GFTU BGCM 2019 Minutes

forward. Through this process of internal bargaining we have kept together all

of the varied talents within our movement, we have treated each other with

respect and while we have agreed to differ with colleagues, we have found a

way to maintain our unity and, of course, unity is strength.

The consensus in the Labour Party appears to be breaking down and I am

very saddened by this. It is a cliché to say that our movement is a ‘broad

church’, but it is true. We are a coalition of the left and we need our best

brains, our best orators and our best leaders if we as a labour movement are

going to rescue the country from the mess that it finds itself in. I will not be

changing parties. I am and always will be Labour through and through and I

truly hope that we have no more splits, whether they be from the right or from

the left and that we unite to fight the common enemy, the Conservatives, and

not to fight each other.

I first joined the GFTU EC in 2003. I always enjoyed the meetings and seeing

old friends and colleagues, but we did not seem to do much in those days.

This has dramatically changed in recent years. The Executive Committee and

the General Secretary have been working intensely to provide a high level of

service to our affiliates and to secure the future of our federation. I must pay

tribute to the two previous Presidents. During John Fray’s presidency we made

the really important ground breaking decision to redirect a significant part of our

reserves into property and we purchased the Quorn Grange Hotel. Previously

we had been subject to the vagaries of the financial markets and more often

than not we were losing money. We knew that the GFTU could put its own

hotel to good use, as well investing in it on behalf of our affiliates. So now we

have moved on from spending lots of money on hotels around the country in

order to house our education courses, to being able to use our own facilities for

education, training and for meetings and all of our affiliates have benefited from

having unfettered access to this delightful country hotel.

So our investments have been used to benefit our members and our

movement, not to benefit the City of London. It was under Ben Marshall’s

presidency who followed John as President that we made another massive

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