Report from GPM&IT NISC April 2016

The committee, which covers the Graphical, Paper, Media & IT industries, met Monday and Tuesday. This is a summary of some key points. I’ve not included most of the industrial detail (and some other points) in my report because not everything is appropriate to post publicly. For jargon, see here.

Organising, Campaigning and Education:

1. Osborne’s National Living Wage (NLW) is basically a rebadged and slightly higher National Minimum Wage at £7.20 an hour for over 25s, not to be confused with the real Living Wage of £8.25 or £9.40 in London for over 18s. The NLW is based on a percentage of median income rather than any measure of the cost of living. Some of the worst employers are trying to fund the NLW by cutting terms and conditions elsewhere or setting excessive workload targets so people have to work more hours than they are paid for. Members at one company are balloting over pay in relation to this. Fujitsu has had some bad press from its FSESL subsidiary in the UK. There were many more examples.
2. Members at Tullis Russell who lost their jobs have won £1.5m compensation. The NISC paid tribute to the work of Paul Reilly, the Unite convenor there, who has not yet found alternative employment.
3. In line with the decision of our sector conference, a report on organising is being sent out to RISCs via their secretaries following each NISC meeting and RISCs are asked to feed back their ideas, experiences, comments and plans, as well as including organising in their reports to the NISC. Verbal reports showed some good activity going on in some regions.
4. The NISC’s organising strategy subcommittee will seek a meeting with Sharon Graham from the organising department.
5. The NISC is keen to get a revised version of the strategic report on the sector produced for the sector conference about four years ago.
6. Unite has created a new Manufacturing Combine bringing together reps from relevant sectors. An initial meeting had explored its remit and goals and set up some work groups. We elected two NISC members to attend on behalf of the GPM&IT sector.
7. I gave a report on the use of Skype to increase participation of members not at sites where face to face members’ meetings were practicable. These have been well received by members and are helping offline organising and the education of members about issues and their rights.
8. Education is under attack generally, from student fees, abolition of EMA, academisation of schools and cuts to adult education. Training for union reps is part of adult education, which has faced cuts of 50% this year. It is anticipated that all funding may be removed from July 2017, which will require major changes to trade union education. While Unite, other unions and organisations work on strategies to respond, workplaces are encouraged to get as many reps through training as possible before funding is removed. As always, there is a push to increase the participation of young members, women and BAEM members.

Health & Safety:

1. International Workers’ Memorial Day is 28^th April 2016. There are Unite posters, stickers etc on the theme “strong laws, strong enforcement, strong unions” available from offices or the web site. The intention is to highlight the threat to health and safety from government cuts and the Trade Union Bill. Other resources are available from the TUC and Hazards.
2. Stress is the biggest health issue facing workplaces, and Unite will be updating its existing guidance.
3. The TUC health and safety and organising guide is now available in PDF and epub formats via https://www.tuc.org.uk/HandSandOrganising
4. Unite is updating its H&S guide, the 2014 version is online. Susan Murray and Bud Hudspith are keen to hear members’ views on what issues should be in the new edition, the most suitable format, and any other comments.

Political:

1. The Lords are still discussing the Trade Union Bill and the situation with amendments should be clearer around the end of next week. Though there may be progress on electronic balloting, the idea of secure workplace balloting, essential to raising turnout and avoiding a “digital divide”.
2. The Tories are carrying out a triple attack to weaken political opposition. The Trade Union Bill aims to slash funding to the Labour Party, boundary changes will disproportionately eliminate Labour-held seats, and changes to voter registration have disenfranchised millions of people – disproportionately young, poor and in insecure housing.
3. Unite is encouraging people to register to vote, and to opt for a postal vote as this delivers a higher turnout.
4. While media attention is on the Euro-referendum campaign there are election for councils, devolved government etc for the entire country on 5 May. Unite is campaigning for a Labour vote. It is likely that Labour will suffer losses as it did very well the last time this set of council seats came up. There is also concern that UKIP will pick up seats so Unite has produced material highlighting that far from being an anti-establishment party they are cosy with big business and in favour of cuts to public services and workers’ rights. EU citizens living in the UK can vote in all the elections taking place on 5 May.
5. There was frustration that many Labour councillors try to keep quiet about the cuts rather than being open about the impact of the Tory cuts they are passing on and campaigning on the issue. Just 15% of local government funding comes from council tax, compared to 60% from central government, and the rest from business rates and service charges.
6. Some Labour MPs continue to try to undermine Corbyn. One effect of the boundary changes is that later in the parliament all constituencies will need to select their candidate for the next General Election, creating an opportunity for constituencies to choose candidates reflecting their priorities.
7. A GPM&IT remit to the Executive Council supporting Jeremy Corbyn and Momentum had been “left on the table” rather than voted on as it was unlikely to have secured majority support due to “concerns” about some of the people involved in Momentum. The NISC agreed to remove the Momentum bullet point from the remit and resubmit it.
8. Unite is campaigning for a “Remain” vote in the EU referendum in June, along with most other unions. NISC members overwhelmingly supported this position, but were not always confident that members in their workplaces did. Unite will run its own campaign based on jobs and workers’ rights, rather than backing any of the wider campaigns. I asked why, given that both main campaigns and the media were stoking up racism against migrants, who form an important part of Unite’s membership, and that equality is supposed to be at the heart of our union’s agenda, we weren’t making defence of migrants a central issue too. Simon Dubbins explained that Unite has produced materials to arm members for such arguments, but while not ducking the issue, it wasn’t seen as “our issue to raise”, though our approach might have to be revised as the campaign unfolded. Further information and campaign materials are available here.

Miscellaneous:

1. Keith Keys from the GPM Charitable Trust asked activists to raise awareness of the help that is available to members, for example with mobility aids, home adaptations and respite or convalescent care.
2. The motions submitted for the Unite Policy Conference 2016 have been circulated to secretaries of branches and constitutional committees, which have until 20 May to submit amendments.
3. It was agreed to have a standing item on NISC agendas to monitor and action progress on implementation of the motions passed at the sector conference, and reports can be provided to RISC members.
4. The issue raised from our sector about the implications of automation and the use of robots for workforces across the economy, is now being considered by the Labour Research Department.
5. Following HMRC input, Unite’s lay member expenses policy has changed, and is likely to change again in the near future. Allowance rates have been changed, and all claims for allowances must be supported by at least some receipted evidence of expenditure.
6. The Welsh RISC is now functional and has elected two delegates to the NISC. There remains an issue to be resolved where the Regional Secretary believes four of those elected to the RISC are not eligible because of the constituency arrangements in Wales.
7. The next NISC meetings will be 30 June – 1 July at Esher; and 13-14 October in London. NISC members who cannot attend a meeting were reminded to submit apologies in good time so that substitute delegates can be invited.

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UNITE constitutional timetable 2016

Each year there is a schedule of meetings, intended to ensure key meetings don't clash with each other. For 2016 the schedule is as follows:

Regional Industrial Sector Committees; Area Activists Committees; Regional Equalities & Regional Labour Party Liaison Committees:

• 15 February - 11 March
• 16 May - 10 June
• 15 August - 9 September
• 14 November to 2 December and 12-16 December

National Industrial Sector Committees & National Labour Party Liaison Committee:

• 4-22 January
• 4-22 April
• 27 June - 8 July and 18-22 July
• 2-21 October

Regional Committees:

• 25-29 January
• 25-29 April
• 25-29 July
• 24-28 October

National Equalities Committees including Young Members & Retired Members:

• 1-12 February
• 3-13 May
• 1-12 August
• 31 October - 11 November

Executive Council:

• 14-18 March
• 13-17 June
• 19-23 September
• 5-9 December

The Executive Council's Finance & General Purposes Committee:

• 14 January
• 11 February
• 14 April
• 12 May
• 21 July
• 31 August
• 13 October
• 10 November

Policy Conference:

• 11-15 July

Trades Union Congress:

• 11-14 September

Labour Party Conference:

• 25-28 September

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Protect the right to strike

The Tories' new Trade Union Bill is a massive attack on civil rights, from the right to strike to freedom of expression and assembly.

TUC General Secretary Fraces O'Grady has produced a short video as part of the campaign against it:

The TUC has also produced a briefing on the proposals.  This is well worth a read, because the government's proposals go much further than the Bill itself.  Many of the worst aspects are contained in the linked consultation documents and in amendments to the regulations governing temp agencies to allow them to supply scabs during a strike.

The TUC is organising a rally and lobby of parliament on Monday 2nd November which everyone should build and attend.  It's also worth getting involved with campaigns such as the Campaign For Trade Union Freedom and Right To Strike.

As Len McCluskey argued so powerfully at the Unite Rules Conference, many workers are also going to have to be ready to break this unjust law if it passes or be unable to resist their employer successfully.

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Britain Needs A Pay Rise - book your transport for 18 October

The TUC has called a national demonstration for Saturday 18th October which will become a focal point for everyone who wants to protest against cuts, austerity and the erosion of our standard of living.  It will be given a greater edge by the talk of public sector strikes on Tuesday 14th October.  In addition to local government workers who plan to strike, the ballots in health mean we could see mass action by health workers highlighting the attacks on the NHS too.  Will other public sector workers and those in the private sector who have disputes manage to coordinate their action too?

UNITE has booked some transport for 18th October from around the country.  This is likely to fill up quickly, so book your place now.  This will also help ensure there's time to put on extra transport - it can be hard to find available coaches at the last minute.

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Schedule of UNITE meetings 2014

UNITE's schedule of meetings 2014 is now out, showing the windows in which the various meetings are supposed to take place to avoid clashes:

Regional Industrial Sector; Area Activists; Regional Equalities & Regional Political Committees	National Industrial Sector Committees & National Political Committee	Regional Committees	National Equalities Committees
During:	Between:	Between:	Between:
December 2013	Jan 2nd – 17th	Jan 20th – 31st	3rd Feb – 12th Feb
March 2014	April 1st – 17th	April 22nd – 30th	May 1st – 13th May
June 2014	July 7th – 17th	July 24th – 30th	July 18th – 23rd July
September 2014	Oct 6th – 23rd	Oct. 24th – 30th	Nov 3rd – 7th Nov

Executive Council meetings:

• 3-7 March 2014
• 9-13 June 2014
• 15-19 September 2014
• 8-12 December 2014

Policy Conference: 30 June - 4 July 2014

TUC Congress: 7-10 September 2014

Labour Party conference: 21-25 September 2014

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Everyone to Manchester on 29 September - Save the NHS, No to Austerity

The Tories are in Manchester for their conference on 29th September.  UNITE, the TUC, other unions and campaigns are organising a national demonstration in defence of the NHS and against austerity.  Everyone should throw themselves into building this - a big demo can boost confidence to take the action we will need to stop the Tories and their Lib Dem props.

The TUC information about the demo is here: www.nhs299.org.

The UNITE information about the demo (including transport details from round the country) is here: www.unitetheunion.org/saveournhs.

UNITE has produced a video explaining some of the issues around the cuts and privatisation of the NHS to encourage people to come on the demo:

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Report from special UNITE Executive Council meeting 24th April 2013

There was a special EC meeting today, which I wasn't able to attend due to union commitments within Fujitsu.

My EC colleage Sara Bennett has posted a report on her blog.

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Free communication over the internet under threat?

The TUC's "Going To Work" web site is promoting a campaign to pressure governments attending the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) conference in Dubai this December to reject proposals for a new treaty that would restrict the freedom of internet users by giving governments and corporations the power to:

• Restrict access to the internet to approved uses
• Monitor everything you do online
• Change the way we pay for the internet, potentially marginalising civil society and developing countries

The ITU is a United Nations (UN) Agency, and comprises both governments as members and big corporations.  Take a look at the list of corporate members of the ITU and if you work for a major IT or telecomms company there's a fair chance you'll see your own employer there.

As well as a number of free-speech and human rights groups, the International TUC is campaigning to prevent an alliance of governments such as China, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, alongside big corporations, pushing through the new treaty.

What I find most disgraceful is the lack of publicity around a potential treaty with such implications.  Has there been any consultation with citizens or employees about what stance governments or corporations should take at the conference?  As in so much else, powerful people are trying to make important decisions far away from the public eye and with no accountability.

You can sign the online petition on the Going To Work web site, which also has further information.

In the video below Vint Cerf 'Father of the Internet', Paul Twomey Former Head of ICANN and Sharan Burrow General Secretary of the ITUC launch 'Stop The Net Grab' at the Foreign Press Association in London Monday 12 November 2012.

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Temporary and Agency Worker Resources

Many employers use (and abuse) agency workers - not just to cover short-term fluctuations in workload or to cover absences, but to provide a proportion of the workforce who can be more cheaply dismissed, who have fewer rights and, until recently, who could often be paid less.

The Agency Worker Regulations (AWR), which came into force last year, were intended to partially address this by giving temporary and agency workers some legal protection against unfair treatment.

But as with all legislation, it's not much help if there's no effective enforcement.  Whether a law works often comes down to whether individuals know their rights and whether they have the support of union organisation to advise and support them in asserting their rights.  And of course where there is good union organisation we should be treating the legislation as a bare minimum and seeking to negotiate standards which are considerably higher wherever possible.

There are now quite a few useful publications to help union members and reps take advantage of the AWR, including:

•  UNITE's "Agency worker regulations - what are my rights?"
• UNITE's bargaining guide to the Agency Worker Regulations 2010
• The TUC bargaining guide "Delivering equal treatment for agency workers"

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21 days till the money runs out

UNITE's new film about pay day lenders and promoting the 20th October demo.

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Report from UNITE NW Regional Committee 24 July 2012 (+Branch Standards)

This was a long meeting, so my report doesn't attempt to cover everything, but to capture some key points, particularly those of interest to members in the IT & Comms sector or the Manchester Area.

Minutes of the previous Regional Committee should be posted here shortly.

There were several discussions about the poor attendance at committees (Regional Industrial Sector Committees or RISCs, Area Activists Committees or AACs and Equality Committees) in the NW region:

1. Of the 34 committees in the NW, only 4 had held a quorate meeting in the last quarter.
2. The Regional Secretary reported that he had contacted all officers who are secretaries of committees (apart from a few on leave he still has to contact), reminded them of their role and given them a pack explaining how to conduct meetings.
3. Delegates who fail to attend meetings three times without submitting valid apologies should be removed from their position and the vacancy filled.  If a rep is having difficulties with release from work, their officer is responsible for taking this up with the employer to secure release.
4. The previous Regional Committee had agreed that discussions should take place with the IT & Comms RISC and the Electrical Engineering Electronics (EEE) RISC and whoever had come up with the proposal to merge them which had gone to the Executive Council without any consultation.  The Regional Secretary had set up a meeting with the officers and one person from each RISC, which I had been unable to attend due to illness.  The Regional Secretary informed today's meeting that the proposal had originated from head office, and the EEE RISC member supported it.  The Regional Secretary explained that the reasoning for the proposal was that neither RISC was functioning properly and had poor attendance.  I explained that the IT & Comms RISC had no view on the proposal yet as it hadn't had any explanation, but questioned whether merging two RISCs would increase participation if the causes lay elsewhere.  The Regional Secretary agreed to reconvene the meeting.
5. As a result of most committees having been inquorate, the chair ruled that most of the remits sent in to the Regional Committee could not be debated.  This included the three from the IT & Comms RISC.
6. One of the motions from IT & Comms was on the opreation of RISCs, so it was particularly ironic that we unable to debate it properly.  The motion argued that all RISCs needed to get regular reports from the officers with industrial responsibility in the sector, to have a breakdown of the numbers of members in the sector by employer and workplace and (in line with rule 18.6) to know the identity, constituency and contact details of the reps covered by the RISC.  The latter two points had been blocked by the region for our RISC.  I managed to raise the points in the motion, but was unable to get a meaningful response from the Regional Secretary who just repeated that he'd given the officers a pack telling them what to do.

Other points covered included:

1. The Finance & General Purposes Committee (F&GP) had discussed the request from the Manchester Area Activists Committee to identify a lead officer for Greater Manchester who could be a focal point for dealing with the press, trades councils, campaigns etc and ensure UNITE has a profile in the area.  This was rejected on the spurious grounds that this wasn't a position in the UNITE job structure (nobody had ever suggested this was a "job").  In the debate it appeared that there was a consensus that this should be part of the responsibility of the officer who acts as the secretary to the Area Activists Committee, but the chair succeeded in closing the debate with only the conclusion that the debate would continue.
2. A remit was agreed during the meeting to be sent to the Executive Council stressing the urgency of concluding the investigation into the "agreement otherwise" that had impacted on one of blacklisted electrician Steve Acheson's legal claims.
3. Remploy struck last week and are on strike again on Thursday.
4. There was a brief discussion about the Draft "Branch Standards" document which I've reproduced at the bottom of this post.  The general consensus was that it was too prescriptive (e.g. "must" in places where encouragement was more appropriate) and duplicated points already in the rulebook or the existing paperwork on branch finances.  Regional Committee members were urged to circulate it to their constituents and get feed back in to regional Executive Council members.
5. A spin-off of the discussion on branch standards was the information that the regional offices can do mailshots to branch members on behalf of branches.  While branches are charged for this, it is likely to be cheaper (and easier) than doing it yourselves because UNITE pays less for franking mail than normal stamp prices.
6. A remit from the Regional Political Committee backing a lobby of the Labour Party conference over the NHS (NHS Act, reversing privatisation, PFI, internal market, fund through taxing the rich) was agreed, though clarification is required as to where the financial contribution would go.  The lobby is being planned by the Liason Committee to Save the NHS.
7. A remit was agreed calling for an investigation and action in response to UNITE giving legal services to a member outside the process and without the reps and officers being informed.
8. It looks likely that the Salford office will now be refurbished and the previous plans to relocate to a smaller officer nearby abandoned due to cost.  The refurb should improve meeting facilities.  The Regional Secretary hopes to finalise the plans next week.
9. There was a discussion on 20th October national TUC demonstration.  So far UNITE has reserved three trains (Preston, Manchester, Liverpool).  The Manchester one has 11 carriages so a greater capacity than each of the trains for 26 March.  Provisional enquiries are also being made about reserving seats on scheduled trains.  UNITE will be providing free transport for members - there was some debate about whether this will extend to friends & family as on 26 March.  I argued that we should mobilise the maximum numbers (including friends and family), would need coaches as well as trains, and should give priority to disabled people on the trains where that was appropriate.  The Regional Secretary confirmed that coaches can be organised where appropriate.  Some branches and large workplaces are already organising their own transport in addition.  We were informed that materials to build for the demo are now available from UNITE offices.
10. I raised the fact that the F&GP had decided to cancel the open meeting to build for 20th October organised by the Manchester Area Activists Committee.  The F&GP minutes say the meeting "to include all trade unionists and community campaigners across Greater Manchester" is to be replaced by a "Unite open meeting".  The officer who runs the Area Activists Committee had been told it was cancelled because all coordination should be done on a regional basis and the chair told the meeting it was because of confusion on the date.  I informed the Regional Committee that the County Association of TUCs had organised a replacement meeting and suggested it was regrettable that UNITE had given up the leading role it had had in this and that blocking activity didn't encourage participation.
11. The Regional Secretary reported that branch secretaries were now receiving proper reports of which members were to be taken out of their branches before it happened.  Any appeals were being considered by the F&GP.  Where workplaces wanted a workplace branch, appeals against this would not be successful, as this is in line with rule.  The Regional Committee endorsed the report.  Any branch not happy with the response from the region over branch reorganisation can appeal to the Executive Council.
12. Though it was ruled out of order, I did manage to raise the content of the motion from the IT & Comms RISC on "branch organisation and officer allocation".  This proposed that any remaining general composite (i.e. not workplace, company or industry) branches should cover a geographical area no larger than that covered by an Area Activists Committee as this wasted officer time travelling without having any industrial logic.  The Regional Secretary denied that the problem existed but did promise to look into the example given.
13. I also managed to raise some of the issues from a remit about communication within the region.  From the discussion it appears that many reps in other sectors are receiving communication about disputes and campaigns in the region.  I was astonished to hear that it is the responsibility of each RISC officer to maintain their own email database and forward such communications on to all the reps in their sector.  If this is indeed the approach to communication, rather than using the union's membership database, I am surprised it works as well as it apparently does.  When I've seen such "cascade" approaches to communication at work, they have always been extremely unreliable due to people being off work, forgetting, having out of date lists etc.
14. Under the Political report there were questions about the Political Committee minutes which said that the committee had sought clarification of what involvement UNITE had in supporting Lucy Powell for Tony Lloyd's Manchester Central seat, but that the Political Director had advised the Regional Political Officer to leave the question alone.  The question had arisen because mailings supporting Lucy had gone out with the UNITE logo even though UNITE didn't officially back any candidate.  It was agreed to investigate this.
15. The Regional Education Organiser has produced a guide for branch officers and the Regional Secretary confirmed that this would be sent out in the next couple of days.  It will also be sent nationally so that it can be adapted and used in other regions.  The region can put on training courses on request, tailored in terms of content, location etc and at very short notice. 
16. Under the equality report, it was highlighted that the dates for the Regional Equality Conferences will need to change as they were set before the "windows" were set and will clash with RISC meetings.  UNITE is keen to have more volunteers to help with stalls at the various Pride events in the region.
17. There was a discussion about the threat from various fascist groups who have attacked the UNITE office in Liverpool as well as marches and pickets.  Delegates were urged to ensure there is a big turnout when we mobilise to oppose the BNP, EDL etc bullies.

DRAFT DISCUSSION DOCUMENT

BRANCH STANDARDS – 10 POINT PLAN

To qualify for branch administration funds to be remitted from the union (10 per cent of membership income less deductions for the central strike fund and to cover for employer check-off charges where applied) Unite branches must satisfy the following criteria:

1.     The branch must meet all rule book requirements regarding regularity of meetings (which should be properly notified to all members) and the election of branch officers.

2.    Proper financial records must be maintained, and accounts returned quarterly to the Regional office of the union.

3.    Membership records must be maintained up to date via the branch secretaries’ portal.

4.    Communications must be regularly issued to the membership in the branch.

5.    The branch must commit to the campaign for 100 per cent union membership in the workplace(s) which it covers, and must assist in developing union organisation on “Greenfield” sites where and when appropriate.

6.    The branch must provide representation for its members with the employer up to the level of final appeal, unless specific agreements provide otherwise.

7.    The branch must participate in general Unite campaigns and mobilisations.

8.    The branch must play a part in the broader labour movement locally, including affiliating to the local Trades Council where there is one and to the local Constituency Labour Party (in Britain) where possible in line with Party rules.

9.    The branch should support the local Unite organisations for community members and retired members.

10. The Branch should promote equal opportunities and tolerance inside and outside the workplace.

This discussion document is to be discussed at the Executive Council meeting in September 2012.

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