Minutes of the Trades Council meeting held on:
20th July 2011 at 7:00pm.
Location:CVS Offices, Guild Hall Precinct, Preston.
Committee present:Dave Rochester (DR) Derek Barton (DB) Glyne Greenidge (GG) Ian Leeming (IL) Jim Leigh (JL) Lynne Wallace (LW) Terry Bayes (TB) Ann Ballard (AB) Ian McGill (IM) Steven Smith (SS)
Guests/observers present:Penny Bradley (PB)
Apologies for absence given:Andy O’Donnell (AO) Gavin Hartley (GH) Matthew Brown (MB), Phil Crowe (PC) Sarah Robinson (SR) Janet Newsham (JN), Pat Coyne (PC)Darryl Fryer (DF) Dudley Carter (DC) Ian Vicary (IV) Kevin Deacon (KD) Les Parker (LP) Philip Thomas (PT) Rosa Hegarty (RH) Steve Harman (SH) Tim Harper (TH)
Minutes of the last meeting were agreed
Matters arising from minutes: Glyne reported that he has raised the matter of Preston Guild 2012 at Unite AAC and that this committee agreed to form a subcommittee to organize Unite’s participation in the Guild.
Lynne said that Janet was to report back on her campaign workshop, but didn’t; hopefully she will report back soon.
Presidents Report Terry welcomed new member from ATL, Penny Bradley. Terry spoke in respect of the rally on the Flag Market 30th June 2011 he said it was very well co-ordinated by the secretary. The Probationers have now affiliated to the Trades Council. He also spoke about engineering wich has taken another slamming – this is in response to the Government’s ignoring the Bombardier bid in favor of the German Siemens bid. The Government does not seem to give a dam about British engineering!
He spoke about the Durham Gala – in the past MPs used to queue up to speak on the platform at this venue. Ed Milliband, however, refused the opportunity to speak for the sole reason that Brother Crow was sharing the same platform. He talked about the unsurpassed corruption of the Press. Most people had missed the point that no single individual should hold such a monopoly and powerful position.
Private Health Care – He spoke about the collapse of Southern Cross, which highlights the fact that health care should be vested in the state. Care of the elderly should not be up for grabs. He urges everyone to make their views known about this matter by writing to their MPs.
Secretarys report. Lynne’s float is about to run out, she does keep a good record of how it is, but is now down to £2.06. There are bills coming in that need paying. She asked for £200 to be added to her float but the treasurer was not present. Jimmy moved that if she needed more money she should contact the treasurer and ask for the amount she needs. Derek Barton seconded. This was agreed by the meeting. Lynne reported that she does want to get up to date with all receipts for Affiliation fees but she might be a bit behind. If anybody has an issue with this and needs a receipt they should contact her. She asked everyone to look out for new affiliations.
Treasurers Report The Treasurer could not give a report because of his absence.
Preston against the Cuts. (PAC) Organizing committee – it was reported that the PAC banner and the TC banner were well displayed on the Flag Market 30.06.11. The rally has had a good impact. The
Government was surprised by the good response. We need to aware that the Government is trying to split the Unions by tactics of favoring one union over another. Jimmy said he also thought there was a really good turnout, but it was disappointing not to see local MPs and prominent councilors there. Derek Barton said that the last time he saw such a large gathering was in 1990 during the anti-poll tax campaign. It was estimated that at its height the count was between 1,200 and 1,250. The number included teachers, civil servants, prison officers and fire service personnel. Even so the Murdoch press was reporting that these events were not a success. Glyne Greenidge thanked Lynne and Terry for their hard work. Lynne said we need to keep the momentum up and there is information posted on Facebook sites, You-Tube and the PAC site.
In September it is hoped to organize a PAC social but at the moment there is no date or venue arranged.
Preston Guild. Lynne said that Janet is the contact point for the Guild but a Heritage Lottery Fund may be available and so Jimmy, Terry and Derek are going to a Heritage Lottery Fund meeting to find out more information. This takes place on 25th July in the Lounge of the Guild Hall between 5.30pm and 11.00 pm. The question was asked as to whether we are registered to Trades Council in our own right.
TU Education Unit. Lynne reported on the importance of going on TUC courses.
Workers memorial Day. Ian McGill has agrees to chair the committee for the next Workers’ Memorial Day
Banking – bad news all-round as 25,000 jobs are to go at Lloyd’s TSB. The Santander take over is still going ahead. RBS have signed a new agreement and Unite International are optimistic about this agreement. Barclays are getting 800 claims a week for miss-selling insurance on loans but the good side of this is that 15,000 jobs have been savedin the short term and 500 extra jobs have been created in order to deal with these claims.
BAE pay claim Phil reported that the BAE pay claim is nowhere near being agreed; the company has offered 2% and there is to be a shop steward’s meeting tomorrow and it is likely that a failure to agree will be submitted.
Fire service: Ian reported that all three pension schemes are under threat. In 2006 one of these schemes was shut down to new members. A 3% increase on contributions has been imposed and they are already paying 11% contributions. The Hutton review has advised that retirement age should be raised to 60 for fire fighters. There is no evidence that people can remain active until that age. There are no other jobs for fire fighters to do within the service and they therefore face the sack for inability. They hope to ballot for co-coordinated action. Dave Rochester gave a report on Coupe Foundry explaining that the matter of the lease running out at the end of March 2013 is of great concern to all involved. He will keep the Trades Council informed of any developments.
Lynne asked Ian for an update on Fire Service control centers. He said that a billion pounds has been wasted on trying to reorganize nine regions between 2003 and 2006 as this scheme was finally scrapped. At the moment the service is in Limbo. Greater Manchester and Lancashire are in favor of using Warrington as the control head quarters. Cumbria is out sourcing its night control to Cheshire. Fulwood head quartersis looking to be shut and moved to Chorley.
CorrespondenceAs per Emails sent
RMT have sent leaflets ‘Cuts Cost Lives’.
CUS news ‘Men Against Violence’ have a campaign called ‘Walk A Mile In Their Shoes’ to raise awareness of Violence against women by men and have asked for Trades Council support. It was agreed that we will support the campaign.
Any other business
Derek Barton reported that the affiliation to the British Pensions is getting urgent. When he goes to the meetings they ask for proof that he is a fully paid up member. Lynne replied that we have agreed to pay £50 to three pension organizations but we do need to send the cheques immediately.
There is a challenge in the High Court against the LCC concerning cuts in care homes and the Trades Council agreed to send a letter of support.
People with Mental Health issues are being called in to interviews on dates when they have emphatically said they are unavailable. Either this information is not being recorded or they are deliberately being given appointments that they cannot keep. If you miss two appointments the consequences are serious. The council recommended that these people should write in or e-mail; that more information and factual evidence should be collected so that local MPs can be informed of the situation.
Date of next meeting
Wednesday 17th August 2011
Lynne Wallace
Secretary
c/o PCS Office | Floor 10 | The Unicentre | Lords Walk | Preston | PR1 3TN
Telephone: 01772 234944 | Email: