N.B. This is not an official Unite Report; it is based on my notes of the EC meeting. I believe it to be a fair account of some of the key points and decisions taken (where I give my views about them I make this clear), and I will willingly correct any errors upon receipt of official notification from Unite.
This report is far from exhaustive – many more issues were debated and decisions taken over the three days.
Ian Allinson
UNITE EC member, Electrical Engineering, Electronics & IT
www.iansunitesite.org.uk
[Apologies for the strange effects if you view this in Internet Explorer - a but I haven't time to investigate. Hopefully it's still readable for you]
Constitutional Committees
1. It’s worth referring to the new UNITE rulebook to try to understand this section.
2. The Joint General Secretaries (JGSes) had written out to all officers asking them to check and update the lists of “accountable representatives of workers” (reps etc) at the workplaces they cover.
3. A standard letter has been provided to Regional Secretaries to call the various conferences and meetings, which includes explanation of how nominations and motions will be dealt with. Motions will come from committees, not conferences.
4. Most of the outstanding conference/committee structures which had not been agreed at the previous meetings were agreed (including the EEE sector in the South East and South West regions). A few other issues remain, and it was agreed to resolve these over the next week with the involvement of the relevant EC members.
5. The timetable for setting up constitutional committees had been finalised:
a. 13-26 July: time slot #1 for Regional Industrial Sector Conferences/Committees and Area Activists’ Meetings/Committees.
b. 2-27 September: time slot #2 for Regional Industrial Sector Conferences/Committees and Area Activists’ Meetings/Committees. This slot will also be used for the first Retired Members’ Association (RMA) Regional Coordinating Committee meetings.
c. 2-18 October: Time slot for meetings of Regional Equalities Conferences/Committees and Regional Young Members’ Forums.
d. 19 October – 6 November: Time slot for meetings of Regional Committees, National Industrial Sector Committees (NISCs), National Equalities Committees and RMA National Committee.
e. 23-27 November: National Industrial Sector Conferences (Brighton)
f. 27-30 April 2010: Policy Conference (Manchester)
NOTE: Dates for National Equalities Conferences are still to be determined.
6. Regional Industrial Sector Committees (RISCs), Area Activists’ Committees (AACs) and Regional Equalities Committees are to meet after the conference/meeting from which they are elected.
7. National Industrial Sector Conferences will be elected by and from the RISCs, just as National Industrial Sector Committees (NISCs) are. National Officers are being asked to make proposals for the National Industrial Sector Conferences, to come before the September EC meeting. It is assumed that sectors will include NIS Committee members in the NIS Conference delegation.
8. The initial RISC meeting must elect delegates to the Regional Committee and National Industrial Sector Committee and make nominations to the four Regional Equalities Committees.
9. The EEE and ITC sectors have one seat on each Regional Committee, except in Ireland where sectors are grouped.
10. The initial AAC meeting must elect delegates to the Regional Committee and make nominations to the four Regional Equalities Committees.
11. Each initial RMA Regional Coordinating Committee meeting will elect one observer to the Regional Committee and two delegates to the RMA National Committee (1 ex-Amicus and 1 ex-TGWU for the initial term of office).
12. The initial Regional Equality Committee meetings will elect delegates to the Regional Committees and National Equalities Committees.
13. The initial Regional Young Members’ Forum will elect one observer to the Regional Committee and one Labour Party member to the Regional Political Committee.
14. Standing Orders for Area Activist Meetings were agreed.
15. Because Retired Members’ organisations haven’t been integrated across UNITE, it was agreed that Retired Members Association (RMA) Regional Coordinating Committees should have no more than 20 members and no more than 10 from each former section (i.e. Amicus and TGWU).
16. The question of how branches send motions to policy conference (under rule 12.6) was raised yet again, and the JGS promised to look at it.
17. EC members expressed concern that they had heard that Regional Secretaries had been instructed to organise all Regional Industrial Sector Conferences for Saturdays. This would make it harder for many people to participate, particularly those who had caring responsibilities. The JGSes said that they could be help on any day of the week, but that loss of earnings expenses would not be paid.
18. I asked that the guidelines, details and dates for all the conferences be placed on the union web site, as I was concerned that communication might fail in some cases. This was agreed.
Industrial Business
19. As usual there were written reports from National Officers covering nearly all sectors.
20. Around 229 field engineers below the level of manager in one region of HP (formerly EDS have won recognition for collective bargaining through UNITE. This was won via the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) without the need for a ballot because the membership was above 50%.
21. The two National Officers from Construction gave a verbal report, and at various points during the EC meeting there were discussions about blacklisting, the Lindsey Oil Refinery dispute, the current ballot of members covered by the NAECI agreement and organising around the Olympics. The EC and the Joint General Secretaries were careful to avoid the “British Jobs 4 British Workers” dead-end. During the meeting a crane accident in Liverpool highlighted the serious safety issues which plague the industry.
22. The two National Officers from Civil Air Transport gave a report on the situation at BA. While the airline is clearly in trouble, there are concerns that the company (and Willie Walsh in particular) is out to take on and break the union, rather than to deal with the company’s problems. A branch meeting of over 2000 members had rejected the company’s demands but agreed the proposals from UNITE which offered cost savings at the level the company had originally demanded. Feelings were heightened because a large part of the company’s problems stem from the £350m+ fines for price fixing, caused by senior management, not the workers who are now being asked to pay for it.. UNITE was meeting BA at ACAS during the EC meeting and a lobby of the BA AGM was planned for 14th July.
23. The government is still failing to act effectively to protect jobs in the motor industry. There were reports and discussions including LDV, Vauxhall and Jaguar LandRover. Contrary to earlier hopes, the government has not dropped its opposition to financially supporting short-time working to keep people in jobs.
24. 25,000 jobs have gone in the Finance sector since January, despite the fact that large chunks of the industry are now owned by the taxpayer. The culture of huge packages for top executives while squeezing the workforce has not been changed by the government.
25. I proposed using the recent victories at Visteon, Linamar, Bristol bins and Lindsay etc to put on a tour with rallies around the country to raise the confidence of members and activists, as well as to tackle the issues around the anti-union laws and ECJ rulings. Derek Simpson said this would be considered, possibly using the Regional Industrial Sector Conferences (RISCs). He said a demonstration at the Labour Party conference was also a possibility.
26. There will be a demonstration in Redcar on 18th July against the threat of job cuts at Corus steel.
27. Strikes in South Yorkshire are planned as part of the campaign against zero pay increases at First Bus.
28. Protests were planned in Great Yarmouth and Hull over the abuse of “flags of convenience”, under which some non-EU workers are being paid as little as two Euros an hour.
Strategy For Growth
29. Appointments were approved (on a probationary basis) to many of the new Regional Coordinating Officer (RCO) roles around the country. These are responsible for coordinating the 100% campaign (which aims to strengthen organisation in workplaces where we already have recognition) within the regions. A small number of RCO vacancies to be filled. Concerns were expressed about the low number of female applicants and appointments.
30. Sharon Graham is returning to work (initially 3-days a week) following maternity leave.
31. The EC meeting times were changed to allow EC members to attend the funeral of Mike Brider.
32. A meeting has now been set up to progress the integration of the ex-Amicus organisers.
Legal
33. In May/June 2009, UNITE won £18.9m for members in 2462 personal injury cases and over £870,000 at Employment Tribunals.
34. UNITE’s position of making Equal Pay claims for men in the same position as women who suffered sex discrimination has been vindicated by the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) in the McAvey & ors v South Tyneside Borough Council case.
35. The case UNITE won against Rolls Royce, defending the idea that Length of Service could be included in redundancy selection criteria, has been upheld by the Court of Appeal.
36. The House of Lords has ruled that claims for outstanding holiday pay under the Working Time Regulations can be brought as claims for unlawful deduction from wages. This is helpful because the time limit for claims runs from the last deduction.
Political
37. Recent election results had been dreadful for the Labour Party.
38. UNITE will continue to counter the BNP.
39. Charlie Whelan reported that the Labour Party had no money and was only able to keep going because of the money and guarantees provided by UNITE.
40. Derek Simpson argued that in trying to change the Labour Party, voting power was the key, not money.
41. In response to remarks from EC members about public sector cuts, the anti-union ECJ rulings and BERR’s efforts to circumvent the Agency and Temporary Workers Directive, Derek Simpson argued that there was no alternative to Labour apart from the Tories, who would be worse. He argued that when the government does good things (e.g. dropping Post Office privatisation, renationalising the East Coast mainline, abandoning ID cards) it appears reluctant and so fails to capitalise on them.
42. The expenses scandal has led a lot of MPs to decide to stand down. UNITE’s “reclaim Labour” strategy centres on selection of better candidates. We must make sure the UNITE parliamentary panel (people who want to stand) consists of members who will fight for UNITE policies, rather than UNITE providing more New Labour MPs.
43. UNITE will back the restoration of “contemporary motions” at Labour Party conference.
International
44. Canada had backed away from a Free Trade Agreement with Columbia. It is important to keep up the pressure on the EU to do the same. An EC member reported that there was now a minister prepared to meet a UNITE delegation on this.
45. A report had exposed conditions in a Bangladeshi sweatshop. Pressure had resulted in the customer maintaining the contract and improving conditions, including allowing union access. Where customers terminate contracts and the workers lose their jobs, this discourages workers from blowing the whistle on bad conditions in future.
46. The Scottish TUC had discussed Palestine and agreed a motion for a partial boycott. There seems a reasonable chance of similar progress at the TUC conference in September.
47. Unions had condemned the coup in Honduras, but there was concern about the weak response from the US government. There were concerns that if there wasn’t a strong response in this case, the military might try to overthrow democratic governments in other Latin American countries.
48. There had been no progress on the Miami 5 campaign, but a fringe meeting on the issue is planned for the Labour Party conference.
Finance & Membership
49. The membership report to the EC is still split into Amicus and TGWU, and is not presented in the same way. However, the figures showed the IT & Communications sector having the highest recruitment rate of any sector in the former Amicus.
50. The EC was provided with copies of the accounts for last year and the AR21.
51. It was agreed that the F&GP should look at a new UNITE lay member expenses system and make recommendations to the September EC so that they would be in place before most of the of conferences took place.
52. There’s a plan to do more regular cleansing of membership data. This can’t come soon enough for most activists. I raised a concern that with regionalised membership administration, it was hard for reps in employers with sites in many regions to make updates. Dominic Hook agreed to look into a central point for such queries.
53. A paper was agreed (subject to some rewording) which covered reduced subs rates, including the position of retired members. The main points were:
a. Part-time membership will be defined as “members aged 18 or over who normally work fewer than 21 hours per week” and the subs rate will gradually moved towards 50% of the fulltime rate.
b. Retired members and members unable to work because of permanent disability can choose to be “active” or “non-active”. Active ones will pay the discounted subs rate (see below) and participate in the constitutional structures (where allowed by Rule 6). Non-active ones don’t pay subs, may attend local retired member and branch meetings but cannot vote in these meetings or claim expenses. All members can vote in General Secretary elections. Former TGWU section non-active members at 31st August 2009 retain eligibility for funeral benefit. Members becoming retired or permanently disabled on or after 1st September 2009 must continuously remain “Active” status to retain eligibility for funeral benefit.
c. The discounted subs rate (25p or 0.3 Euros a week) will be for:
i. Members under 18 years of age
ii. Members who are undergoing an apprenticeship or a full time occupational, professional or government training scheme
iii. Members who are in full time higher or further education
iv. Members who are permanently retired from work or are permanently prevented from working on medical grounds but are still “Active” within the union (see b above).
v. Members who are unemployed or who have been prevented from working on medical grounds or are on maternity/paternity leave.
Members paying discounted subs will not be eligible for any ancillary benefits other than funeral benefit. Members paying discounted rate must pay by direct debit.
54. A previous EC meeting had agreed new UNITE subs and benefit rates, to take effect from 1st September. One issue had been raised affecting a large proportion of TGWU members, who would have to choose to go up to a higher subs rate or lose certain ancillary benefits (e.g. funeral benefit). It was agreed to move the funeral benefit into the “Core” benefits rather than it being an “Ancillary” benefit. Other benefits affected will be kept as they are until April 2011 when members will have to decide whether to go for the higher subs rate and retain them or continue “Core” membership level.
55. A report on measures taken by the Amicus section to bring expenditure within subs income was agreed.
56. The EC had a verbal report on the progress of the subcommittee of the Finance & General Purposes Committee (F&GP) which is looking at how UNITE should operate in the future in terms of structure and finance, particularly in the light of the likely impact on membership of rising unemployment.
57.
Miscellaneous
58. Dates and details of UNITE courses should appear on the union web site before the end of July, and come out as a printed brochure not long afterwards.
59. A 12-day workplace reps course syllabus is in place, the intention is to do the same for safety reps next year. All courses from now on will be UNITE, rather than Amicus or TGWU.
60. The EC heard how the Equality and Human Rights Commission had published a report on social housing allocation, which destroyed the myth that immigrants are given preferential treatment. Disgracefully, Labour is still pushing legislation to stop something that isn’t happening, pandering to racist misinformation. The real problem is the shortage of council housing. When Harold McMillan stood for election he promised 250,000 new council homes a year. The figure has recently been running at around 300, so no method of allocation could satisfy demand. We need more housing for all.
61. The September EC will discuss our attitude to the People’s Charter.
Electrical Engineering & Electronics Sector Structures
Regional Industrial Sector Committees
| Region | Constituency | Seats |
| South East | Philips Medical Systems | 1 |
| BAE Underwater Systems – Waterlooville | 1 | |
| NXP Semiconductors | 1 | |
| Megger Ltd | 1 | |
| Winterhalter Ltd | 1 | |
| ITW Switches Europe | 1 | |
| Prysmian Cables and Systems | 1 | |
| Searle Manufacturing | 1 | |
| Morgan Electro Ceramics | 1 | |
| Dunham Bush | 1 | |
| Southern Electric Contracting Ltd | 1 | |
| Siemens Magnet Technology | 1 | |
| APW Electronics Ltd | 1 | |
| TOTAL | | 13 |
| | 17.8% female, 3.3% BAEM | |
| South West | Siemens | 2 |
| Tyco Electronics | 2 | |
| Chemring Countermeasures | 2 | |
| Blue Riband/Bootham Engineers | 1 | |
| SF Ltd | 1 | |
| Stanley Solutions | 1 | |
| Universal Engineering | 1 | |
| Others (inc GE Sensing / South Dorset Engineering) | 2 | |
| TOTAL | | 12 |
| | Minimum 1 woman, 1 BAEM | |
| East Midlands | Brush | 2 |
| Cummins | 2 | |
| Alston, Cooper Bussman, ITP Engines, Taylor Hobson, Synex, Draka, SMS Electronics | 4 | |
| Others | 2 | |
| TOTAL | | 10 |
| | Minimum 1 woman, 1 BAEM | |
| Republic of Ireland | Indesit | 1 |
| Mercury | 2 | |
| Recci | 1 | |
| Utility O&M Services | 1 | |
| Others | 2 | |
| TOTAL | | 7 |
| | Minimum 1 woman, 1 BAEM | |
| Northern Ireland | AVX, Coleraine | 2 |
| Nitronica | 1 | |
| Seagoe | 1 | |
| Kuehne & Nagel (Carrickfergus) | 1 | |
| Others | 4 | |
| TOTAL | | 9 |
| | Minimum 1 woman, 1 BAEM | |
| London & Eastern | Sypher | 2 |
| Haetrae Sadia | 2 | |
| ATB Lawrence Scott | 1 | |
| BAE Radar | 1 | |
| CMAC Microcircuits | 1 | |
| E2V Technologies | 2 | |
| Man BAW Diesels | 1 | |
| Ratheon Systems | 1 | |
| Sanyo Industries | 1 | |
| Others | 2 | |
| TOTAL | | 14 |
| | Minimum 2 women, 1 BAEM | |
| North East, Yorkshire & Humberside | PC Henderson | 1 |
| George Barker & Co Leeds Ltd | 1 | |
| Alan Dick UK Ltd | 1 | |
| Husqvarna UK Ltd | 1 | |
| Industry group EEEIT | 1 | |
| Pioneer Electronics Technology UK Ltd | 1 | |
| Siemens Power Engineering | 1 | |
| Siemens Power Generations | 1 | |
| Thorn Lighting Ltd | 2 | |
| Tridonic Lighting Ltd | 1 | |
| TT Electronic Manufacturing Services Ltd | 1 | |
| VA Tech Reyrolle Ltd (T&D) Hebburn | 1 | |
| Welwyn Components Ltd | 1 | |
| Other companies | 2 | |
| TOTAL | | 16 |
| | Minimum 2 women | |
| North West | NXP Stockport | 4 |
| Zetex | 3 | |
| Whitecroft | 2 | |
| Brimar | 2 | |
| Alstrom Traction | 2 | |
| Marconi (sic) | 1 | |
| ABB Alsthom | 1 | |
| CMP Batteries | 1 | |
| Thermo Shandon | 1 | |
| Victoria Engineering | 1 | |
| Vosper | 1 | |
| MEM | 1 | |
| Emcon Technologies | 1 | |
| TOTAL | | 21 |
| | Minimum 3 women, 1 BAEM | |
| Scotland | Honeywell | 2 |
| Philips | 2 | |
| NCR | 1 | |
| Guardhall | 1 | |
| Allan West | 1 | |
| Alstom | 1 | |
| Sunvic | 1 | |
| Plexus | 1 | |
| Other companies | 6 | |
| TOTAL | | 16 |
| | Minimum 3 women | |
| Wales | Eaton Electric Ltd | 2 |
| Prysmian Cables | 2 | |
| Indesit | 2 | |
| Enersys | 2 | |
| Sharp | 1 | |
| Yuassa Batteries | 1 | |
| Hawker Siddeley | 1 | |
| AB Connectors | 1 | |
| Sony | 1 | |
| Deni Ferranti | 1 | |
| Honeywell | 1 | |
| Quartzelec Repair | 1 | |
| Industry Group | 1 | |
| Others | 1 | |
| TOTAL | | 18 |
| | Minimum 1 woman, 1 BAEM | |
| West Midlands | Alstom | 1 |
| Avery Berkel | 1 | |
| Avery Weightronics | 1 | |
| Areva | 3 | |
| Dowding Mills | 1 | |
| Rolls Royce Nuclear | 1 | |
| Eaton Electric | 2 | |
| SMS Electronics | 1 | |
| OLEO | 1 | |
| Armstrong Atlas | 1 | |
| Lap Electrical | 1 | |
| Others | 2 | |
| TOTAL | | 16 |
| | Minimum 2 women, 1 BAEM | |
National Industrial Sector Committee
| Region | Delegates | Including at least women delegates | Including at least BAEM delegates |
| East Midlands | 3 | | |
| Ireland | 1 | | |
| London & Eastern | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| North East & Yorks Humber | 4 | 1 | |
| North West | 4 | 1 | |
| Scotland | 2 | | |
| South East | 1 | | |
| South West | 1 | | |
| Wales | 2 | 1 | |
| West Midlands | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 25 | 5 | 2 |
IT & Comms Sector
Regional Industrial Sector Committees
| Region | Constituency | Seats |
| East Midlands | IT | 8 |
| Comms | 2 | |
| TOTAL | | 10 |
| | Minimum 2 women, 1 BAEM | |
| Republic of Ireland | Bull | 1 |
| NTL | 3 | |
| Others | 3 | |
| TOTAL | | 7 |
| | Minimum 1 woman, 1 BAEM | |
| Northern Ireland | Fujitsu | 3 |
| Northgate IS | 1 | |
| Seagate | 1 | |
| Others | 2 | |
| TOTAL | | 7 |
| | Minimum 1 woman, 1 BAEM | |
| London & Eastern | | 12 |
| | Minimum 1 woman, 2 BAEM | |
| North East, Yorkshire & Humber | Tunstall Communications | 2 |
| Fujitsu | 1 | |
| Loomis Cash Management | 1 | |
| Others | 5 | |
| TOTAL | | 9 |
| | Minimum 1 woman | |
| North West | IT | 13 |
| Communications | 2 | |
| TOTAL | | 15 |
| | Minimum 3 women, 1 BAEM | |
| Scotland | CSC Computer Sciences | 1 |
| Loomis Cash Management | 1 | |
| IPSL | 1 | |
| Other companies | 8 | |
| TOTAL | | 11 |
| | Minimum 1 woman | |
| South East | IT | 7 |
| Communications and Other | 5 | |
| TOTAL | | 12 |
| | Minimum 3 women, 1 BAEM | |
| South West | Bournemouth/Poole | 2 |
| Bristol | 2 | |
| Plymouth | 2 | |
| Other employers/areas | 4 | |
| TOTAL | | 10 |
| | Minimum 3 women, 1 BAEM | |
| Wales | Panasonic | 2 |
| Marconi | 1 | |
| GIO ES Unilever | 1 | |
| CSC Computer Sciences | 1 | |
| Tyco | 1 | |
| Others | 4 | |
| TOTAL | | 10 |
| | Minimum 1 BAEM | |
| West Midlands | IT | 5 |
| Comms & Other | 5 | |
| TOTAL | | 10 |
| | Minimum 2 women | |
National Industrial Sector Committee
| Region | Delegates | Including at least women delegates | Including at least BAEM delegates |
| East Midlands | 3 | 1 | |
| Ireland | 2 | | |
| London & Eastern | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| North East & Yorks Humber | 2 | | |
| North West | 4 | 2 | |
| Scotland | 2 | | |
| South East | 3 | 1 | |
| South West | 2 | | |
| Wales | 2 | | |
| West Midlands | 3 | 1 | |
| TOTAL | 27 | 6 | 1 |
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