Congress Report 2004 The 136th annual Trades Union Congress 13-16 September, Brighton Contents Page General Council members 2004 – 2005-03-15………………………………..4 Section one - Congress decision…………………………………………...........7 Part 1 Resolutions carried.............................. ………………………………………………8 Part 2 Motion remitted………………………………………………… ............................30 Part 3 Motion Lost…………………………………………………….................................31 General Council statement on Europe………………………………….……. ......32 Section two – Verbatim report of Congress proceedings Day 1 Monday 13 September ......................................................................................34 Day 2 Tuesday 14 September……………………………………… .................................73 Day 3 Wednesday 15 September...............................................................................119 Day 4 Thursday 16 September ...................................................................................164 Section three - unions and their delegates ............................................187 Section four - details of past Congresses ...............................................197 Section five - General Council 1921 – 2004.............................................200 Index of speakers .........................................................................................205 3 General Council Members John Hannett 2004 – 2005 Union of Shop Distributive and Allied Workers Dave Anderson Pat Hawkes UNISON National Union of Teachers Jonathan Baume Billy Hayes FDA Communication Workers’ Union Sheila Bearcroft Sally Hunt GMB Association of University Teachers Mary Bousted Association of Teachers and Lecturers Chris Keates National Association of Schoolmasters Union of George Brumwell CBE* Women Teachers Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians Jimmy Kelly Transport and General Workers Union Barry Camfield Transport and General Workers’ Union Lucy Kelly Amicus Marge Carey MBE Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers Paul Kenny GMB Brian Caton Prison Officers’ Association David Lascelles GMB Bob Crow National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Mick Leahy OBE Workers Community Kevin Curran Paul Mackney GMB NATFHE – The University and College Lecturers’ Union Jeremy Dear National Union of Journalists Leslie Manasseh MBE Connect Gerry Doherty Transport Salaried Staffs Association Matthew McGregor Transport and General Workers Union Jeannie Drake OBE Communication Workers’ Union Judy McKnight OBE napo Tony Dubbins Graphical, Paper and Media Union Lesley Mercer Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Mark Fysh UNISON Gloria Mills CBE UNISON Andy Gilchrist Fire Brigades’ Union Ged Nichols Accord Janice Godrich Public and Commercial Services Union Paul Noon Prospect Anita Halpin National Union of Journalists 4 Brian Orrell * Retired February 2005 National Union of Marine, Aviation and Shipping Transport Officers ** Joined February 2005 Dave Prentis UNISON Alan Ritchie** Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians Sue Rogers National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers Dougie Rooney Amicus Mark Serwotka Public and Commercial Services Union Alison Shepherd UNISON Derek Simpson Amicus Steve Sinnott National Union of Teachers Liz Snape UNISON Keith Sonnet UNISON Patricia Stuart Transport and General Workers Union Ed Sweeney Amicus Mohammed Taj Transport and General Workers’ Union Paul Talbot Amicus Sofi Taylor UNISON Jenny Thurston Prospect Tony Woodley Transport and General Workers Union Brendan Barber General Secretary 5 6 Section 1 Congress Decisions Listed below are the decisions taken by the 2004 Trades Union Congress on the motions and amendments submitted by unions. The numbers given to resolutions and motions refer to their number in the Final Agenda, or to that of the Composite or Emergency Motion. 7 Resolutions carried i) identification of the role of the trade union in achieving basic entitlements and informing black workers of their rights; Part 1 ii) promotion of all the additional benefits that union membership and organisation bring; iii) development of programmes of organising and Resolutions Carried networking activities; and iv) strengthening of, and engagement within, union structures and campaigns. 10 Organising and recruiting women at work A key part of the process is the continued monitoring, according to ethnicity, of the black membership and Congress recognises that the trade union movement is activist levels and campaigns that specifically target failing to attract sufficient new recruits amongst young black workers and other low-participation sub- working women, and believes that the TUC must take groups. urgent action to assist affiliates to recruit women It is important to ensure that black trade union members, by addressing the issues of major relevance members and activists are fully involved in developing to women in the workforce. and participating in such organising and recruitment Congress calls upon the General Council to develop a activities. comprehensive package of measures entitled ‘a new Congress calls on the General Council to: deal for working women’, to press the Government for legislative and any other action necessary to implement a) develop a detailed strategy for organising black the measures, and to campaign for and publicise the workers across the trade union movement and ‘new deal for working women’, in order to help increasing participation in the trade union structures; affiliates to organise and recruit women at work. b) include in the strategy indicators by which its Congress notes that women workers continue to suffer progress and success can be measured; discrimination on core issues like pay, pensions, c) work with the General Council to promote this training and promotion, and this Congress believes that strategy amongst affiliates and to encourage unions to action to gain ‘a new deal for working women’ should formulate their own race equality strategies and be placed, as a priority, at the centre of the bargaining schemes; and agenda for the TUC and its affiliates. d) campaign with other organizations to seek to Specifically, the ‘new deal for working women’ remove discriminatory recognition legislation applying package should include: to small companies. i) compulsory equal pay audits for all employers to TUC Black Workers’ Conference tackle pay discrimination; ii) reform of the national insurance rules and the 12 Equality/human rights commission state pension scheme to increase security in retirement for women workers; Congress is opposed to any proposal to create a joint iii) proposals for increasing opportunities for training equality commission and human rights commission on and skills development amongst women, including the grounds that the two commissions have separate audits of action taken by employers and skills councils; and distinct remits and that to merge their work would do justice to neither. iv) comprehensive measures to ensure working women can achieve a work-life balance; Furthermore, Congress believes that a single equality commission will not serve women, unless: v) a requirement for employers to conduct specific risk assessments to identify health and safety risks to i) a single equality act is firstly introduced which women workers. should include a duty to promote equality across all strands in the public, private and voluntary sectors; GMB ii) it has separate sections on issues particular to each discriminated group; 11 Organising black workers iii) it has a structure that allows for a clear and equal voice on each equality strand; Congress welcomes the TUC Equality Audit report as a iv) trade unionists and members of each equality positive step forward in identifying what action trade strand are represented among the commissioners; unions are undertaking to put equality principles into practice and where improvements need to be made. v) the overall budget for the commission is much greater than for the three existing ones; and Congress believes that self-organisation is the fundamental principle on which equality strategies vi) the duty to undertake formal investigations, to should be based and that collective bargaining on race enforce the law and to support legal cases is included equality is key if institutional racism in the labour among the commission’s priorities, and that sufficient market is to be defeated. It further believes that the funding is provided for these purposes. organisation and recruitment of black workers is vital if TUC Women’s Conference future progress is to be made in addressing the problems that black workers face in the workplace and in encouraging increased participation in the trade 16 Fair deal for women union movement. Congress further believes that current employment Congress applauds the TUC’s campaigning work on legislation that excludes companies employing 20 or equalities over the past year. Congress however, fewer workers from recognition rights is discriminatory, recognises the significant inequalities still faced by as evidence shows that the majority of employees in women at work. these companies are female and from ethnic Congress condemns the continuing pay inequalities backgrounds. across all sectors and notes that women working full Congress calls for unions to build on the considerable time still earn, on average, 19 per cent less than men. work of the TUC and its affiliates in the area of Congress deplores this continuing pay discrimination recruitment and organisation of black workers. This which devalues