GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT ANNUAL CONGRESS 2011 THE BRIGHTON CENTRE CONGRESS - SUNDAY 5 JUNE - WEDNESDAY 8 JUNE 9.30 am - 12.30 pm, 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm CONGRESS – THURSDAY 9 JUNE 9.30 am - 12.30 pm PAGE LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK 2 GENERAL SECRETARY’S INTRODUCTION Dear Colleagues Welcome to GMB Congress here at Brighton. This year we are joined by a substantial number of new delegates. Our GMB has come a long way since 2004. Membership up, finances sound, accountability and transparency as standard behaviour instead of just meaningless words on election statements. Changes have been made to strengthen our internal democracy and provide effective routes for equality strands so they can play an effective mainstream role in shaping policy and help GMB achieve our goals of social justice. This Congress needs no lectures or pearls of wisdom from me about the impact this Tory led coalition is having on members’ lives and on communities. The utter betrayal of their election pledges by the Liberal Democrats show the depths politicians will plummet in pursuit of their own ambitions. The mantra that unemployment, cuts in social provision, education and the living standards of working people together with the whole scale privatisation of the NHS is just plain wrong. The answer to the disaster brought on us by greedy and reckless bankers and financial houses lays with this Government pursuing a transaction tax across Europe and eventually the globe. This tax would add about 5p to each financial transaction of the markets and banking. It can be collected easily, and it is worth to the UK about 25 billion pounds a year, a start at least to the Banks repaying the people for the havoc they caused. This Government should be chasing down the tax dodgers and closing the tax loopholes exploited by those companies and individuals who make vast fortunes out of the UK and our people, but, dodge their responsibilities because they are rich enough to do so. Tax dodgers and avoidance by the richest individuals and companies cost us about 40 billion pounds a year, according to the Government and the TUC and up to 90 billion pounds a year according to pressure groups and think tanks. Benefit fraud which the politicians love to bash, costs us a billion, maybe less. You work out where the Tories and their rich friends would rather we focus our attention on!! Someone said to me the other day that life’s not fair – I agree – if it was Nick Clegg would be earning a living saying “do you want fries with that burger”? Have a good week. To those of you who have been before, welcome back and thank you for all you have done. To those of you who are first timers, then welcome to Congress. I hope you enjoy the experience and the comradeship. PAUL KENNY General Secretary 3 CONTENTS A Framework for the Future of the GMB: Update ………………………………………………………... 5 National Organising Department ………..…………………………………………………………………. 6 Communications Department ………………………………………….…………………………………… 7 Executive Policy…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 11 Action on Motions Referred to the CEC by Congress 2010 …………………….………….. 15 Report of Decisions made by Congress 2010 ……………………………………………... 18 Equality and Inclusion Department……………………………………………………………………….. 23 European Office ………………………………………………………………………………………….… 29 International Report ………………………………………………….…………………………..……..…. 34 Health, Safety and Environment Department …………………………..………………………………. 35 Legal Department ……………………………………………..…………………………………………… 44 Pensions Department ………………………………………..……………………………………………. 48 Political Department ………………………………………………………………………………….……. 52 Appointment and Election of Officials …………………………………………………………………… 58 TUC Congress 2010 Awards ………..……………………………..……………………..……………… 58 SECTION REPORTS: Commercial Services Section…………………………………………………………………………….. 59 Manufacturing Section ……………………………………………………………….………..………….. 73 Public Services Section…………………………………………………………………………….…....... 85 REGIONAL SECRETARIES’ REPORTS : Birmingham & West Midlands Region ……………………..……………………………………….…… 98 London Region ………………………………………………….…………………………………...…… 103 Midland & East Coast Region ……………………………..…….……………………………………… 107 Northern Region …………………………………………………………..……………………………… 113 North West & Irish Region ………………………………………………………………………………. 119 GMB Scotland …………………………………………………..…….………………………………….. 128 Southern Region ………………………………………………..…….………………………………….. 144 South Western Region ………………………………………..……….………………………………… 150 Yorkshire & North Derbyshire Region …………………………………………………………………. 157 4 A Framework for the Future of the GMB: Update This report audits the progress that has been made towards implementation of the 23 recommendations set out in the CEC Special Report A Framework for the Future of the GMB, and carried by Congress 2005. Where it has been previously reported to Congress that the recommendation has been implemented, the recommendation itself is no longer shown. 1. Implemented 2. Implemented The CEC will establish a special working group on young people, whose terms of reference will be to examine how to raise trade union awareness amongst young people, how to attract more young people into membership of the GMB and how to increase the participation of young people in the Union. 3. One of the aims of the CEC Special Report “A Bigger, Better, More Inclusive Congress” adopted by Congress 2010 is to encourage more young members to attend Congress. The ability of Region’s to seek additional nominations from Branches to appoint 10% of their delegates will hopefully encourage Branches to nominate young members and allow the Regions to ensure a balanced representation in their delegation, including young members. 4. Implemented 5. Implemented 6. Implemented 7. Implemented 8. Implemented 9. Implemented 10. Implemented 11. Implemented The CEC will examine the issue of “tidying up” some regional boundaries where any alterations to these 12. could enhance and improve the service to GMB members . Work is ongoing. 13. Implemented 14. Implemented 15. Implemented 16. Implemented 17. Implemented The CEC recommends that the Finance Committee and Senior Managers review all the financial 18. restructuring issues identified by the Task Group with the aim of identifying appropriate reforms that can be implemented immediately and, in the case of reforms requiring changes to Union Rules, recommending detailed Rule Amendments for the CEC to propose to the next GMB Congress. Senior 5 Managers have already taken preliminary steps so that the financial restructuring review can proceed quickly should Congress 2005 accept this recommendation. With effect from the March Quarter 2011 rule 35.1 will come into operation to tighten up scrutiny and Branch payment systems The CEC will look at all areas of expenditure to identify those that are unproductive and to make recommendations that these practices are stopped, to free up resources for direct servicing of members and ensuring the growth of the Union. We now have a national mobile contract which includes both voice and Blackberry services covering all nine Regions, National Office and the National Administration Unit, with O2. We are only nine months into the 19. contract but we estimate that for these services we are saving around £75,000 per annum when compared to the prices of our previous providers. We are about to embark on an exercise to review GMB contracts for landlines as again there will be opportunities to make considerable savings Also, a re-negotiating of the contract for ExpertHR, used as an online reference guide by officers and staff, has resulted in a saving of over £50k per annum. 20. Implemented 21. Implemented 22. Implemented 23. Implemented NATIONAL ORGANISING DEPARTMENT Our union faces some of the toughest challenges we have faced since the mid 1980’s with the wholesale attack on our members jobs and livliehoods launched by the Tory lead Government. The size, and speed of the cuts in public spending forced through since the last GMB Congress put Thatcher’s efforts in the shade. With over 250,000 public service jobs threatened in Local Authorities and the NHS, pay cuts, pension taxes and a struggling economy, the need for a strong campaigning response to build our unions membership in the workplace has never been clearer. Now more than ever we need the unity and organisation within the union that GMB@Work has delivered since 2005. GMB@Work is far more than a nice logo – GMB@Work is for life not just for Congress. As a set of ideas and policies focussed on re-building the membership and structures of the GMB workplace by workplace, it aims to use the attacks our members face as a means to grow the union rather than as an excuse to manage our decline Central to the GMB@Work policy is our belief that the future size and strength of our union is a question of choice and not chance. We can choose to respond to the attacks on our members by recruiting and organising new members in new workplaces threatened by cuts, bringing on new workplace organisers and taking the fight to the employers. Or we can convince ourselves that there is nothing we can do except batten down the hatches, cross our fingers, hope for the best – and take our chances on a change of Government. GMB members deserve better than that from us. The GMB@Work policy aims to make sure we learn the lessons of the 1980’s and provide a better response this time around than a dented shield. Continued growth or decline – the choice is ours not David Cameron’s. 6 In the last year the National Organising Team has amongst other things: consolidated our membership