EC Meeting Papers March 2018

Institute of Employment research.

Dr Sonya Mackie led the discussions about trade union and employment law at the UBC.

Open University.

Professor Stephanie Davis provided a think-piece paper for the UBC on new work and the gig economy.

Keele University.

Dr Stephen French assisted our PCS education review.

Northern College.

Catharyn Lawrence attended the UBC and courses continue successfully at Northern.

In Defence of Youth Work.

This campaign has promoted the GFTU work widely amongst young people.

Shout Out.

This is a new partnership and they have submitted proposals for joint work and funding. The GFTU is the only partner they are seeking to work with at the moment and they have no other live or intended funding applications.

These proposals can be taken to the Educational Trust also in May.

My own proposal is that at this stage we allocate and initial £10k to sponsor projects in 3 schools and review progress accordingly. This funding could be taken from our campaign fund or investments. I would encourage EC members to take this proposal to their own unions to see if they can sponsor a school project. 4 International.

Venezuela

Marcos Garcia, Labour Attache at the Venezuelan Embassy spoke at the UBC.

I have recommended a colleague as an observer in the forthcoming elections.

Kurdish issues.

Akif Wan spoke on behalf of the Kurdish National Congress at the UBC.

Affiliations to the Freedom For Ocalan Campaign from affiliates would be welcome.

I am pleased that the Durham Miners Association has agreed that the Kurdish issue will be the main international focus at the gala this year. I attended the Turkish embassy with Gail Cartmail of the TUC to deliver a letter to the Ambassador concerning the situation in Afrin and calling for a meeting to discuss the release of Ocalan. The embassy did not accept the letter and this has been posted.

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