GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT CONTENTS Acting General Secretary’s Introduction Communications Department European Report International Solidarity Report Health and Environment Department Legal Department Pensions Department Research Department Political Work Education Motions: Report on Motions and CEC Special Reports and Statements (Carried by the 2005 Congress) Report on Motions (Referred to the CEC by the 2005 Congress) Appointment and Election of Officials Gold Badge and Youth Awards 2004 – 2005 Deputy General Secretary’s Report Equalities Report Race Report Productivity Services Centre Section Reports: Clothing & Textile Section Commercial Services Section Construction, Furniture, Timber & Allied Section Energy & Utilities Section Engineering Section Food & Leisure Section Process Section Public Services Section Regional Secretaries’ Reports: Birmingham & West Midlands Region Lancashire Region Liverpool, North Wales & Irish Region London Region Midland & East Coast Region Northern Region GMB Scotland Southern Region South Western Region Yorkshire and North Derbyshire Region Welcome to sunny Blackpool! We assemble as the Congress of our great union, to be accountable, to debate, make new policy and set our values for the years ahead. The last year has been both challenging and rewarding. The GMB has found its campaigning and organising strategy after what seemed like years of unfulfilled promise. The 2005 Congress told us to become a campaigning union again, we have, ask Asda or the AA or Morrison’s or any of the hundreds of workplaces where our union challenged injustice and inequality. The 2005 Congress told us to manage the union better and we’ve made a very good start, unprecedented comradeship and unity of purpose from our CEC and our Regions mean we come to you today free of any debt with a properly controlled expenditure system and for the first time in years a growth (albeit small) of real live paying members! Congress 2005 told us to get organised, we’ve set up a National Organising Team to target growth through workplace organisation. The Special Task Group set up to help identify areas for change gave us fresh ideas, we’ve acted on some and are working on others. The inquiry into the 2003 General Secretary and Treasurer elections have been completed and I hope by the time we meet in Blackpool our union’s democracy will have been strengthened and reformed. I have travelled to all Regions during the last year and what I have found has been officers, staff, branch officers and activists who are 100% committed to fighting for a better future for our members, a fairer society and justice and equality for all. The success or failure of the union rests on our belief in its core values. There will always be sell-out merchants or defeatists who tell you it can’t be done, or the trade union movement is failing. Frankly if these people put as much effort into fighting for working people as they do in making excuses for themselves then the trade union movement would be bursting at the seams with new members. Organising can be very difficult. New challenges face many of us, the economy is shifting at an alarming rate, 1.2 million manufacturing jobs lost since 1997 – 3 million new, service sector jobs created in the same period. Many in industries which frankly trade unions haven’t challenged or organised in before. That’s no longer an option. The GMB will go where the people work. We will organise and we will fight for better pay, conditions, justice, equality and respect. That’s our business. Have a great conference. Yours in comradeship Paul Kenny GMB COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT The GMB Communications Department has been charged with doing everything possible to assist GMB Organisers with the recruitment of new members and to service existing members who are under attack in their workplaces. This has been ongoing since April 2005 when the Acting General Secretary tasked the department with telling Britain’s workers why they should belong to GMB. This task was made simple by the extent of the level of activity in the regions. Below is a breakdown of the work the department has done under each of the subject heading for which it has responsibility; followed by a breakdown and listing of the number of press releases issued nationally and regionally month by month since GMB Congress 2005 up to the time of writing this report in early March 2006. PRESS Between June 2005 and early March 2006 the National Communications Department sent out 579 press releases; an average of 72 a month; on hundreds of issues. GMB disputes and campaigns; reactions to government policy and other bodies’ statements. Below is a summary of this output. GMB members can receive all GMB press releases directly to their email address by going to the national website at www.gmb.org.uk/news and registering on-line. AA dispute and Congress demo; ASDA Washington and Skelmersdale disputes; Gang masters; Tagging of workers; surveillance and Dataveillance; Stanley casinos pay dispute; Morrisons dispute; Council Housing; A&P Shipyard; Kensington & Chelsea Street Sweeper; Average wages by occupation; use of consultants by Government; Schools white papers; NHS scanners set up; Uncollected Council tax; number of industrial accidents by region; Heathrow Terminal 5 dispute; British Gas Pension dispute; Mudchute Farm disciplinary; sacked caretaker; state pension retirement age; city bonuses; Derrinda Belgin’s ET win over pregnancy sacking; DHL dispute; number of company cars in Britain; numbers self employed; Council Housing; Social housing; rent rates changes; number in receipt of incapacity benefit; Vacant properties; Rentokil Pension and site closures; Unilever sale of UK assets; council e-comms achievements; Coco Cola; Obesity in Children; Number with Lung cancer as part of the passive smoking campaign; government plans for reduction of GP surgeries; number in manufacture; number working in service sector; tattooists; tax credits; deficit between numbers on benefit and available jobs; Arsenal FC treatment of club shop staff; Medway Queen; Off-shore working in engineering; fire at Southend pier; gender pay gap; worlds aids day and national mesothelioma day and other national days of note; Average male hours; JJB strike; TICA; Ryanair turnaround times and reaction to Dispatches program; Croydon council proposal to close Crosfield factory; Cash in Transit security of staff and reaction to C4 The heist programme; gaming industry and casino expansion reports and reaction to government proposals; gas and energy statements and prices rises; procurement laws change for local authorities; services directive and Strasburg demo; pay in higher education; GMB signing of G4S recognitions deal; construction work at Wembley stadium; CEC statements on union business; Excelcare proposed closure of ten Essex care homes; Remploy pay talks and the Laggers demo at Allington EFW Plant. The monthly totals of subjects covered by press release issued are (some issues e.g. non collection of council tax require regionalised versions as well as a national one. This can mean up to 13 releases per subject. All these press release are available on the national website press archive. June 2005 (including GMB Congress 2005) 37 press releases July 2005 80 press releases August 2005 58 press releases September 2005 94 press releases October 2005 65 press releases November 2005 65 press releases December 2005 60 press releases January 2006 51 press releases Up to mid February 2006 60 press releases Campaigns AA The aim of the GMB campaign in the AA is to persuade the thousands of AA staff to re join GMB having been led out of the union by ex-GMB officials in to a staff association. Since the venture capitalist took over we have kept up a constant bombardment of publicity about the detrimental employment practises that our former members have suffered since de-recognition of the independent trade union rights. The workforce has been cut by a third so that the long hours culture is set hard as part of the businesses. Disabled workers and those on the sick were targeted for and given severance packages well below their redundancy entitlements. AA customers too have borne the brunt of the paring down of the service. Fewer breakdown patrol staff and fewer call centre staff has led too longer waiting times at the road side and so has disgraceful reports of disabled and vulnerable drivers being abandoned altogether by the company. Increased pressure on staff to sell parts and AA membership at the roadside and the blatant asset stripping of the company in order to pay £500 million bonus to the owners is the current state of play at the time of writing. GMB has made sure that all these issues have been reported far and wide and has not allowed the new; venture capitalist owned AA to masquerade as the original 4th emergency service that served its customers for year but is now long gone. Visit the website page at www.gmb.org.uk/aa for all the latest news on the campaign. ASDA The aim of the GMB campaign against ASDA is to restore full; national collective bargaining rights; pay and conditions and decent health and safety for our 20;000 members in the stores and depots. Since June 2005 when GMB stood out against pay cuts and attacks on their right to collective bargaining GMB has kept ASDA in the news and informed ASDA customers about the treatment metered out to its workforce. The strikes at Washington and Skelmersdale in June and August 2005 started the ball rolling and since then it has been non-stop. Employment Tribunal findings against ASDA for anti-trade union activities and race discrimination have been widely publicised along with the revelation that ASDA had paid Portland PR; a company set up by former Labour spin doctor Tim Allan; to run the union-busting campaign against GMB.