General Council Report 2019

1.1 Introduction

Over the year, the General Council has continued to track and comment regularly on the difficult conditions faced by working people, and set out prescriptions for change. To cap a dismal decade, GDP growth of 1.4 per cent in 2018 was the weakest since the global recession.

Our statement ahead of the HM Treasury Spring Statement 2019 showed that the recovery since the recession has been the slowest for more than a century.

In recent years, continued slow growth has in part reflected the repercussions of and ongoing uncertainty over the shape of the UK’s future relationship with the EU, with business investment once more grinding to a halt in 2018. But the critical factor throughout has been the government’s austerity policies, which, as the TUC has consistently argued, have damaged the prospects for growth in the UK.

The damage to public services is increasingly apparent. Government has talked about the ‘end of austerity’, but this is far from a reality. The Office for Budget Responsibility has shown that cuts continued into 2018–19, so that real government spending is down £750 per person or 15 per cent since 2009–10. According to the current OBR projection, in five years’ time only £250 of the lost ground will have been made up.

Any increased spending has been allocated to the NHS only; the OBR confirms that spending across all other departments is at best flatlining. 

In November, the TUC hosted a joint meeting between TUC and TUAC (the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD). This included a session on ‘lessons from the 2008 financial crisis’ opened by the former UK prime minister Gordon Brown.

In spring, the TUC called for a more substantial immediate increase of £25bn in public service spending as a first step to restoring the health of the economy, public services and public finances. 

This year, Frances O’Grady became a non-executive member of the court of the Bank of England and a council member of the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

1.4 Labour market 

The TUC continues to produce regular analysis of the performance of the UK labour market, focusing on the ongoing wage squeeze, the scale of insecure work and wider inequalities.

While employment has remained high by historic standards, and unemployment low, the sustained reduction in real pay continues. Over the past decade, workers have suffered the most severe wage squeeze in two centuries. While real wages have just started to grow, there is considerable ground to make up before real pay returns to the level it was at before the recession hit. 

The pay squeeze has hit the living standards of working families hard, and millions are still in poverty. Of those living in poverty, 57 per cent (eight million people) are now in working families.

TUC analysis ahead of the TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference showed that, in addition to a disability employment gap, the disability pay gap is 15 per cent or almost £3,000 a year, and even higher for disabled women.

Analysis for the TUC Women’s Conference looked at the gender pay gap. The current gender pay gap for full-time and part-time employees stands at 17.9 per cent. TUC analysis showed this pay gap means that women effectively work for free the first 65 days of the year. 

1.5 Insecure work

In line with resolution 21, the TUC has continued to fight against the spread of insecure work, such as insecure agency work, false self-employment and zero- and short-hours contracts.

Our analysis shows insecure work is a daily reality for 3.7 million UK workers; this is one in nine in employment. This includes agency, casual and seasonal work, those on zero-hours contracts and the low-paid self-employed. A pay penalty is associated with these forms of work, with workers often experiencing low pay and economic hardship and a lack of control over their working hours. Millions of workers are still stuck in low-paid, insecure work and often find shifts are cancelled or changed with no notice. Insecure work is disproportionately experienced by black and minority ethnic (BME) workers, and TUC analysis showed that BME workers are more than twice as likely to be stuck on agency contracts than white workers.

The TUC sought to highlight the continued high levels of insecure work during this year’s HeartUnions week, devoting the campaign to a call to ban zero-hours contracts. 

We know that collective bargaining is the best way to deliver better rights for working people, and over the last year we have worked with affiliated unions to develop detailed policy to give trade unions new rights to organise and represent workers at individual, workplace and sectoral level. 

1.7 Social security

The General Council’s work on social security has been guided by resolution 30, ‘Stop and scrap universal credit’, and resolution 29 on social security.

The TUC has been actively campaigning for universal credit to be stopped and scrapped. This included a submission to the Work and Pensions Select Committee on universal credit and in-work progression, and a parliamentary briefing for the upcoming discussion of managed migration regulations of universal credit in parliament. We have also provided regular updates on universal credit to unions and the Disabled Workers’ Committee.

We have continued to highlight the devastating impact of the cuts to the social security budget. Our work has also looked at the longer-term and how to build a radically improved social security system. We responded to the Labour Party Consultation on ‘rebuilding a just social security system’ and worked with unions on this. The TUC has also worked with the Fabian Society to produce a set of proposals for social security in the 2020s, alongside a wide range of organisations representing groups with an interest in the social security system.

1.8 Energy policy

TUC activity during this Congress year has been guided by resolution 7, ‘Just transition and energy workers’ voice’, resolution 8, ‘Fracking’, and resolution 9, ‘Strategy for a low-carbon industrial region’.

In July 2019, the TUC launched its just transition statement. This statement was developed by the Trade Union Sustainable Development Advisory Committee (TUSDAC) following consultation with trade union members in the energy and energy-intensive industries. The statement calls for a cross-party commission on long-term energy use, involving affected workers, unions, industries and consumers. It argues that workers must be at the heart of delivering these plans, including through just-transition bargaining at the sectoral level. Other highlights of the statement include a call for major investment in reskilling and ensuring that new jobs are good jobs, with terms and conditions at least as good as those in carbon-intensive sectors. The statement was launched at an event addressed by shadow secretary of state for business Rebecca Long-Bailey. 

The deputy general secretary of the TUC, Paul Nowak, and the TUC’s northern regional secretary, Beth Farhat, represent the TUC on the Institute for Public Policy Research’s Environmental Justice Commission, chaired by Ed Miliband MP, Laura Sandys and Caroline Lucas MP. The first meeting of this commission was held in June 2019.

TUSDAC has continued to advise the TUC on priorities relating to energy and climate change. TUSDAC has engaged with the Committee on Climate Change during this Congress year, lobbying that body to push for robust just transition policies as part of its call for a net zero-carbon economy by 2050. The TUC further made this case in a round table event organised by the Prince of Wales Corporate Leaders Group on net zero, chaired by Lord Deben, chair of the Committee on Climate Change. The TUC was represented at the Carbon Capture and Storage Association’s parliamentary reception in June 2019. 

1.9 Creative industries

TUC activity during this Congress year has been guided by resolution 4, ‘Local casting’, and resolution 40, ‘Austerity, arts and discrimination’.
The TUC has continued to attend quarterly meetings of the Federation of Entertainment Unions, giving updates on TUC activity and responding to questions from FEU members. 

The TUC has campaigned widely against austerity, including in the arts and cultural sectors. We have highlighted the effects of austerity on women, BME, LGBT+ and disabled people, as well as the effects on deprived regions and communities across the UK.

1.10 Pensions

Over the last year the TUC has continued to be the leading advocate for the interests of working people in the occupational pension system.
The General Council has been a strong voice for reforms to improve pensions for the low paid in particular. In line with resolution 31, this has included working to close the loophole that denies pension tax relief to up to two million workers. This affects scheme members who earn below the £12,500 income tax threshold and whose pension provider uses a particular method – net pay arrangements – to deduct pension contributions. The TUC contributed to a joint letter to the chancellor calling for this loophole to be closed and has drawn attention to the problem in the national media. We have also worked with an industry group to draw up technical proposals to address the problem, due to be published in the summer.

The TUC has campaigned to lower the age threshold for auto-enrolment and to scrap the lower earnings limit, so that pension contributions are calculated from the first pound of earnings. Analysis published in February showed that delaying these moves – which the government pledged in 2017 to implement without setting out a timeframe – by just six years could reduce the value of a worker’s pension pot by up to £12,000. The General Council has also established a working group to bring together unions representing self-employed workers with DWP officials to explore ways of improving pension provision for this group.

In line with resolution 31, the General Council has continued to promote collective defined contribution (CDC) pension schemes as an alternative to defined contribution (DC). This has included responding to a government consultation on delivering CDC, organising meetings with the shadow pensions team on the subject and providing them with a written briefing ahead of planned legislation to enable CDC schemes. 

The General Council continues to support defined benefit (DB) provision. This has involved responding to a government consultation on proposals to allow consolidation into profit-making ‘superfunds’ that would leave members exposed to serious conflicts of interest. The TUC has also continued to engage with the Pensions Regulator over concerns that its excessively risk-averse approach is encouraging employers to close viable DB schemes.

In the public sector the TUC has lobbied government over concerns raised in emergency resolution 8 that its decision to cut discount rates has increased the cost of pensions for employers. This was compounded by a decision in January to pause a process that was set to deliver improved pension benefits and lower contribution rates for public servants from April 2019 after the government lost an age discrimination case. The TUC has written to and met with the chief secretary to the Treasury to call for this process to be un-paused and for the cost of the reduced discount rate to be funded for all departments to 2023.

The TUC also secured a pledge that any changes to public sector schemes that are needed to remedy the age discrimination will be negotiated with unions, on a scheme-by-scheme basis. 
The TUC’s annual pensions conference in February was well attended and included a keynote speech from the pensions minister. It also featured sessions examining the gender pensions gap, issues with pension funds investing in infrastructure and practical workshops for pension scheme trustees.

The TUC has continued to coordinate Trade Union Share Owners (TUSO), an initiative bringing together union funds to collaborate over voting and engagement with companies.

In May, TUSO hosted a seminar for Amazon investors, focusing on employment practices and environment, social and governance shareholder resolutions filed at the company’s AGM. Speakers included GMB and UNI representatives and an Amazon worker who spoke anonymously for their job security. The seminar discussed Amazon workers’ experiences of health and safety, treatment of pregnant women, sexual harassment, pace of work and working hours.

2.1 Introduction 

Brexit has dominated the political and industrial landscape over the last year. Throughout a volatile political situation, the General Council’s work has been guided by the 2018 General Council statement on Brexit and composite 2.
The General Council statement adopted by Congress 2018 built on the position agreed the previous year, with three tests against which we would measure any Brexit deal:

• maintaining workers’ existing rights and establishing a level playing field so that workers’ rights in Britain do not fall behind those of other European workers
• preserving tariff-free, barrier-free, frictionless trade in goods and services with the rest of Europe to protect jobs
• ensuring that trade and livelihoods in Gibraltar and Ireland are protected, and defending the Good Friday Agreement.

The statement set out the TUC’s willingness to consider any proposals that met these tests, including through continued membership of the single market outside the EU (for example via EEA membership). The statement also made clear that any Brexit deal must secure the confidence and support of the country, whether through a meaningful vote in parliament, an early general election or a popular vote.

During the year these tests have guided and supported our work and enabled us to keep a clear focus on our core concerns, despite the fast pace of political developments.

2.2 The political and parliamentary context

The government published the withdrawal agreement in November 2018. The TUC quickly warned that the deal did not protect jobs and rights, failing the Brexit tests agreed by Congress in 2017 and 2018. We also made clear that trade unions could not support a deal that contained no legal guarantees about the future relationship and amounted to a blindfold Brexit. The government brought the deal to parliament in January 2019. MPs rejected the deal and inflicted the largest parliamentary defeat in modern history on the government. MPs voted against the deal again in early March and a third attempt to pass the deal later that month also failed.

In January, the general secretary and deputy general secretary met then prime minister Theresa May and set out why trade unions could not support the deal. The PM also met the leaders of Unite, UNISON and the GMB, who echoed the TUC’s position. We cautioned the PM that it would be possible to make progress only if she were willing to significantly shift the government’s position. The CBI then joined us in writing to the PM warning that the country faced a national emergency. Its letter called on the PM to abandon her red lines, rule out a no-deal Brexit, and prioritise finding a deal that put jobs and rights first.

In addition to regular meetings with the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, the general secretary also met with the chancellor of the exchequer and the secretary of state for exiting the EU. The TUC was also in regular contact with leading shadow ministers and other opposition parties, as well as MPs leading cross-party attempts to oppose the government’s plans. The TUC also led a group of trade unions to meet officials from across government – including the Cabinet Office and BEIS – where we reiterated the union movement’s opposition to the government’s deal. The TUC briefed MPs extensively on the risk posed by the deal to working people, and campaigned for MPs to vote against it.

With the clock ticking down to the Brexit deadline of 29 March, parliament held indicative votes on options to break the deadlock. Our analysis, in line with our tests, concluded that in the limited time remaining, the best way to deliver a Brexit deal that trade unions could support looked to be sticking by single market and customs union rules. But no option was able to command a parliamentary majority.

By March, with the prime minister’s deal failing to pass through the Commons, parliament unable to agree on an alternative and government in chaos, we reiterated the General Council’s 2018 call for people to have their say, either via a general election or a popular vote. Reflecting the analysis that a no-deal Brexit would be devastating for working communities, we also called for an extension of Article 50 and supported parliamentary efforts to prevent a no-deal.

Throughout the year unions in the TUC’s Public Services Liaison Group highlighted the pressures that would be faced by government budgets in the event of a post-Brexit economic downturn. We showed that a falling number of EU nationals willing or able to work in the UK was exacerbating the recruitment and retention crisis across schools, the NHS, social care and other areas. We also highlighted the intense pressure being placed on civil servants tasked with implementing Brexit, the lack of adequate preparations for Brexit across the government (particularly in the event of a no-deal exit) and that unions representing the public service workforce had not been included in any serious discussions about departmental plans. The TUC, with public service unions, raised these issues directly with the Cabinet Office and departmental leads through a specially convened meeting of the Public Services Forum in April. It was agreed that more needed to be done to establish effective dialogue with unions at the departmental level and specific contacts have been established in order to facilitate this process.

During the year, the general secretary also met EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, along with colleagues from the ETUC and ICTU. The TUC, ETUC and ICTU wrote to Commission president Juncker, Council president Tusk and all heads of government across the EU before the 29 March deadline. In the letter we condemned the UK government for putting party interests before country and for failing to meaningfully engage with other political parties or unions in Britain and Northern Ireland. We warned of the disastrous consequences of a no-deal exit for jobs, rights and peace.

2.3 Defending rights 

In line with composite 2 and the General Council statement, the TUC campaigned to highlight the risks of the government’s proposed Brexit deal to workers’ rights. We argued that under this deal rights would fall behind those in the rest of the EU, and that access to justice would be limited. The TUC’s warnings on rights were widely quoted during debates in parliament. The TUC also gave evidence to the Committee on Exiting the European Union on the lack of level playing field guarantees.

In March, the government announced that it was willing to make a series of changes to domestic legislation on workers’ rights. This included proposing a process that would require government to monitor and report to parliament on changes to rights implemented by the EU. But these limited domestic proposals fell far short of our demand for a binding guarantee in the withdrawal agreement that rights here in the UK would keep pace with those of working people across Europe. We were concerned the proposed process could easily be revoked by a future government and that, even if it were maintained, it would represent a significant reduction in protections, including a lack of recourse for UK workers to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
 
During this time the government also pushed through several statutory instruments on workers’ rights that would come into effect in the event of a no-deal Brexit. We raised concerns in parliamentary briefing and with BEIS officials that these regulations were unclear and would make it harder for the UK to keep pace with future developments in rights. The statutory instruments included provisions that would reduce some of the rights that UK workers currently benefit from, such as removing the ability to participate in European Works Councils.

2.4 Protecting jobs

While the UK remains in the EU and has not yet experienced the full potential economic impact of Brexit, the uncertainty generated over the nature of the deal has had an impact. In 2018 UK business investment fell by 0.4 per cent, and growth has effectively flatlined since the third quarter of 2016. Alongside other factors, the fall in investment has had a particularly marked impact in the automotive industry, with companies pulling back investment plans and announcing closures, including at Honda in Swindon and Ford in Bridgend. 

In line with composite 2, the TUC campaigned for the government to commit to tariff- and barrier-free trade with the EU after Brexit. The TUC lobbied for changes to the Trade Bill, seeking guarantees that the UK would remain in a customs union with the EU post-Brexit and that any future trade deals protect labour standards and public services. We also called for guarantees that trade unions would be involved in trade negotiations. The TUC gave evidence to the International Trade Committee on these points, and its December report endorsed our recommendation that trade unions should be involved in trade negotiations on equal terms with employers. In line with resolution 77, the TUC also campaigned to safeguard food and environmental standards.

The TUC also campaigned for stronger protections against trade dumping, working as a member of the Manufacturing Trade Remedies Alliance (MTRA). MTRA condemned the government’s March announcement of a plan to dramatically reduce tariffs on many manufacturing sectors in the event of Brexit proceeding without a deal being reached.

In May, the TUC again gave evidence to the International Trade Committee to highlight the dangers of a hard Brexit ‘global Britain’ trade agenda. During President Trump’s state visit to the UK in June, the TUC highlighted the dangers of a trade deal on Trump’s terms to workers and the NHS.

TUC Deputy General Secretary Paul Nowak was appointed to the government’s Strategic Trade Advisory Group. Members of the group issued a statement calling for trade policy to respect labour standards, protect public services and involve social partners. 

The TUC continued joint work on trade with trade unions in countries the government has prioritised for post-Brexit trade deals, including Australia, Canada, Japan and the USA. 

3.1 Introduction

Over the year the General Council has worked to build and promote union voice and campaign for respect at work. As covered in Section 1, work to develop and promote collective bargaining continues to be a significant priority, alongside other activity on respect and a voice at work.

3.3 Employment and trade union rights

The TUC has been at the forefront of fighting for improvements to workers’ rights, and for workers to be able to exercise the employment rights that they are entitled to.

As well as work on the overall framework of rights, the TUC has continued to campaign to ensure a stronger framework for employment rights. We briefed MPs on government statutory instruments seeking to implement aspects of its Good Work Plan, stemming from the Taylor Review. In particular we supported the ending of Swedish derogation contracts, which were used as a loophole to avoid giving agency workers equal pay, although we sought to bring forward their abolition. We also supported the right to a written statement of terms and conditions from day one of employment for all workers.

We have also continued to push for strong enforcement of rights, meeting regularly with the Director for Labour Market Enforcement, the GLAA, HMRC and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, pushing government to increase the resources for enforcement, including of employment agencies, and engaging with the Labour Party in the development of its proposals for a Ministry of Labour.

These have included the right to work flexibly, the right to be free of harassment and free from inappropriate investigation by the police and for the rights of trade unions to be provided with information. 

In line with resolution 23, we’ve lobbied for an overhaul of the right to request flexible work. The TUC has been an active participant in the flexible working taskforce established by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

We have used our participation in this taskforce to argue that jobs should be advertised as flexible unless the employer can prove exceptional circumstances. People should have the right to work flexibility from their first day of employment.

Participation in the BEIS taskforce enabled the TUC to highlight evidence put forward by affiliated unions that demonstrates the failures of existing legislation. In particular, we emphasised that unsuccessful applicants have no appeal route, and that employers have excessive levels of discretion to turn down a flexible working request.

In summer 2019 the General Council endorsed the New Deal Charter. This includes an updated policy on flexible work, which stipulates that when employers advertise new vacancies, they should be required to set out which flexible working arrangements apply, unless they can prove exceptional circumstances.

Throughout the year, the TUC has continued its work to protect people from bullying and harassment at work. Sexual harassment, along with other forms of workplace harassment, has remained high on our agenda.

In line with resolutions 24, 36 and composite 5 we have worked with affiliates and partner organisations to campaign for measures to tackle harassment at work. We have put forward the case for a new legal duty on employers to proactively prevent harassment and victimisation at work. In June 2019 we launched our #ThisIsNotWorking campaign, a coalition of unions, women’s and LGBT+ organisations and other NGOs. This highlighted the inadequacy of the current legislative framework and the benefits of a preventative duty, particularly for sectors with high levels of freelance workers. 

TUC research has found that the disability pay gap – the difference between what non-disabled and disabled workers earn – is 15 per cent or almost £3,000 a year, and higher for disabled women. The TUC called on the government to make it compulsory for employers to publish their disability pay gaps, arguing that the voluntary code the government brought into force in November 2018 is ineffective.

Equal pensions

In line with resolution 38, the TUC wrote to the EHRC about the disadvantages faced by women as a result of the gender pension gap. We supported the call for an EHRC assessment of the extent to which the secretary of state for work and pensions has complied with her duty to advance equality of opportunity by minimising the impact of the gender pensions gap on women. The gender pensions gap was also a theme in the TUC’s 2019 pensions conference.

Abortion rights

The TUC continued to make the case for access to free, safe, legal abortion. We know that this right is crucial to women’s economic, educational and social advancement and is supported by the great majority of people in Britain. We continue to argue that barriers to reproductive rights are barriers to full social, economic, political and workplace equality. As an active member of the Voice for Choice Alliance, the UK’s national coalition of pro-choice organisations, we are challenging attempts to undermine, erode, and even roll back hard-won women’s rights.

In line with resolution 37, we worked jointly with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) to write together to the prime minister to call on her to secure access to abortion for women in Northern Ireland. The legislation in Northern Ireland on abortion is some of the most restrictive and carries some of the harshest criminal penalties in Europe. Our letter called on the prime minister to commit the UK government to ending this violation of human rights by legislating to ensure that women in Northern Ireland have access to free, safe and legal reproductive healthcare. 

We also endorsed ICTU’s evidence to the Women and Equality Select Committee’s inquiry on abortion law in Northern Ireland and offered our support to a Ten Minute Rule Bill to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. 

LGBT+ workers

LGBT+ workers are impacted by discrimination at work, in public and when accessing goods and services both at home and abroad. As part of our work this year to advance LGBT+ equality, the TUC submitted evidence to the Women and Equalities Select Committee inquiry into the issues facing LGBT+ people when accessing health and social care. We continued to support the campaign for equal marriage in Northern Ireland and added our voice to international lobbying initiatives calling for greater protections for LGBT+ people in Chechnya and Brunei.

The TUC ran two social media campaigns with a focus on LGBT+ equality at work, one to coincide with Trans Awareness Week in November, and the other for Pride in June/July, with a focus on keeping Pride political. As set out in the previous section of this report, we also published the first major report into LGBT+ sexual harassment at work. 

In line with resolution 41, we responded to the government consultation on changes to the Gender Recognition Act, setting out TUC support for a simplified, free, statutory gender-recognition process based on self-declaration and supporting the provisions in the Equality Act 2010 that allow for the provision of single-sex spaces and services and for proportional exclusions. 

In line with resolution 39 we sought information from the government to better understand the impact on the pension rights of LGBT+ people who were dishonourably discharged from the military because of their sexual orientation or trans status. The TUC has, and will continue to, lobby for any historic wrongs done to the LGBT+ community to be acknowledged and addressed.

Disabled workers

The TUC has, in addition to progressing resolution 30 on stopping and scrapping Universal Credit, continued to use our research and lobbying to push for wider positive change for disabled workers.
We produced new guidance on reasonable adjustment passports for disabled workers, publishing a model passport and guidance aimed at union reps and disabled members. This is designed to make to easier for disabled members to keep their adjustments in place when their line manager or role changes.

We used TUC research to highlight the disability pay gap (see above). And we also drew attention to the 30 per cent disability employment gap, and the lack of real progress in narrowing that gap.

Drugs and alcohol

The TUC produced two guides in February 2019 on developing drug and alcohol policies and on drugs testing. We had a number of meetings with unions on the issues raised by the guides.

Pregnancy 

The TUC worked with Maternity Action to produce joint guidance on health and safety and pregnancy. We also met HSE officials about improving enforcement in this area. 

Public health and wellbeing

In accordance with resolution 62, the TUC worked with Public Health England on its campaign for improved health and wellbeing in the workplace. This included involvement in the guidance for ‘Charter’ schemes, where the TUC continued to provide a high-quality scheme through our Northern region. A series of meetings were held with the joint Department for Work and Pensions/Department of Health unit to ensure that the interests of workers were protected in the government follow-up to the recent green paper on health and work. Following resolution 27, the TUC continued to raise concerns over the health impact of night working.

Regulation

The TUC continued to campaign for strong regulation in accordance with resolution 25. We met with the chair of the Regulatory Policy Committee to continue to oppose deregulation and put more weight on the societal impact of regulation. We continued to work with affiliates over the impact of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, including liaising with the HSE prior to the publication of a government policy on a new regulatory framework for building control covering high-rise residential buildings, as called for in composite 3.

Europe

The TUC continued to play a major part in seeking to influence the health and safety agenda of the European Commission. This included active membership of both the Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work to the European Commission and the board of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work based in Bilbao. The TUC was also represented on the Health and Safety Committee of the ETUC.

Industrial Injuries Advisory Council

The TUC is represented by Karen Mitchell (RMT), Doug Russell (Usdaw) and Hugh Robertson (TUC). The three TUC nominees played an active role in the work of the council, seeking to ensure that workers who become disabled as a result of an injury or illness caused by work receive benefit.

External bodies

TUC nominees sat on a range of other external bodies including the Council for Work and Health and the board of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine. It also continued to work closely with the Hazards movement, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health and other organisations in the field of occupational health and safety. 

3.6 Skills at work

Over the past year, the General Council has campaigned for greater investment in skills to support economic growth and help more workers achieve their full potential. During this period the scale of the skills crisis has grown apace, with potential impacts from Brexit and automation, and growing calls for a boost to public investment in the skills system.

To inform the policy debate, the TUC commissioned an analysis of workplace training trends from Professor Francis Green of UCL. This drew on previous research highlighting that the total volume of employer-led training declined by a half between the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the current decade. The new analysis tracks trends since 2011 and it paints a similarly depressing picture, including:

• the latest rate of decline in the volume of workplace training ranges from 10 to 19 per cent according to findings from two large employee surveys.
• workers with the lowest-level qualifications have been hit hardest, experiencing a cut in training that is double the average.
• the quality of training has not improved and fewer people are accessing off-the-job training, longer courses, and nationally recognised qualifications.

On a more positive note, the study shows that the union ‘mark-up’ on training is holding up well, with training volumes averaging a 19 per cent higher level in unionised workplaces. In line with composite 16, unionlearn produced a new pamphlet showing how the Union Learning Fund is boosting investment in skills and opening up lifelong learning opportunities for workers.

General Council members and TUC staff are represented on a range of skills bodies, in particular those with a remit for major infrastructure projects. Gail Cartmail, assistant general secretary of Unite, was a member of the Heathrow Skills Taskforce and Kevin Rowan, head of organisation, services and skills at the TUC, is a member of the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce.

Apprenticeships

The General Council has supported some key apprenticeships reforms, especially measures to drive up employer investment through the levy and new regulations to improve quality, including a strengthened entitlement to off-the-job training. Unionlearn has produced resources to help unions take advantage of these reforms and negotiate with employers to boost the number of high-quality apprenticeships.

There remain significant shortcomings in the government’s policy approach, including weak union voice in new institutional arrangements and slow progress in tackling poor-quality apprenticeships and widening access to under-represented groups. Various commentators, including the OECD, continue to highlight the need for a genuine social partnership approach on apprenticeships as is found in other countries with high-quality training systems.

The TUC welcomed a number of the recommendations of the House of Commons Education Select Committee following its inquiry into apprenticeships last year. Many of these recommendations were in line with policy reform proposals in our submission aimed at driving up quality and improving equality and diversity across the apprenticeship programme.

Earlier this year the TUC submitted evidence to the government’s review of the levy and called for some flexibilities to drive up the number of high-quality apprenticeships. We also organised a roundtable of senior employers and union officials, under the auspices of the Public Services Forum and chaired by the skills minister, to discuss the challenges and opportunities for public sector apprenticeships.

The TUC is calling on the government to set up an independent inquiry into the hostile environment policy and its effects, for the restoration of full rights for those affected by the Windrush scandal and for full compensation for the losses suffered.

In the run-up to the European elections in May the ETUC, with input from the TUC, released a statement calling for MEPs to support solidarity and an approach on migration where rights are respected regardless of immigration status.

In Bangladesh the TUC carried out detailed research among unions in the garment supply chain, discovering that early support for newly formed garment unions was essential.

4.1 Introduction

The last 12 months have seen no easing of the pressure on our public services as we struggle to cope with rising demand at a time of staff shortages, cuts to funding and closure of services. As resolution 68 illustrated, essential parts of our public sector such as fire and emergency services are being pushed to the brink, posing a threat to the wellbeing of workers and communities alike.

Despite the Chancellor’s rhetoric, we expect further real-terms cuts to many services over the course of the next spending review. In line with composite 8, the TUC continues to campaign for a fair funding settlement across the public sector. Throughout the year we have commissioned analysis from the New Economics Foundation (NEF) that has enabled us to map the impact on departmental budgets and to identify the level of spending our public services need. 

In its Austerity by Stealth report, the NEF demonstrated that, under current spending plans, areas outside of the so-called ‘protected’ budgets of health, education, defence and international development were likely to see further cuts of between 2 and 4 per cent per capita by 2023. And, as the Institute for Fiscal Studies reported, the additional funding for the NHS falls far short of what is needed, while schools will continue to see real-terms cuts per pupil. The NEF’s analysis estimated that a further £32bn would be required by 2023 in order to meet demand and improve services across a range of areas including health, social care and schools.

4.2 Education

Over the past year, the TUC has worked closely with affiliated unions on policy and workforce issues relating to education in line with resolutions 32, 53 and 56 and composites 9 and 10. The TUC has continued to facilitate regular meetings of the education unions to coincide with the meetings of the Public Services Liaison Group and support coordination with wider public services campaigning and the TUC Campaign Plan 2018–19.

The meetings of the education unions have focused on developing strategic support for the main campaigning issues highlighted in the Congress resolutions on education, including the education funding crisis, excessive workload in schools, corporal punishment, the mental health and wellbeing of teaching and support staff, the abuse of data in education policy and practice, the failings of our post-16 education system, and continuing opposition to the expansion of academies, free schools and selective education.

4.3 NHS and social care

In line with composites 11 and 12, the TUC worked with unions and campaigners at a national and local level to campaign for a proper funding settlement for health and social care, parity of esteem for mental health services, support for healthcare workers and an end to the outsourcing and privatisation of health services. 

The chancellor confirmed additional funding for the NHS in the 2018 autumn budget that would provide annual real-terms increases of around 3 per cent to the Department of Health budget up to 2022/23. However, as the IFS and Health Foundation reported, this fell short of the 4 per cent a year that’s needed to improve services, plug provider deficits, address the shortfall in capacity and invest in transformative change and new integrated models of care. This funding also does not cover capital investment, public health or training and education budgets that are crucial to underpinning an effective NHS workforce strategy. And, of course, there was still no additional funding for social care.

As a result, we continued to see the NHS struggling to deliver services within an unprecedented decade-long spending squeeze, with waiting lists and waiting times increasing, available beds decreasing and 100,000 unfilled staff vacancies.

Mental health remains one of the worst affected areas. In October 2018, the TUC published its report Breaking Point: the crisis in mental health funding – with new analysis commissioned from the NHS Support Federation showing dramatic decreases in mental health doctors, nurses and beds in the last five years. This data was included in a revised version of our campaigning app, which allowed people to look up the impact of cuts to mental health services in their local postcode and lobby their MP. This will continue to be used as the TUC, together with unions and campaign groups, steps up the joint campaign for a better funding settlement for the NHS and mental health services specifically, including a conference with Health Campaigns Together in September 2019. In doing so, we will also be highlighting the impact that cuts to school funding and local authority services are having on mental health services, as we see more cuts to school support for at-risk pupils and local drug and alcohol dependency services. 

At the beginning of the year, the NHS Long Term Plan was published setting out ambitious plans for reform through funding for priority areas like mental health, greater integration across health and social care, greater use of technology and proposals to increase staffing, providing new routes to entry, training and progression. We have significant concerns about how the lack of funding could undermine the workforce strategy, untested assumptions about the benefits that digital services will bring to all service users and the capacity to deliver ambitious integration proposals with such high levels of unfilled staff vacancies and the ongoing impact of the funding squeeze. 

However, there are some positives and the TUC, along with health unions, supported many of the proposals for legislative change that NHS England is advocating that will undo some of the damage caused by the competition regulations in the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

The TUC also worked with health campaigners to help coordinate support for union campaigns against the outsourcing of services through subsidiary companies (subcos) set up by NHS providers. While we welcomed the pause following the introduction of new guidance, we are concerned that in recent months the green light has been given for further subcos to be established and we will continue to campaign against them.

4.5 Civil service

Workers across the public sector continue to labour under the impact of funding cuts, job losses and attacks on pay and pensions. In the civil service, we have seen public servants increasingly subjected to unwarranted attacks on their impartiality and effectiveness by politicians and commentators with axes to grind in the Brexit debate, as highlighted by resolution 65. In response to this, the TUC wrote to the minister for the Cabinet Office seeking a clear message to civil service unions that the integrity and impartiality of civil servants would be promoted and protected by whoever leads the government going forward.

4.8 Public sector pay

The General Council’s work on public sector pay is governed by resolution 61, composite emergency resolution 1 and emergency resolution 7. In line with this, the TUC continued to call for fair pay for public sector workers.

In 2015, the General Council set out five tests for a fair pay deal for public sector workers, including funded increases, fair pay awards across all public services, freedom for collective bargaining and genuinely independent pay review bodies, tackling low pay through the real living wage and the restoration of lost earnings since 2010. Although in some sectors – such as the NHS, local government and the National Probation Service – unions were able to use new flexibility to secure some advances on pay, the government has still failed to deliver against the tests we set out.

In some sectors such as the civil service, prisons and the police service, pay awards were below inflation, meaning more real-terms pay cuts. Outside of the NHS, no funding was provided to support pay increases, putting additional strain on departmental budgets. This year, for example, civil service pay has been capped at 1 per cent but with departments able to provide an additional 1 per cent – where this is affordable and doesn’t impact on delivery of services, according to Treasury guidance. The government continues to ignore the recommendations of pay review bodies, with ministers rejecting the recommended 3.5 per cent award for teachers on the upper pay scale or in leadership roles, despite the pay review body highlighting the necessity of this to address the recruitment and retention crisis in our schools. 

The TUC will continue to press the case for fair pay for public service workers, calling on the chancellor to ensure sufficient funding is provided in the spending review to fund fair pay awards across all public services. Analysis by the New Economics Foundation, commissioned by the TUC, shows that a pay award above inflation that restores earnings to 2010 levels would cost an additional £8.5bn by 2022/23. The research also showed that almost half of this is recouped to the Treasury through increased tax revenue, reductions to in-work benefits and indirect tax revenue as a result of wider economic growth resulting from the multiplier effect.

The TUC has also challenged the government over proposals to cap exit payments, covering voluntary severance, redundancy and other payments, at £95k for all public sector workers. We highlighted the impact that this will have on a range of medium earners, and how it rides roughshod over existing collective agreements and reduces the scope for unions and employers to work together to secure workforce reforms.

4.9 Public Services Forum

The Public Services Forum brings together the TUC and public service unions, the Cabinet Office and relevant public service employers, including the Local Government Association and NHS employers, to agree joint programmes of action in relation to strategic issues affecting the public service workforce. 
In the last 12 months, we have worked jointly on developing a cross-public-sector response to the government’s Good Work Plan, with the aim of launching a new good work toolkit for use by managers and union officers and reps later this year.

We held two roundtables of unions and employers looking at how we can effectively deliver good-quality apprenticeships across the public sector. And we have staged two roundtables looking at revisions to the government policy and practice on outsourcing and social value procurement.

We raised all these issues in a substantial response to Keith Williams’ root-and-branch review of the rail industry. In our submission we pointed out that it is more expensive to use private finance and outsourcing to fund and deliver projects and services on the railways. We also highlighted the value passengers see in having a safety-critical staff member on their trains. 

The last year has seen an attack on rail workers pay. As noted in emergency composite 9, attempts to link reductions in ticket prices to cuts in pay are dishonest and have to be resisted. The TUC was clear that the real problem on our railways is not workers’ pay: instead it is a broken franchise system, huge dividends for investors and rocketing fares on packed, unreliable commuter trains.

TUC policy on freight is guided by resolution 13. The UK’s rail freight capacity increased from 1996 until 2013/14, but since then it fell by 25 per cent. Once freight capacity is lost it is very expensive to replace. Rail freight is a more efficient, greener method than transporting goods by road. Keeping freight is essential if we are going to reduce our carbon emissions. We will continue to press for more recognition of the environmental and economic benefits of the rail freight system.

In line with resolution 14 and composite 1, the TUC has undertaken a comprehensive programme of work during this Congress year to oppose social dumping, and to promote better employment rights and safer workplaces, including in the maritime sector. We have campaigned on these issues in the UK and have worked with European and international colleagues to campaign on them throughout the world. This has included developing new proposals for sectoral collective bargaining, which is particularly important among fragmented sectors that are harder to organise.

5.1 Introduction

Trade unions have shown their resilience, effectiveness and relevance to working people this year, despite facing the enormous challenges of austerity, economic uncertainty and precarious employment across all sectors and industries. Union membership has increased for the second consecutive year, a testament to the hard work of union organising campaigns. While our strength remains in large employers and the public sector, unions continue to make breakthroughs in the private sector and the gig economy.

The TUC continues to demonstrate its value in supporting our unions, officers and reps – providing innovative leadership in digital transformation, capacity building initiatives for young workers, increasing use of a broad range of TUC Education courses and resources, professional development for union officers and supporting a growing number of Trades Councils.

While workplace learning has come under increasing pressure, unionlearn continues to build union capacity, supporting learning reps and bargaining for skills, demonstrated by the fact that workers are still much more likely to have learning opportunities in a unionised workplace.

In Wales and across cities and regions of England, the TUC has shown what can be achieved in partnership with progressive administrations and with committed political leaders. Through promoting social value procurement, employment charters, local industrial strategies and the TUC’s Great Jobs Agenda, we have shown that there is an alternative way to govern local communities and economies to the benefit of working people.

And, of course, the TUC remains part of a global movement, working with our sister unions across the world through global union organisations and the ILO and showing solidarity to unions fighting for workers’ rights and social justice from Brazil to Turkey and beyond. 

There is always more that can be done and the TUC will be looking ahead this year to talk to unions, officers and reps to see how we can further adapt and improve our services, resources and support to ensure that we continue to make gains as a trade union movement across the UK. Working people need us now more than ever.

5.2 Organising and union membership

Between 2017 and 2018 trade union membership in the UK increased for the second consecutive year and for the fourth time in the last seven years.

The number of trade union members increased by over 100,000 to 6.35 million. This is the largest single-year increase in membership since 2000 and is accounted for by an increase in membership in the public sector from 3.56 million last year to 3.69 million. There was a small fall in membership in the private sector from 2.7 to 2.65 million.

The proportion of workers who belonged to a union also increased both overall (from 23.2 per cent to 23.4 per cent) and in the public sector (from 51.8 per cent to 52.5 per cent). There was a small fall in union density in the private sector (from 13.5 per cent to 13.2 per cent).

Density increased among workers aged 16–19 and 20–24. But just one in ten workers aged 20–24 were in a union. 

5.4 Young people

Resolution 74 at Congress named 2019 as ‘the year of young workers’, asking the General Council and affiliates to prioritise winning for young workers at work and supporting them through their unions.

Campaigns

Harassment and abuse from a third party (such as a customer or other member of the public) is a significant issue facing too many young workers in the UK. The TUC published a report in December 2018 that gave voice to over 400 young workers that had experienced third-party harassment and abuse at work. It found that less than half of young workers who had experienced third-party harassment or abuse reported it to their employer or union, and for those that did, over three-quarters said nothing changed or the situation got worse after reporting. The Report It! campaign was launched in March, with a webpage, video and reps’ resources to help negotiate stronger preventative policies. The General Council also called for the government to change the law, so employers have a duty to prevent harassment at work, as covered in Section 3. The TUC Young Workers Committee continues to campaign on young workers and mental health, in particular the impact of stress on young people’s wellbeing, in line with resolution 33.

Organising

Organising and recruiting young workers are core priorities for the trade union movement. In June, TUC Yorkshire and the Humber brought together 25 young trade unionists from across the movement to run the Summer Patrol project, reaching out to non-unionised young people in their workplace. The project blends tried and tested methods of face-to-face organising with the newest digital campaigning technology, to turn conversations with young workers into a commitment to mobilise their friends and attend an organising meeting. Activists had 150 in-depth conversations with non-unionised young people over two days, achieving press coverage and introducing concepts of rights and dignity at work and how unions can help them. In line with resolution 72, the General Council continues to highlight the great value young workers are bringing to unions’ organising activities, such as those in global fast food chains McDonald’s and TGI Friday’s. We completed the WorkSmart pilot in early summer 2019. The evaluation of this project will help us build new online tools to help young people get on at work.

Future Leaders courses

The TUC is delivering some Future Leaders courses in 2019, with the aim of developing campaigning, organising and leadership skills and establishing networks of young activists in the area. A number of the courses include residential learning components both in the UK and with sister unions in Europe, such as a visit to Auschwitz as part of the movement’s priority to tackle the far right. All courses will include participants putting their skills and learning into action by developing and delivering a campaign for Young Workers’ Month in November. 

Rights at work 

TUC South West and TUC Northern are both running apprentice rights campaigns, with particular focus on the underpayment of apprentices. An online Apprentice Pay Calculator has been developed, allowing apprentices to check they are getting the correct level of pay, as well as materials on workplace rights and Know Your Rights briefings delivered in some local colleges. TUC Yorkshire and the Humber are developing a programme on trade unions aimed at school leavers to complement this. 

5.5 TUC Education

TUC Education provides high-quality education and training for workplace reps. Unions representing major public and private sector employers send reps for training. Almost all unions take part in the programme, which is recognised for integrity, quality and innovation.

During 2018 there was a rise in the number of reps trained to 29,694, an increase of 27 per cent on the 2017 figure. With a further 8,934 reps using webinars and e-learning, the total number of reps accessing training was 38,628. This indicates that our strategy to increase support and flexible training opportunities for reps is resulting in improved access to our programmes. 

Funding

The TUC programme of training for union reps is delivered UK-wide and the same qualifications are accessed and delivered to union reps in England, Scotland and Wales. In recognition of the wider benefits for the economy, the government has provided a 50 per cent co-funding contribution for TUC Education union training courses and this is manged nationally and administered directly by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) to partner FE providers.

From August 2019, mayoral combined authorities (MCAs) and the Greater London Authority (GLA) are taking on responsibility for the adult education budget (AEB) for their areas. This will leave the TUC attempting to access each of the different MCAs or the GLA as well as non-devolved areas to fund its trade union education training programmes.
 
Recruitment to college-based programmes is not geographically based. Union reps are often recruited through union networks or by workplace. As a result, our own internal enquiries show that 50–60 per cent of reps attending a college-based course are from outside of the geographic catchment of those colleges, potentially excluding them from area-based funded programmes in the future.

The TUC is lobbying government to provide equal access for union reps to our national programme in England, with an ESFA national funding stream alongside the devolved AEB. Otherwise there is a major risk that skills devolution will lead to a significant reduction in the training of union reps.

Our offer to reps

Our strategy for supporting and enabling union reps to access trade union education continues. Ensuring that as many reps as possible have access to flexible training opportunities continues to be a focus of TUC Education work. Developing materials to support face-to-face training opportunities for reps, and further developing our online, blended and e-learning offer, is a priority. We are seeking to ensure as many reps as practicable are accessing trade union education and securing appropriate paid release to do so.

Several approaches have been developed to enable union reps to access informal opportunities for education and development, both online and face to face. TUC national and regional offices continue to organise various demand-led briefings, including health and safety training days, supporting learners’ events, tackling the far-right briefings, and anti-austerity campaigns.

Flexible fully online programmes sit alongside classroom courses, providing up-to-date resources for reps. Programmes and resources can be accessed by reps as soon as they take office and can be used by experienced reps to refresh their skills and knowledge.

eNotes continue to be a great resource to help reps keep up to date on key workplace issues. These self-contained e-learning modules include a mixture of text, video and quizzes, and can be accessed from PCs, tablets or smart phones as many times as and when required.

eNotes include:

• Tackling the far right
• Ethical trade awareness
• Mental health in the workplace
• Building a stronger workplace union.

The use of webinars to reach union reps with interactive briefings remains popular. Over thirty are available from the TUC Education website tuceducation.org.uk including:

• Health and safety inspections
• Organising
• Third party harassment
• Zero-hours contracts.

Review of support to reps, officers and organising

A TUC priority for 2018–19 was reviewing support to reps and officers and union organising. TUC and unionlearn deliver a range of activities and actions that support reps and officers. This includes both our formal classroom-based training and more informal learning opportunities, including e-learning, events and briefings.

TUC Education is undertaking research to inform a more strategic approach to the wide range of services and support that the TUC and unionlearn offers to union reps, including union learning reps. The research will help us understand the behaviours of union reps in the modern workforce and get an up-to-date picture of the demographic of our rep base, their current challenges and experiences and how they are carrying out their role in today’s workforce. This will help us develop a progressive and sustainable education solution that meets the needs of union reps in the future.

The research will include surveying reps that have engaged directly with trade union education as well as those reps that have not undertaken any union-led learning. This will ensure that the full landscape of training and support and its impact is determined. The research will evaluate the effectiveness of traditional formal training methods and assess the impact of informal learning approaches, including events, websites and fully online e-learning opportunities.

This work will map and research our current learning offer against TUC and union priorities and ensure that TUC and unionlearn resources and development capacity are deployed efficiently and strategically. The University of Exeter has been appointed to undertake this research.

The review also includes work to research and restructure the Organising Academy and union professionals offer. This work is being informed by a survey of union professionals and an organising survey of affiliates. New programmes will be available in early 2020.

Union professional development programme

2018 saw a rise to 669 union officials trained through the union professional development programme. During the year, the Organising Academy was managed by TUC Education together with the union professionals programme. This presented an opportunity to examine the entire TUC offer for union officers and staff and consider closer integration. The introduction of TUC digital badges during 2019 allows us to plan a clear route linking the union reps’ training to the union staff programme and develop a stronger emphasis on organising activity.

The new programme will include a sharper focus on developing reps and union capacity while retaining and expanding the specialist subject courses. Over time, it is our intention to create easier access to the TUC’s vast stock of research and policy materials for learners to supplement their learning or simply to pursue an interest.
New courses for officers and staff in health and safety, pensions and using company accounts will also be added. 

International and European partnerships

TUC Education continues to be involved in transnational work reflecting TUC priorities. Tutors attend and teach on courses organised through the European Trade Union Institute.

TUC Educational Trust

The TUC Educational Trust supports trade union education through:

• bursaries for students at Ruskin College, Coleg Harlech and Northern College
• supporting programmes at Keele University
• supporting trade union learners working online.

Course statistics

5.6 TUC Trade Union Communications Awards

This year we celebrated the 42nd TUC Trade Union Communications Awards. Twenty unions took part in the competition with a total of 78 entries – showcasing a variety of high-quality communications from across the union movement.

The judges were: Alex Lloyd Hunter, co-executive director, Forward Action; James Moore, chief business commentator, The Independent; Phil Pemberton, head of brand and communications at Equity; Baroness Wheeler of Blackfriars; and Becky Wright, executive director of Unions21.

At the awards ceremony on 8 July, hosted by the TUC president, union communications professionals and members of the General Council celebrated the competition entries. The TUC general secretary awarded the certificates.

The winners were: 

Best membership communication (print journal)
National Education Union

Best membership communication (digital)
UNISON

Best communication for reps and activists
UNISON

Best recruitment/new member communication
Prospect

Best campaign communication
National Education Union

Best designed communication
FBU

5.7 Trades councils

Trades councils continue to actively and effectively support key trade union and TUC campaigns, providing a visible presence in towns and communities throughout England and Wales. Trades councils organised street stalls to support HeartUnions week and promote trade unionism and have provided practical support for union industrial campaigns, challenged precarious employment models and supported union organising campaigns.

This year 154 trades councils and 24 county associations registered with the TUC. This is an increase on the 147 trades councils that were registered in 2018 and reflects the efforts of the regional TUCJCC representatives who have prioritised establishing trades councils in areas where none is operating.

60 delegates attended this year’s Trades Councils Conference in Bournemouth where guest speakers included Jennifer McCarey from the STUC, Harsev Bains and Sonia Kullar of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Campaign and TUC President Mark Serwotka.

5.8 Wales TUC

Wales TUC has used its unique role and status as a devolved entity within the TUC to build a social partnership approach in Wales. This has had benefits for Welsh workers such as the two-tier code, the ethical employment code and legislation to stop significant parts of the UK Trade Union Act applying in Wales.

Wales TUC has now agreed with the new Welsh Labour First Minister Mark Drakeford that it is time to move to the next stage in order to deliver the shared goal of making Wales a fair work nation through effective and robust tripartite social partnership.

The Welsh government will legislate for a Social Partnership Act to be on the statute book by May 2021. This will provide statutory underpinning to our approach, establishing a public sector legal duty to deliver fair work through social partnership; placing statutory fair work and social partnership requirements on procurement and business support; and establishing strong enforcement and monitoring mechanisms.

Central to all of this will be making the extension of collective bargaining and access to unions the core, measurable business of Welsh Government as the most effective method of delivering true fair work outcomes for workers in Wales. 

The TUC played a key role helping to secure a new ILO Convention and guiding recommendation to prevent violence and harassment in the workplace, adopted at the ILO centennial conference. The Convention, when ratified into national law, will compel governments to ensure their equality and discrimination legislation protects the employment rights of all vulnerable groups.

International development

The TUC remained a prominent advocate of the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda and the importance of decent work in meeting the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The TUC International Development Group, chaired by Gail Cartmail, met in November, March and July. 

The TUC has increased its advocacy on the SDGs, targeted at the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Treasury, including contributing to a cross-sector report by Bond on the UK’s progress in meeting the SDGs. It also continues to seek to influence the CDC Group, so that UK aid is better used to deliver decent jobs and promote respect for freedom of association and collective bargaining.

TUC Aid

TUC Aid continues to support our international development objectives. Trustees met in December, April and July. The Trade Union Unit Trust Charitable Trust is supporting several TUC Aid projects and agreed to co-fund a capacity-building project for East African trade unions to advocate for trade deals that deliver decent work and support the UN SDGs.

Recent and current projects include:

• supporting the Guatemalan banana workers’ union SINTRABI to establish new unions 
• a three-year project of disability rights training and advocacy with the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU)
• supporting the National Garment Workers’ Federation in Bangladesh to provide training for women trade union members.

6.1 Developing the TUC

The TUC is adapting to meet external challenges by investing in its people, building and systems. Our finances are more secure, and we’re working with our staff team to make sure the TUC is a great place to work. That helps us deliver everything we do. 

Our people, learning and development

Our people are at the heart of everything we do. We were pleased to be reaccredited as an Investor in People during 2019, reflecting our high standards of people management.

During the year, we trained people in digital, project management, and line management skills and introduced a new wellbeing programme. We reviewed and improved our internal communications and introduced new measures to attract more BME applicants when we advertise jobs.

Our policy departments underwent a major restructure following the departure of head of the European Union and international department, Owen Tudor, to become deputy general secretary of the ITUC. Much of our international work was merged into a new department, Rights, International, Social and Economic, or RISE. Our Brexit project moved to the Equality and Strategy Department, enabling us to focus on it as a key strategic project. We continue to look carefully at vacancies as they arise, with a number of posts being reshaped to ensure they best meet the demands of the TUC. In January 2019, Head of Campaigns and Communications Antonia Bance went on maternity leave and was covered by Alex Rossiter.

6.2 Affiliations and mergers

There were no new affiliations to the TUC or mergers of TUC affiliates in 2018–19.

6.3 Congress awards 

The winners of this year’s Congress awards for lay representatives are as follows:

Congress Award for Youth
Christina Di Stefano
Usdaw

Health and Safety Representative Award
Jenny Cooper
National Education Union

Learning Representative Award
Susan Mann
Unite

Organising Representative Award
Lyn Marie O’Hara
UNISON

Women’s Gold Badge
Pat Heron
UNISON

6.4 Congress

The 2018 Congress was held in Manchester. The Congress carried 45 resolutions, 15 composites and 9 emergency resolutions. It also agreed statements on Brexit, collective bargaining and the TUC Campaign Plan 2018–19.

6.5 General Council 

At the time of writing, the General Council has held seven meetings during the Congress year. At the first meeting, held jointly with the outgoing General Council of the 2018 Congress, Mark Serwotka was elected as chair and he will preside at the 2019 Congress. It was agreed that the Executive Committee should be composed of the existing members, with the addition of Christine Payne.

In February 2019, Sally Hunt left the General Council and Executive Committee. In June 2019, Vicky Knight left the General Council. 
During the course of the year, key themes in the General Council’s work have been our campaigns on Brexit, tackling the far right and collective bargaining.

The General Council lead responsibilities for the year 2018–19 have been as follows:

Overall responsibility as lead spokesperson for the TUC
The general secretary, Frances O’Grady

Senior representative throughout the Congress year
The president, Mark Serwotka

Specific areas of responsibility
Disabled workers
Seán McGovern

Environment and sustainable development
Sue Ferns

Europe
Steve Turner

Health and safety
Liz Snape

International development
Gail Cartmail

International relations
Sally Hunt (until Feb 2019) 
Tim Roache (since Apr 2019)

Learning and skills
Mary Bousted

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights
Maria Exall

Public services
Dave Prentis

Race equality
Gloria Mills

Trade union councils
Matt Wrack

Women
Vicky Knight (until Jun 2019) 
Sue Ferns (subsequently)

Young workers
Charlie Gray

6.6 Strategic governance

The General Council continued to make improvements to the TUC’s strategic governance, introducing changes to the Executive Committee and General Council, including time limits for speakers, and quarterly meetings of equality committee chairs. In spring 2019 the TUC consulted affiliates and statutory committees on further improvements to committees and conferences, outcomes from which will be progressed across the 2019–20 Congress year.

6.7 Women’s Conference

This year’s wide-ranging TUC Women’s Conference was chaired by Sujata Patel of Usdaw and debated motions including fighting to combat the far right, sexual harassment, the gender pay gap and period poverty. The conference heard from the TUC president and general secretary, from Dawn Butler MP (shadow minister for women and equalities) and speakers from the Repeal the 8th Campaign and Maternity Action.

6.8 Black Workers Conference

Winning Workplace Unity was the theme of the TUC Black Workers Conference. Chaired by Sajid Sheikh of the CWU, and addressed by TUC Deputy General Secretary Paul Nowak, conference welcomed speeches by Claude Moraes MEP, Sandra Kerr (Business in the Community), Kye Gbangola (The Truth about Zane Campaign), Phien O’Reachtigan (Gypsies and Traveller Coalition) and Nazek Rahman (Migrant Voice).

6.9 Disabled Workers Conference 

The Disabled Workers Conference chairing was shared between Seán McGovern (Unite), Sian Stockham (UNISON), Ann Galpin (NUJ) and Tony Sneddon (CWU). The conference was addressed by TUC Deputy General Secretary Paul Nowak and included a well-received panel discussion on independent living, with experts from Disabled People Against Cuts, the European Network on Independent Living and the Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance.

6.10 LGBT+ Conference

The LGBT+ Conference chairing was shared between Maria Exall (CWU), Phil Jones (Unite), Peter Taylor (NASUWT) and Taranjit Chana (GMB). The conference was addressed by TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady, Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner MP and Dr S Chelvan, barrister specialising in LGBT+ asylum cases. There was a well-received panel discussion on inclusive education with experts from NASUWT, LGBT History Month and Schools OUT UK and the Founder of Birmingham South Asians LGBT – Finding A Voice, an independent, multi-faith social support group for South Asian men and women.

6.11 Young Workers Conference

This year’s Young Workers Conference was lively and action-focused, with the launch of the Report It! campaign and delegates speaking to shop workers in central London about their rights around harassment and abuse. Workshops on mental health, digital organising and tackling the far right were well received, as well as an expert panel on organising precarious young workers, the women’s reception, a seminar on tackling misogyny and a Q&A with Frances O’Grady. Conference voted to continue campaigns on harassment and abuse, and mental health.

6.12 Trades Councils Conference

The Trades Councils Conference debated a range of issues of concern to union members and local communities. The conference was chaired by Roger McKenzie of UNISON and was addressed by TUC President Mark Serwotka, Ines Lage of the South West TUC and speakers from the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre 1919 Centenary Committee.

6.13 TUC finances

The annual statement of accounts and balance sheet as at 31 December 2018 is set out in Appendix 3. It shows a total deficit across all funds of £3.25m, including asset revaluations and FRS 102 accounting adjustments. The operating surplus on ordinary activities of £81,000 comprises a deficit of £156,000 on the administration fund and surpluses of £95,000 and £142,000 on the development and Congress House dilapidations funds respectively.

Development fund

In 2018, 10 per cent of the affiliation fee was allocated to the development fund, alongside some external funding, and was used to promote new work and General Council initiatives. This was used to support a variety of projects, with the main initiatives being:

• great jobs for everyone
• an economy that works for working people
• a thriving movement that delivers for younger workers
• effective TUC and 150th anniversary
• global solidarity.

The development fund representing all non-unionlearn externally funded projects, together with projects funded by the affiliation fee, showed an operating surplus of £95,000.

Statement of accounts

The administration fund (covering day-to-day office running expenses and staff costs) produced a deficit on ordinary activities of £156,000, while unionlearn funds broke even. The development fund is shown above, while the dilapidations fund showed that £427,000 was spent on the upkeep of Congress House during the year and £569,000 was transferred to the dilapidations fund from the administration fund.

During 2018, our calculated FRS102 pension scheme position moved from a £11,936,000 surplus to £10,674,000. This negative movement of £1,262,000, together with the operating surplus of £81,000, the gain of £75,000 on sale of investments, net revaluation and deferred tax loss of £2,144,000, has reduced the funds of the TUC from £84,606,000 to £81,356,000.

Prospects and developments

A budget for the administration fund 2019 has been agreed by the General Council. This showed a projected deficit of £193,626, primarily as a consequence of the pressures on affiliation fees, investment and property income. The General Council approved a six pence (2 per cent) increase in the affiliation fee to £2.88 pence for 2019.

Our internal audit work in 2018 included a review of the effectiveness of our management of large projects as well as our procedures for ensuring compliance with tax reporting requirements. TUC has retained its Fair Tax accreditation.
 

¹Joined Aug 2019
²Left Feb 2019
³Left Jun 2019

The appendix includes:

• Attendance 
• Committee membership 
• Accounts
• Disputes between unions 
• TUC rules and standing orders 

Download Appendix (PDF)