Wolverhampton, Bilston & District
Trades Union Council organising since 1865
Secretary’s Report of Work 2018 &
Plan of Action for 2019
www.wolvestuc.org.uk info@wolvestuc.org.uk Wolverhampton TUC 07538 045376
As a trades union council, we meet third Thursday every month at the UNITE office to hear speakers, discuss issues of joint concern to the local labour movement and make democratic decisions to organise events and campaigns which bring the message of trade unionism to the wider public - all welcome. Details on www.wolvestuc.org.uk Affiliated branches continue to elect fewer delegates to us than their allocations. Almost all the affiliated branches were involved in our activities.
2018, saw an increase in affiliations to WB&DTUC to 19 branches; 16,687 affiliated members up from 10,813; ASLEF, Community Region 4 Associates, Community W'ton Craft, CWU, FBU, GMB X13, Musicians Union, NEU-NUT, RMT, UCU (University), UNISON Acute (New Cross), City of Wolverhampton UNISON, UNISON Police staff, UNISON Sandwell General, UNISON W.Mids Community, UNITE WM6150, UNITE WM 5203, UNITE Faith workers, UNITE WM7085 (W'ton Homes). Our main email base 5% up at 192 local union contacts; we have several other databases of people interested in other activities locally. People sign up directly from our website. GDPR regulations have been followed. Wolverhampton TUC facebook page has 544 followers. Fewer people viewed our website www.wolvestuc.org.uk last year, with a total of 25,000 page views by people in the UK on our site.
Delegate meetings averaged 18.4 attendance, 46% up on last year and the highest since the 1980s. 27% of attendees were women. Our activities and campaigning have continued to draw in new visitors and delegates. Don't lose your right to vote, register ready for the next election https://www.registertovote.service.gov.uk/register-tovote/country-of-residence or email electoral.reg@wolverhampton.gov.uk or telephone 01902 551177 to be sent a registration form by post or to get a form to vote by post. Meetings planned for 2019 Annmarie Kilcline, the new Regional Secretary UNITE will be speaking at our March meeting; The Plan – Lucas Aerospace 30min film at our AGM, which we sponsored; law updates; Police Spies Out of Lives in February; Sis Millar on her mining research; Refugee & Migrant Centre; update on Latin American politics.
The year began with Wolverhampton-based Caitlin's liquidation; 600 local jobs affected directly. Carillion took over Tarmac and Robert McAlpine all blacklisting firms and big Tory donors. Carillion gave big bonuses and dividends until the end while skimping on pension fund and company investment. #HeartUnions TUC campaign activity Saturday 9th February & Sunday 10th February 2019.
The focus for 2019 is to highlight the scourge of Zero Hour Contracts and the need for unions to eradicate them from the workplace. 2018: Wolverhampton & Bilston TUC's campaigning in Wednesfield and Bilston handing out Valentine flowers to spread the trade union message
Delegates took the decision after hearing a speaker not to be involved with events re-linking Enoch Powell with Wolverhampton as Wolverhampton has moved on and should not continually be linked to a racist speech made half a century ago. Events took place by SWP/Stand Up to Racism with Midlands TUC backing and subsequent suggestions of a blue plaque for Powell were nationally reported, giving the predicted negative coverage of Wolverhampton. It turned out to be a non starter and never happened.
We assisted with the Pay Gap/HMRC closure public meeting in March with Howard Beckett UNITE & Mark Sewotka PCS. We had a speaker from Keele UCU on pension Strikes and picket line activity at the University. WASPI Wolverhampton, Cannock & Staffs - Women Against State Pension Inequality also spoke about their on going campaign.
TUC Midlands Pensioners’ Network campaigned to keep the bus pass as a universal nonmeans-tested benefit and for bus services that meet people’s needs with a Hereford to Skegness bus tour in April 2018. English councils have cut funding for buses by a third since 2010 and 500 bus routes were withdrawn or reduced last year. We have regular reports from the Network. The theme of this year's Workers' Memorial Day was union workplaces are safer workplaces highlighting the important role of trade union H&S reps in the workplace. Over 60 attended in the rain. FBU Reg Sec & Eleanor Smith MP were among the speakers. Wolverhampton’s annual Workers' Memorial Day: 12.30pm Sunday 28th April 2019 @ Cenotaph, St Peter's Square Wolverhampton WV1 1TS Remember the Dead, Fight for the Living. st 1 May Wolverhampton May Day festival over 300 came, excellent evening, with Ska band The Beat Goes Bang headlining. Our volunteers leafleted 4,000 local homes.
next event:
7pm Wednesday 1st May 2019 @Pegasus, Whitmore Reans WV6 0QQ
www.1stmaywolverhampton.org.uk
We sent a delegation to the Midlands Trades Councils conference but there were no outcomes.
New Deal for Working People - TUC March and Rally May 2018, Wolverhampton TUC took a group of local trade unionists by train, along with UNISON City of Wolverhampton branch which also took a large delegation. A leading gay rights campaigner led a delegate discussion on different ways people define their gender and sexuality and how shop stewards can help with particular issues that affect LGBT+ trade unionists. Stuart Grant Wolverhampton Secretary of NEU-NUT section of the teachers' union and long-time delegate to Wolverhampton Bilston and District Trades Union Council died. Son of our Treasurer, John Grant, he had battled cancer and still in his 40s left a wife and stepdaughter. Stuart dedicated his working life to the trade union movement and to the betterment of fellow workers' lives and to the improvement of education locally for all our children. It was a very sad loss of such a capable comrade. We had a stall with WB&DTUC merchandise sold again at this year's annual Women Chainmakers' festival in July, organised by Midlands TUC in Cradley High Street, the biggest annual celebration of women's history in Britain. It celebrates the achievements of 800 women chainmakers against the local employers who sought to deny them their rights. The women, led by trade unionist Mary Macarthur, founder of the National Federation of Women Workers, met them with with forceful opposition and won a minimum wage in 1910, following a ten week strike. A new folk ballad about Mary Macarthur and the women chainmakers April 9th 2019 - 7.30pm - NEWHAMPTON ARTS WOLVERHAMPTON Women Chainmakers' festival will be on SATURDAY
6th July 2019
11am-5pm, stalls, entertainment , re-enactments and union banner procession along Cradley High Street see www.wolvestuc.org.uk volunteers needed to help staff our stall
Each month at our delegate meetings we hear speakers covering a broad range of labour movement issues as well as local union reports. Firefighters in the West Midlands who voted by a 9 to 1 margin for strike action in a dispute over the imposition of contracts on new entrants into the service but did not need to take that action as the employer agreed to halt the introduction of the controversial contracts and other authorities did not try to impose the failed pilot across the country.
Our priorities as a trade union council for 2019 are set by the Trades Union Congress in the
Trades Union Councils’ Programme of Work www.wolvestuc.org.uk/index.php/wbdtuc/tuc-programme-of-work NHS - Trades Union Councils are asked to work with TUC affiliates and others to support the campaigning activity of Keep Our NHS Public, Defend our NHS, 999 Call for the NHS and Health Campaigns Together. Delegates went to the London NHS demo in February. Local Government Trades councils are encouraged to: – campaign for an end to all privatisation of local government services – bring together trade unions, councillors and community groups to campaign for the resources Wolverhampton actually needs including public meetings, press releases and social media Transport - Trades councils are called upon to campaign for its immediate return to public ownership through the lobbying of all local authorities and MPs. Housing - Trades Councils are urged to campaign for: – A programme of council house building rising to 100,000 new homes per year with council home building and repair services to be brought back in-house, where they can be delivered on a non-profit basis. Council rents to be genuinely affordable and pegged to inflation. – Local councils to have and use the power to take over homes empty for more than six months – The reintroduction of private sector rent controls and extension of rights for private tenants, including an end to “no fault” evictions – To demand all tower blocks be fitted with sprinkler systems and that an urgent review is held into building standards and management by Arms-Length Management Organisations of high rise buildings to avoid another tragedy like Grenfell Tower. Our July meeting which usually has the lowest turnout, had this years’s highest to hear Tackling the Housing Crisis author Tony O’Brien and we gave away his books. Energy and Environment - Trades Councils are encouraged to work with their Regional TUC to develop appropriate Low Carbon Regional Strategies, to put the fight against climate change at the heart of our campaign strategy. Fracking - Trades councils are urged to consult with local communities on any planning applications related to fracking received for their area and encourage authorities to take steps within their statutory powers to work to harness sustainable and renewable energy resources available locally and aim to work towards becoming fossil-free by 2025.
Justice against spying and Infiltration Trades Union Councils are asked to consider: – Affiliating to COPS - Supporting core participants in the Mitting Inquiry – Urging the Home Secretary to conclude the inquiry as quickly as possible and to remove the anonymity granted to SpyCops – Inviting women from PSOOL to speak about their experiences at public meetings We have done so and they will speak at our 21 Feb 2019 meeting Anti-racism Trades councils are urged to: – support fan-based anti-racist initiatives which aim to take the fight against racism to the clubs and football grounds. – work with other community bodies and organisations to combat racism, including developing a local ‘Statement Against Racism, Fascism and Islamophobia’ to be signed, amongst others, by MPs, civic, community and religious leaders. A carload of our delegates went to Worcester in September to support their TUC's anti-EDL demo. Very good turnout of up to 2,000 with just a couple of dozen EDL at their national rally.
Mental Health and Trade Union Activists - Trades union activists are a group which may have particular mental health and stress related issues arising from their TU roles. The General Council are called upon to work with affiliated unions to provide for trade union activists faced with these issues, including helplines as well as training. Our speaker last November was on Mental Health in the Workplace. Yemen - Trades councils call on the TUC to call on the UK government to end the British government’s supply of arms to Saudi Arabia and to campaign to end the blockade on Yemen and allow humanitarian aid to enter the country under the supervision of the UN and secure the total stoppage of any hostility against civilians. Blacklisting and other dodgy employment practices - Trades councils are urged to: – offer assistance to unions organising precarious workers – campaign to end to ‘bogus’ self-employment and agency contracting for core workers. – campaign for day one equal rights and pay for directly employed and agency workers. – support campaigns for the right of candidates for job interviews to see the markings and comments of the interview panels. Amazon protest – GMB. Wolverhampton TUC delegates joined the Rugeley protest led by GMB against conditions at Amazon. Other events took place around the country in November in support of workers being exploited and being put at risk of serious injury by Amazon.
Many delegates joined the thousands at the protest in Birmingham before the Tory Party conference. Ten volunteers from Wolves TUC & Peoples Assembly leafleted for this demo at Wolverhampton train station early morning a few days before. The 2019 protest will be in Manchester.
The alternative: We need minimum wage of £10 an hour, now. Ban exploitative zero hours contracts. Repeal the trade union act,which makes it harder for us to stand up for workers. Fund our NHS and public services properly. Crack down on tax dodgers who starve our schools and hospitals of funding.
UNITE locally put on free coaches to NHS demos, Peoples Assembly, antiracism and Durham Miners Gala. November 2018 - the Shrewsbury pickets won an important victory in their long struggle to overturn their convictions. In the Administrative Court in Birmingham, Mr Justice Jay gave permission for the pickets’ application for judicial review to proceed to a full hearing. Funds will still be needed and we have continued to support the campaign. www.shrewsbury24campaign.org.uk
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With Brexit due 11pm 29 March 2019, the last two years have been wasted by posturing politicians. Leaving the European Union presents the UK with several possibilities, yet regrettably so far there has been little discussion of how to take this opportunity. Throughout the debate nothing has been heard from our MEPs to justify their positions. A general election is needed. Wolverhampton & Bilston TUC delegates viewed the TUC's position on Brexit video https://www.facebook.com/tradesunioncongress/videos/344853249595371/ and after discussion came up with the following conclusions which we sent to the TUC General Secretary. The TUC's expressed opinion is unclear and a fudge. The deal being discussed by the government and EU is not about workers' rights. It is about trade deals and tariffs. When Britain leaves the EU it would be the government which may or may not attack workers' rights. The Tories are not threatening it yet. To guarantee workers' rights trade unionists need to, as ever, be prepared to fight for our rights. The best guarantee of preserving and improving our rights would be with Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister. If there is to be a "popular" or "people's vote", it is a general election not another referendum which we need. Those calling for another referendum are divided: some ask for a vote on an as yet unagreed deal with the EU that the Tories may negotiate and few voters would read. The alternative being no deal, leave the EU under World Trade Organisation tariffs with the EU until further negotiations take place. others think that a referendum should be their chance to overturn the first referendum the people's vote to leave the EU. Currently since the first referendum nothing has happened except that a date to leave has been decided. Any referendum would be a boost for UKIP; already dwindling, once we leave shall have no reason to exist. A second referendum would have implications for respect of democratic vote. If the first vote had been stay in would there be any second chance referendum again now? Millions of working class voters are already disillusioned and alienated from the political class and the capitalist democracy which gives them a vote every five years. Multinationals are hiding behind Brexit to make already decided cuts/closures. After the discussion, one delegate, who is also a Labour Councillor, expressed the view that "I have been involved in a number of Brexit discussions and had not been looking forward to the trades union council meeting, but it has the most informed and sensible debate that I have been part of."
UNITE strike at WZ Packaging For the past three years workers at WZ Packaging, Telford had not received a pay increase. This year the employer has informed them that, yet again, the company isn’t in a position to give them a pay rise but at the same time has been able to give the managing director an additional £60,000 a year which has, in effect, doubled his salary and would have covered a 3% rise for the entire workforce. In response to this ongoing attack to their terms and conditions, UNITE members at WZ Packaging voted for a series strike actions in November and December. Wolverhampton TUC joined Shropshire & Telford TUC and UNITE Community members outside WZ Packaging to show solidarity with the workforce a week before strike action was due. A pay offer was received direct from the owner a few hours later which was accepted and the industrial action suspended. Motion passed by WBDTUC October 2018 in support of UNITE taxi drivers after UNITE spoke at our delegate meeting. Responses received from Wolverhampton Council & Midlands TUC. Wolverhampton Bilston and District Trades Union Council condemns City of Wolverhampton Council for utilising Tory deregulation legislation in a way which harms the taxi industry; for example City of Wolverhampton Council has issued thousands of licences to drivers for use outside Wolverhampton in particular for Uber which apparently uses Wolverhampton due to its lower thresholds for operators and vehicles and lower licence prices, and which is contributing to the undermining of earnings of taxi drivers and threatens the future of the wheelchair accessible hackney carriages and private hire cabs bearing in mind that taxis are an integral part of our public transport system particularly late at night when other services shutdown. Birmingham UNISON Home Care Workers now been in dispute for over a year and have taken over 45 days of strike action. The latest ballot result, the third in this long running dispute and in response to the trade union act, with over 96% voting yes.
Join Wolverhampton Palestine Solidarity Campaign 01902 450640 wolvespsc@gmail.com or on Facebook www.facebook.com/groups/167943526632859/ 2018 was a very active year with public meetings, filmshows and protests at HSBC which caused a partial disinvestment in arms companies linked to Israel. 45 people attended the annual Palestine Solidarity Campaign garden party.
Fundraising @ music festivals Wolverhampton TUC has sent local volunteer teams to work on the bars at music festivals since 1999, raising £38,000; our main source of campaigning income. Half this money we use for adverts and donations to the Morning Star. What is expected of you? festival on a bar serving pints, usually 6 hours and a sense of humour volunteers get on site training for bar & health and safety What you get?
and flush toilets; tips are shared communally
14% pay rise won for work of 2,000 volunteers Wolverhampton TUC made a formal complaint to the Wandsworth and Battersea TUC who own the Workers Beer Company about the rate of remuneration for volunteer-hours on their bars at music festivals such as Glastonbury that we send volunteers to. We had taken the decision that we would no longer work for the Workers Beer Company while the rate paid to us for volunteer work was worth less than the National Minimum Wage. Battersea and Wandsworth TUC and the Workers Beer Company discussed our complaint and agreed a 14% rise from £7 to £8 with regular future increases. In the end we did not work at any festivals last summer as contracts had been lost with big festivals although we are recruiting for places at 2019 festivals working with us. Deadline: 18th March 2019 - all details on www.wolvestuc.org.uk TUC Trade Union Studies 2019 - sign up now...for January, April and September at Shrewsbury & Stoke (and Wolverhampton if sufficient numbers) see www.wolvestuc.org.uk Union Reps Stage 1 ten weeks 9am – 4pm on Mondays Health & Safety Stage 1 ten weeks 9am – 4pm on Tuesdays
Thanks to outgoing officers: President: Marie Taylor (UNITE)Vice-President: Rob Marris (UNITE) Treasurer: John Grant (UCU) Auditor: Adrian Turner (UNISON) Asst Sec: Bob Simm (UNITE) Executive Officer: Paulette Whyte (UNISON) Nick Kelleher, (UNITE) Secretary WB&DTUC January 2019
EVENTS in 2019 Thursday 17th January 2019 Annual General Meeting WB&DTUC with Lucas Plan film TUC
Unions week: Saturday 9th February Wednesfield High St
stall 10.30am & Sunday 10th February Bilston Market stall 10.30am Thursday 21st February WB&DTUC Delegate meeting with speaker from Police Spies Out of Lives campaign 1st week March 2019 Midlands TUC Women at Work Week Thursday 21st March WB&DTUC Delegate meeting with speaker Annmarie Kilcline, Regional Secretary UNITE March 18th deadline for festival applications www.wolvestuc.org.uk Thursday 18th April WB&DTUC Delegate meeting Sunday 28th April Workers’ Memorial Day 12.30pm @cenotaph/Workers’ Memorial Day Tree, W’ton. Wednesday 1st May, 7pm Workers’ Day @ Pegasus WV6 0QQ Thursday 16th May WB&DTUC Delegate meeting Thursday 20th June WB&DTUC Delegate meeting Saturday 6th July Cradley Women Chainmakers’ festival from 11am, Cradley Heath High St Thursday 18th July WB&DTUC Delegate meeting no August WB&DTUC Delegate meeting Sunday 1st September Burston Strike School Rally, 3 free places are sponsored by Wolves TUC each year, contact us Thursday 20th September WB&DTUC Delegate meeting Thursdays 17th October WB&DTUC Delegate meeting Thursday 21st November WB&DTUC Delegate meeting Thursday 19th December 2019 WB&DTUC Delegate meeting