Introduction

General Council Report

introduction

by the general secretary

This year, for the first time in almost two decades, total TUC membership represented at Congress shows an increase over the previous 12 months. The rise from 6.63 million to 6.74 million members is small in overall terms and is mainly due to the, welcome, affiliation of four new unions. But as the independent Labour Force Survey confirms, there has also been a significant change in the general pattern trade union membership over the past year. Total membership has, at last, stabilised and there are now some significant signs of growth.

Changes in union membership have never been straight forward. Even during the most difficult times some unions increased their total membership and today, whilst the trend is upwards, some unions have suffered significant losses as others, recruiting in different sectors of the workforce, have seen increases.

A snapshot of trade union membership today reveals a very different pattern of membership from that of 1980 - the last time there was a rise in overall membership figures. Many of the unions names have changed for a start. The proportion of women in membership has risen dramatically, whilst some of the traditional trades have shrunk and new professions have risen in their place.

Just as the world of work is changing then so too is trade unionism. Our biggest challenge is to match the pace of change in the workplace and to anticipate future changes. Where should unions be in ten years time? How can we re-vitalise our system of workplace representatives? How can we make best use of the new technology which has revolutionised the service industries over the past decade? Should we allow changes in union structure to take their course or should we seek to pursue a clear vision of the trade union movement as we would like it to be by the year 2010? These are important questions for the TUC and for each affiliate to address. And it is for that reason that the General Council initiated the Millennial Challenge exercise reported in Chapter 1. We will continue the debate at Congress and then at the special meeting of the General Council in the autumn to which all general secretaries have been invited, whether or not they are members of the General Council.

One of the major factors which has created the more favourable climate for trade unionism has been the prospect of new employment legislation. A few weeks ago, for the first time in more than 20 years, we saw the enactment of a piece of law affecting unions whose prime purpose was not to weaken our organisation. The Employment Relations Act, does not meet all the aspirations expressed by Congress. Indeed it falls short of what we hoped to achieve on the basis of the Fairness at Work White Paper published last year. The battle over the Bill has been a long and difficult guerilla campaign against those who would seek to minimise the influence of trade unions and weaken protection for people at work. I believe that it would have been better if the debates had been out in open and would hope that as the Government matures it willfind it easier to consult unions and employers in the open without fearing accusations of a return to a 'corporatist culture' which in reality never really existed.

We had our set backs during the passage of the Bill. But we had our victories too. And our opponents will be far from happy with the outcome.

There is, however, much unfinished business and one task we face is to determine our priorities for further changes in the law. But, as the Government has made clear, there will be no new major employment measures before the general election and so our immediate task is not to contemplate the legislative 'might-have-beens' or 'would-like-to-be's' but to make sure that the many new rights now coming into force apply in the workplace as well as on the statute book.

Increasing membership - bringing the benefits of union membership to more workers -must be our top priority. Our New Unionism project - aimed at increasing the movement's effectiveness in recruitment and organisation - is now well into its second year. We have learned from our own experience, as well as that of other countries. The project is now more flexible and more geared to meet unions' specific needs. I hope that over the next year we can involve even more unions in its work.

Equality is never far from the top of our agenda. The 'family friendly' sections of the Employment Relations Act, though like the rest of the Act falling short of our objectives, nevertheless send out a positive signal that society needs to re-balance its priorities between working life and family life. Over the past year our conferences and committees devoted to promoting equality for women, for black workers and for gays and lesbians have undertaken vigourous and innovative programmes of work, pressing for change but at the same time working to ensure that equality is seen as a mainstream issue. Work on disability and on age discrimination have also featured prominently in the TUC's work programme. A full report on all our wok on equal rights is set out in Chapter 4.

Europe too has continued to be central to our agenda, as it is to the political agenda. The introduction of the euro on 1 January added a new dimension and, as requested by last year's Congress, the General Council have sought to promote and inform a debate within the trade union movement. Our work on this and other European issues is reported in Chapter 5.

Unions cannot succeed where business fails. And it is the contribution which trade unions can make to the success of the enterprise where their members work - whether in the public or private sector - which forms the basis for our work on partnership. This has moved forward during the past year, through examinations of partnership successes and through the high profile conference addressed by the Prime Minister on 24 May.

Unlike previous Labour governments, this one has not been faced with a major economic crisis. The Government deserves some credit for its handling of the economy and especially for its New Deal programme which has done much to address the problems of unemployment amongst some of the most vulnerable groups. However, as many union members know to their cost, the high value of pound and an interest rate regime high by continental standards have both taken their toll and, as the TUC hasrepeated pointed out, we now have a 'two-speed / two-nation economy' - good but only in parts.

And it is the need to keep the nation together and to enhance the sense of solidarity which have formed the basis for our work on welfare reform; the importance of which became much clearer following the General Council's discussion with the Secretary of State for Social Security, Alistair Darling, earlier this year.

The interests of the TUC and unions on economic and industrial matters cover a wide range of issues in both the public and private sectors. Our work on this is described in Chapter 7.

The Government has emphasised the importance it attaches to education and the TUC and unions have played a prominent part in developing the concept that learning is for life and not just for our early years. We are grateful for the support given by the Government and the commitment made by unions and their members.

The Government is now undertaking a major review of health and safety. We welcome this and continue to emphasise the importance we attach to protecting people at work. Broader concerns about the environment and sustainable development have also continued to figure in our work programme and a report on this work is contained in Chapter 11.

The remaining chapters of the Report deal with the important regional dimension; with our international work - where real progress has been made this year on tackling the worst forms of child labour worldwide; with the National Education Centre, where among other work and linked to the Millennial Challenge, more efforts are being made to help unions improve the management of their own organisations; and with the campaigning and communications work aimed at promoting and indeed in some respects realising the policies laid down by the General Council and Congress.

The penultimate chapter records the work of the General Council itself on matters not covered by the chapters on specific policies. This includes a report on the TUC Finances. It was reported to last year's Congress that measures were being undertaken to reduce the TUC's running costs. Soon after Congress it became clear that further action was necessary. The General Council agreed to an exceptional increase in the affiliation fees and a programme of measures was undertaken to bring the Administration Fund back into balance. Regrettably this has involved a further staff reduction exercise - through voluntary redundancy and early retirement. Related, but not directly linked, changes to the staff structure have been introduced with some areas of work moving between departments and the European Union and international work being brought together. The early indications are that the cost saving measures are having a real impact.

It is a pleasure to report that this year's Congress president, Hector MacKenzie, together with retiring General Council member, Bill Brett, and TUC Assistant General Secretary David Lea, who is also retiring at the time of Congress after more than 30 years service to the TUC, have all been made life peers, thus joining Keith Brookman, who is also retiring from the General Council at this Congress and a number of former General Council members in the Lords. I am sure that Congress will wish them all thebest and will follow their parliamentary careers closely.

During the course of past year Helen McGrath retired from the General Council and at this Congress the following colleagues are not seeking nomination: Keith Brookman, who joined the General Council in 1992, Bill Brett who joined in 1989 and who has been chair of the International Labour Organisation Trade Union Group for the past three years, and Brendan Fenelon who joined the General Council last year. Again I am sure that Congress will wish them all well.

During the course of the year a number of prominent trade unionists have died, including a number of former members of the General Council, many of whom made outstanding contributions to the life of trade unionism in this country: they include Reg Bottini, John Daly, Jack McGougan, John Golding, and Michael McGahey.

Finally on a personal note, whilst once again my attention has been focussed on relations with government and especially the progress of the Employment Relations Bill through parliament, I have continued to take every opportunity to visit and meet trade unionists in their workplaces and at union conferences. I am grateful for the many invitations I have received from unions to speak at their conference and from companies and unions to visit workplaces such as Granada Rentals in Manchester, Airbus in Chester, Leyland Trucks in Preston, British Aerospace also in Preston and Bamford Excavators at Rocester in the Midlands.

John Monks

General Secretary

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