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Congress 2006 General Council Report

Issue date

Congress 2006 General Council Report

The 138th Annual Trades Union Congress. 11-14 September, Brighton

Introduction by the General secretary

The current complex relationship between the Government and the TUC was summed up by events over two days in early May.

On May 2 Chancellor Gordon Brown and the then Education Secretary Ruth Kelly were among 600 guests at Congress House for the launch of 'unionlearn'. Both of them spoke warmly of the signi?cant contribution that unions have made to opening up skills and learning opportunities to union members and pledged their full support to this new venture that marks a major change in the way that the trade union movement delivers important services, both in terms of raising skills for members and helping full-time of?cials and lay activists deliver a more effective and professional service for members. The Union Learning Fund now stands at £15.4m with further grants of several million pounds over a number of years provided to establish unionlearn. This is a major contribution by government to help this signicant area of trade union work.

The previous day, by contrast, on the May Day Bank holiday - a public holiday won as a result of trade union campaigning a generation ago, thousands of trade unionists marched through London and attended rallies in other towns and cities calling for workplace justice.

They highlighted the continuing inequalities at work and the injustices suffered by workers like those at Gate Gourmet, sacked by megaphone announcement and engaged in a protracted battle for justice last autumn, and at Peugeot this summer, where a multinational company found it easier and cheaper to dismiss UK workers than to do so to their colleagues elsewhere in Europe.

The call coming clearly from these events was for fairer employment legislation in a new Trade Union Freedom Bill, something the Government has so far refused to contemplate

The contrast between the positive and welcome engagement with government in some areas and the negative relationship in others runs throughout the TUC's work at present.

Our contacts with government are now as regular and as detailed as at any time in our history. Over the past year a senior General Council team has met the Prime Minister on a number of occasions. There are regular quarterly meetings with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. The Public Services Forum, the Trade Union Sustainable Development Advisory Committee, and the TUC/FCO Advisory Committee are all formally constituted and have provided vehicles for detailed discussions carrying forward contacts between government and the trade union movement in a way that in the early days after Labour came to power in 1997 was more difficult. TUC offcials are in regular contact with officials in the DTI and other departments and there is regular ministerial contact with departments such as the Home Office, Department for Transport, DEFRA and DfID. Ministers also regularly attend TUC conferences and have shown a willingness to engage in debate as demonstrated by the fact that ministers increasingly hold question and answer sessions with trade union audiences rather than just giving pre-prepared addresses.

It is right and proper that the elected government takes account of all different interests in determining its programme and policies. But too often the impression remains that ministers are more willing to take account of the business point of view than that of people at work. We see this both in terms of domestic legislation and on the major issues at European level - working time and the services directive for instance - leading to tensions where too often the British Government is on one side and European trade union movement and many European governments are on the other.

Despite the efforts of unions and some genuine improvements in employment legislation over the past nine years, not least the introduction and uprating of the minimum wage, too many workers in Britain today are vulnerable to exploitation by rogue employers. Many are migrant workers, new to this country with little knowledge of their rights. Many are young - often students trying to work their way through college. A considerable number are employed by agencies with more limited legal rights than those on permanent contracts who often work alongside them.

These workers need better rights. They need trade union support. Above all they need their voice to be heard. And that is why, at this Congress, we are launching a new 'vulnerable workers campaign', bringing together the different work currently being done by unions and the TUC into a campaign which we hope will have a major impact; striking a chord with both the public and government; and leading to genuine improvements in the workplace.

Pensions is an issue that has featured prominently in the TUC work programme over a number of years. And here, again, the response from government has been mixed. The Turner Report, published in the spring, recognised many of the points that the trade union movement has been making and the final shape of the report owed much to the contribution of former Congress President Jeannie Drake who served on the Commission. Following publication of the Government's response, we welcomed the proposal to establish a national scheme of personal accounts with compulsory employer contributions; the decision to re-index the basic state pension in line with earnings; and to introduce a range of reforms that support women and carers with interrupted contribution records, but the major disappointments in the government response were the proposal to raise the state retirement age and the failure to address the needs of today's pensioners.

The Women and Work Commission, like the Pensions Commission, featured prominently at last year's Congress. And whilst we would have liked some of the WWC's conclusions to have more closely mirrored our evidence, nevertheless the report sets out a work programme for government, employers and unions which should help address the '30 years of hurt' that followed legislation which has fallen far short of its target of creating genuine equality in the workplace. We will be following closely the progress on the recommendations, not least the development of the role of workplace equality reps. Another area that must be mentioned is the Government's obsession with privatisation which continues to make discussions difficult on a wide range of issues not least because it is based on the false premise that the private sector is always able to provide a better service than that provided by public service workers.

Away from government relations this has been a busy year for the TUC and for me personally. Whilst statistics show that the number of work stoppages due to industrial action is at an all time low there have still been a number of difficult and complex disputes which have required TUC involvement, assisting unions to reach a settlement. These have included public sector pensions and, following that, local government pensions. Pensions too featured prominently in the rail industry where the privatisation of the 1990s has left an extremely difficult situation that required complex discussions involving a number of unions and a larger number of employers and where a solution remains to be found.

Specific areas in which the TUC was able to assist unions resolve disputes included the Learning and Skills Council, the universities and, in the private sector, ASDA. The Gate Gourmet dispute, which featured prominently at last year's Congress, also required further work in the autumn. During the course of the year the General Council has been involved in an extensive exercise looking at our own structures and services. No major changes are proposed at this stage but we hope that some incremental changes will allow for greater participation by delegates at Congress this year and, over the next year, lead to the General Council taking a more strategic role in TUC governance. Also arising out of this exercise we will be seeking to raise awareness of the services that the TUC provides for unions and reviewing our sectoral work.

The equalities committees played a prominent role in the structures exercise and they too have had a busy year working for equalities within their own areas - women, race, disabilities and LGBT - the increasing union presence at the Pride event in London this summer being one of many notably features of this work.

Our regional councils and trades councils have also continued to play a prominent role in the work of the General Council, reflecting the agreed priorities. Particular attention this year in a number of regions was given to the work of countering the efforts of the BNP to gain ground in the local government elections.

Health and safety too continues to feature prominently in the work programme and the General Council is continuing to watch closely developments on compensation legislation where we are determined to ensure that measures to provide greater protection for individuals does not damage the ability of unions to work in the interests of all their members.

The TUC has continued to play a major role in the international trade union movement, working closely with other national centres to create a more unified and effective body able to make heard the voice of working people across the world on issues such as world trade and global solidarity. TUC Aid will be relaunched at Congress as a means of providing direct trade union assistance where it is needed most.

The global solidarity chapter of the report contains two special statements. One seeks to clarify and take forward our views on social Europe while the second was drawn up in July as the situation in the Middle East reached crisis proportions: no doubt there will be many further developments in the region before Congress.

This year has seen the death of a number of prominent trade unionists, among them George Brumwell, who retired from the General Council just over a year before his death; former Congress President Alan Sapper, a larger than life character in an industry of many characters; and Dick Dale, a former member of TUC staff whose career spanned the period between the post war Beveridge Report and the preparation for the Health and Safety at Work Act in the early 1970s.

A number of colleagues are leaving the General Council at this Congress. Doug Nicholls joined the General Council last year and has made a distinctive contribution during his short stay. Marge Carey joined the General Council in 1998; she has been a strong advocate for women workers and has brought a common sense approach to issues rooted in her shopfloor experience. David Lascelles joined the General Council in 2001 and was the first member to be elected for the newly created seat representing Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Workers, a group that continues to suffer largely unrecognised discrimination at work and in large parts of society. David's contributions to the work of the General Council won widespread regard and affection from colleagues and TUC staff.

During the course of the year Ian Brinkley the former head of the Economic and Social Affairs Department moved on to join the Work Foundation. Ian had worked in the department for more than 20 years and made a major contribution to the development and promotion of TUC economic policy. I am sure that all General Council members will join me in wishing all our former colleagues well for the future.

And on a personal note I would like to thank the General Council for the support given to me over the year and to thank those many unions who have invited me to their events.

Brendan Barber Signature

Brendan Barber

General Secretary

August 2006

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