting from the decisions taken at conference will be circulated. It will be necessary to look at the EC guidance on the implementation of Rules and make amendments as required in the coming months.

National Industrial Sector Conferences 2019 Arrangements are in hand for these conferences taking place from 18 – 20 November inclusive in the Brighton Centre. We have been advised of all elected delegates and have written to them with information about their individual conferences. As you will recall the deadline for receipt of motions from RISCs and NISCs is 20th September.

Elections for delegates to the TUC Conference in 2020 will take place at these conferences and a paper setting out the scheme of representation for Unite delegations to the conference has been circulated for consideration. In accordance with previous decisions of the council the election of delegates to the 2021 conference will be carried out by NISC meetings in the first quarter of that year.

National Retired Members Conference 2019 Arrangements for the National Retired Members to be held on Wednesday 20th November at the Brighton Centre are also in hand. The deadline for notification of delegates and submission of motions from the National and Regional Retired Members Co-ordinating committees will be 20th September.

National Equalities Conferences 2020 In accordance with previous decisions of the Council the above conferences for Women, Black & Asian Ethnic Minorities, LGBT+ and Disabled members will take place from 31st March to 2nd April 2020 in the BIC, Bournemouth.

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

A paper setting out the distribution of delegates and the timetable for the conference has been circulated for consideration.

6th Policy Conference 2020 The 6th Policy Conference will take place from 29th June to 3rd July 2020 in the ACC in Liverpool. Delegates have been calculated on the basis of the recent rule changes and the document containing the distribution of delegates has been circulated to you separately for consideration.

REPORT OF THE 3RD UNITE RULES CONFERENCE

Full Report attached

Finance Report On a year through to 30th June 2019, Unite recorded a surplus of £6.8 million. This result was bolstered by not having to pay the circa £1 million per month into the Unite Pension Scheme (last year we paid the first four months) which meant that Pension Deficit Contributions were £3.8 million lower in the first six months of 2019 than in the same period of 2018. While the surplus was £3 million down on the surplus of the first six months of 2018, it must be remembered that the 2018 result was positively impacted by the one-off gain of £5.3 million on the sale of the former UCATT headquarters in Clapham. More specifically, Total Income amounted to £86.4 million in the 1st Half of 2019, up £2.4 million versus the same period a year ago. Contribution Income increased by £3.3 million in the 1st Half of 2019 versus 2018 reflecting the membership subscription increase implemented 1st January 2019 offset by a slight loss of membership. Legal Income fell by £0.7 million.

Property Update In the last three months, the following progress has been made on Unite’s property portfolio:  Leeds – Contractors on site and on course to complete in early 2020.  Dagenham – Tender completed, site start date in September, due to complete June 2020.  Leicester - Fit out to commence in Q4. Completion scheduled for Q1 2020.  Derby – To follow Leicester.  – Tenders to be issued soon, project expected to complete early 2020.  Maidstone – Refurbishment works scheduled to complete in mid-September.

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

 Aberdeen – Refurbishment works out to tender, completion expected early 2020.  Moreland Street – M&E rectification works in progress. Completion January 2020 or earlier.  Birmingham – Construction is progressing well to hit March 2020 practical completion. First 25 bedrooms completed. Partnership with SciTech (Birmingham City’s designated developer of the Knowledge Quarter) is well established and we are jointly meeting with the City and other parties. Very positive first meeting with Birmingham City planners on Phase 2 (Multi-story Carpark and second hotel) on 27th August and with Birmingham City University (a likely big customer of conference facility and car park). Meeting scheduled with Aston University on 3rd September. The plan is to gain all party agreement to Phase 2, especially Birmingham City Council, and submit Planning Application early in 2020.

Legal Report

ASBESTOS REPORT

Asbestos Register At the end of June 2019, the number of members on the Unite Asbestos Register was 15,624, an increase of 67 from the previous quarter.

Asbestos Awareness Unite has long been concerned that members and former members are unaware of the legal services provided by Unite in supporting those who have been diagnosed with an asbestos related condition.

Unfortunately, some members have instructed non-Unite panel solicitors to pursue their asbestos claim. This can ultimately lead to a poor service for the member and a deduction from their compensation to pay for the private solicitors’ legal fees. By bringing their asbestos claim with Unite Legal Services, the member will have their claim dealt with by an asbestos specialist, who will have access to the Unite asbestos database to provide the best chance of securing compensation. And of course, the member will keep 100% of any compensation awarded. There are no deductions for legal or other fees.

TOXIC CABIN AIR

A. Background & Legal Strategy

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

1. The background to Unite’s campaign to confront the airline industry workplace health and safety issue of ‘toxic cabin air’ (TCA) is covered in previous Legal Services’ reports.

2. Thompsons Solicitors are instructed by Unite Legal Services to conduct the TCA litigation. Following the recent appointment of the experienced, specialist industrial disease solicitor, Tim Hayward, to the dedicated role of National Coordinator for TCA litigation, Thompsons are further expanding the unit by recruiting another solicitor to work full time on the TCA litigation alongside the team of Leading Counsel and 2 junior counsel.

B. Litigation Update 3. By April 2019, High Court proceedings had been issued and served in 53 cases against 5 airline employers. Each member’s case was individually assessed by the expert medical witness in toxico-pathology who produced the supportive generic report. A breakdown of current claims is summarised at section C of this report.

4. At a High Court hearing on 27 March 2019, Unite Legal Services instructed Leading and junior counsel to present the arguments. The Defendants were also represented by Leading and junior counsel.

5. Thompsons and our team of counsel have been conducting a detailed sift of current claims to identify the best possible candidates as potential lead cases in preparation for a meeting with the Defendants scheduled to take place on 24 and 25 September 2019 when the selection of lead cases will be discussed.

6. BA has now served their defence to the claim. The Defence denies all liability. The Defendant's case is that cabin air is safe and not hazardous to health. The main particulars of the Defence are summarised as follows: • The maintenance of air pressure and quality is achieved by air conditioning in all large passenger transport aircraft.

• The air conditioning and pressurisation systems of almost all large passenger transport

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected] aircraft involve the use of air bled off from the engines ('bleed air') and the auxiliary power unit.

• Bleed air is circulated into the aircraft cabin and cockpit as part of the air conditioning. This system has been in use for many decades. The reasons why the bleed air system is used include fuel efficiency and safety.

• The role of lubricants in the engine and hydraulic system is of vital importance in ensuring that the aircraft operates safely, particularly in flight. A failure because of inadequate lubrication/lubricants could be catastrophic. The priority in respect of engineering and maintenance of aircraft is to reduce the risk of potentially catastrophic events such as engine failures to as low a level as possible.

• Commercial jet aircraft engines are not designed to involve zero usage/consumption of lubricants. Aircraft lubrication systems are designed to have a usage rate. However, the consumption of lubricants is extremely low, and when multiplied by the very substantial flow rate of air in the cabin and cockpit, any resulting infiltration is negligible, and in respect of quantities of individual constituents therein is infinitesimal.

• An EASA report on cabin air quality concluded:

(a) "This study displayed results comparable to well-known international studies on this issue...it showed that similar airborne contaminations are also observed in typically indoor environments like offices, schools, kindergartens or dwellings".

(b) "Taking indoor air guidelines into consideration, the cabin air is no object of any concerns. It is worth to be mentioned that no single detected contamination reached critical or unusual concentrations for indoor environments".

(c) That on more detailed comparison, cabin air is in fact "even less contaminated with pollutants" than other indoor environments and

(d) That taking into account the current data situation, which indicates a very low organophosphate incidence in aircraft, the still ongoing discussion about the so- called "aerotoxic syndrome" remains completely incomprehensible."

• Organophosphates are not present in the cabin environment at a level sufficient to cause any adverse health effects as a result of the bleed air system.

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

• Whilst the Defendants have yet to disclose any expert evidence to support their denial of liability they have nevertheless challenged the credentials of the Claimant’s expert medical witness in toxicology and disputed the accuracy and reliability of his opinion on the alleged toxicity of organophosphate contaminated cabin air.

7. The case is likely to be listed for a further hearing in the High Court in November 2019 to determine the 6-8 lead cases and set directions for the parties to disclose relevant documents and to exchange experts’ reports and witness statements.

8. The lead cases are likely to be listed for trial in late 2020.

C. Current Claims

9. The current numbers of Unite members who have presented personal injury enquiries relating to claims exposure to toxic cabin:

(a) 1 case successfully concluded prior to Court proceedings b) 166 cases are subject to ongoing investigation,

STRATEGIC CASE UNIT

Sainsbury’s equal pay claims We are pursuing equal pay claims against Sainsbury’s for just under 1450 members. The claims in England & Wales (just over 1,100 claims) have all been transferred to the Birmingham Employment Tribunal to progress alongside non-union claims being pursued by Leigh Day solicitors, whose claims have dealt with an unrelated jurisdictional issue only arising from the manner in which their claims were lodged and that does not apply to our members’ cases. The claims are all still at a very early stage and, unless resolved by an objective job evaluation and settlement process, will likely take a number of years to conclude.

The claims are what is known as ‘equal value’ claims, which require independent experts to consider the weight of members’ retail job roles compared to those of more highly paid warehouse comparators and there not to be a non-discriminatory reason for pay inequality.

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

Sainsbury’s approach to the litigation has mirrored that taken by ASDA in the cases they are facing. ASDA have so far failed in their pursuit of preliminary legal points; the last being the Court of Appeal’s ruling in January 2019 that store workers are able to compare themselves to those employed in ASDA’s warehouses. ASDA have pursued this legal point to the Supreme Court and the Court has just (1 August 2019) granted permission to appeal and will therefore hear ASDA’s appeal when time permits. The Birmingham Tribunal will not progress the comparability point on our Sainsbury’s cases, until the Supreme Court’s decision in ASDA is known.

Carillion protective award claims Council will be aware from previous reports that we have a number of protective award claims submitted following the Carillion group companies’ January 2018 collapse. We now have details of cases across all panel firms and have 215 claims in total for members in the South West, South East, London & Eastern, East Mids, North West & Scotland. The claims have all been transferred to and are being progressed by the Manchester Employment Tribunal, along with around 1000 non-union claims.

Despite there being no money left in the pot to pay their (many) creditors and all costs therefore falling to be paid from the public purse, the Liquidator (that is the Official Receiver) has chosen to instruct costly commercial solicitors and Queen’s Counsel in efforts to defend the claims. This has included a 2-day preliminary hearing, which took place on 7-8 August and set directions to progress the cases to a final hearing, currently listed for 60 days, during September-December 2020. There appears to be conflict in the Official Receiver’s stance in defending the claims and the investigation that he was requested to undertake by the Secretary of State for BEIS following Carillion’s collapse and we await a statement from the OR to confirm his position on this.

Unlawful inducement claims Kostal UK Limited v Mr Dunkley and 54 – Court of Appeal This is a case we have provided a running commentary on given the significance of it to collective bargaining. The cases relate to section 145B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, which prevents direct offers being made to union members so that a term (or terms) of their employment is (are) no longer determined by collective bargaining (collective bargaining unlawful inducements). We won the case at employment tribunal in 2016, with members being awarded a combined total of over £426,000 in February 2017. The employer appealed the tribunal’s decision to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (‘EAT’) and, in December 2017, the EAT set a legally binding precedent which was the first of its kind involving s.145B. The employer pursued its appeal to the Court of Appeal and the case was heard on 22 May 2019.

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

Disappointingly the Court of Appeal overturned the decisions of the Employment Tribunal and the EAT, in a judgment that is somewhat lacking substance and fails to engage with the majority of the legal issues that were concisely (and in our view correctly) addressed by both the EAT and ET itself. The Court of Appeal held that the ET and EAT’s interpretation of the law gave the unions a right of veto over an employer’s desire to change terms and conditions. It therefore held that a permanent change, not one which the employer would (in the future) return to the table to negotiate, was required for there to be a collective bargaining unlawful inducement.

This is the first time that collective bargaining unlawful inducements have been considered by the Court of Appeal. Given the importance to collective bargaining and the flaws in the Court’s reasoning, we have applied to the Supreme Court for permission to appeal the decision. We await the Supreme Court’s decision on whether they will consider our appeal, which we hope to receive confirmation of in October or November 2019.

UPDATE ON BLACKLISTING CASES High Court litigation

As previously reported, the High Court litigation has now been concluded on favourable financial terms for all remaining Claimants with the companies paying the legal costs and Unite Legal Services securing the reading out of unilateral statements in open court (see documents provided previously).

The ground-breaking training fund of £230,000 for the benefit of those who have brought legal proceedings against the companies has now been received and arrangements will be made for it to be administered.

Crossrail Unite Legal Services is now pursuing a claim on behalf of a prominent activist in relation to blacklisting on the Crossrail project. Replies to Subject Access Requests made of companies including Crossrail, Skanska, NG Bailey and T. Clarke and agencies have revealed sharing of data concerning grievance and appeal hearings. These replies have also revealed what is described as a vetting system apparently for the purpose of denying members of the Rank and File work.

Unite Legal Services is building the strongest possible legal case for blacklisting relying on the Data Protection Act and the Blacklisting Regulations. Other matters

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]

Unite Legal Services has continued to support the appeal against the refusal of the Scottish Court to intervene in the decision by the UK and Scottish governments to refuse to set up an inquiry into undercover police operations in Scotland.

Unite Legal Services also continues to support the long-running campaign of the Shrewsbury 24 against their unfair convictions for picketing during the national strike in 1973/4.

Web Site: www.unitealliance.org Email: [email protected]