Southwest TUC Pensioners Annual Conference
14th May 2015Weston-Super-Mare
Wales & South West Region National Committee Members
Roger Balsdon
Chairs Welcome: The Chair opened the meeting welcoming everyone and reminded the Conference that interim Chair And Vice Chair were new to the task of running the Conference, and reminded that the New Committee will meet after
Conference ends. The New Elected Committee would set a date for next S/W TUC Pensioners Committee will meet to
Elect Officers of the new Committee for the coming year. He reported that Standing Orders Committee had no issues
With the Motions for Conference, but had asked for Motion1 to have words at the being to be This Conference Ask and At the end ask the TUC to take this Motion Forward.
Apologies: Two were recorded.
Chair Report and Response from 2014 Motions: After the heave defeat of Labour in the General Election he feared that after the Very Hard Times of the last five years thing will get even harder now the Tories have outright majority, even in these early days we are already seeing and hearing the announcement’s of cuts in Funding and Privatisation to the NHS, Universal Benefit, Disability Benefits, Pensions, Housing, Care in the Community to name but a few. A written report have been given out to all from Southwest TUC response to Motions and also the Standing Orders Papers, and the Chair hopes all had time to read them.
Matters Arising: (1) The S/W TUC Pensioners Committee expressed concern at the low number of Motions for the
Conference, and also the case numbers of people regisistered to attend Conference and meeting in general.
(2) Great Concernwas expressed by Conference about the buy out Pension Pots being used to fund Buy to Let Houses and the effects on Housing.
Ethical Charter for Care Homes Campaign: Tanya Palmer, Unison. Gave a presentation with the aid of slides on Care Workers having times cut for visits or being paid for travelling time and being paid less than the minimum wage, it was highlighted the problems facing Care Homes and Nursing homes through Closures and Regulation that are now being in posed on them which helps to cause the NHS Bed Blocking problems in Hospitals.
Pension Changes- What’s happening to Pension Provision:Bryn Davies, Union Pension Services. Advises UnionOn Pension Changes and Regulations and gave a very good presentation with the aid of slides on these issues, the hard time facing Pensioners and things look like getting a lot worse and people are not joining work place Schemes, Dignity inRetirement, taking the Family Home out of Inheritance, The Single Persons Pension which is supposed to be simpler butIt is more complicated and the time it takes to get a Full Pension, also the crisis that is loaming with people drawing outtheir Pension Pots to spend on luxuries and the Death rate is now half what is was 10years ago, Death Duties, Annuities, Automatic Involvement Pension Scheme, Bringing forward the Increase in Pension Age and Next April 16th Abolishing Contracting Out all changes actively add to people losing their money.
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Southwest TUC Pensioners Annual Conference
14th May 2015Weston-Super-Mare
Wales & South West Region National Committee Members
Roger Balsdon
The Chair of the South West TUC:Rosie MacGregor. Spoke aboutCommunity Campaigning, Car Park Charging atHospitals, Rural & Communities Hospitals Isolation having paid into Pension and Unions plus National Insurance, Trade Councils Industrial Action Pensioners are a Great Asset and Knowledge that should be used. We should all be worry further Government Cuts will make the Division in Society Wider from this New Government, and we are the Seventh Riches Country in the World and harshly treated in Care, Health & Social Care Act and be concerned at theDangers of all The New Legislation to come
Conference Motions:Motion (1) Pensioners Free RailPass, GMB.
Motion (2) Termination of Cottage Hospital Services, CWU Western Counties.
Motion (3) Parking Charges at Hospitals South West, CWU PlymouthEast Cornwall
Motion (4) Promoting Pensioners Issues, Prospect Avon Valley RMG.
All Motions formally seconded and passed unanimously by Conference
Motion (5) Care of the Elderly, Formally seconded and agreed by Conference to be referred back to the steering Group.
Workshops: There were two Workshops (1) Union after the General Election - Kit Leary, South West TUC. (2) Power of Attorney Regulations - Gavin Roberts, Thompson Solicitors.
Conference spilt into to two groups and they both gave good reports back to Conference, and a small discussion took
place on the information they had received from them.
OB: None.
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