GFTU BGCM Minutes 2017

our future members, because we are always looking to those future members

who are those future members out there. So please support this motion.

Thank you. (Applause)

THE PRESIDENT: Theresa there has very eloquently described the work of the

Artists Union of England and then morphed that into moving the proposition

which was excellent, really great. Why do it in two when you can do it in one?

The motion was formally seconded

The motion was CARRIED unanimously

THE PRESIDENT: The next item on the agenda, because we have dealt with the

motion from the MU yesterday, is GFTU activities and I understand that Oshor

is going to introduce this followed by Roy and then Ian Lawrence.

GFTU ACTIVITIES

OSHOR WILLIAMS (PFA): I hope we all feel culturally enriched after yesterday’s

visit to the theatre. Just in respect of GFTU activities, the GFTU have been

particularly active coming out of really the 2015 BGCM where, for example, I

think there was a motion that came from TSSA regarding shared services.

Emerging out of that the GFTU then held two what I think were particularly

successful events. The first was the progressive summit which was in 2016

held at Yarnfield and the progressive summit was then followed by the union

building conference. It is important to stress, these are not policy building

conferences, although obviously they influence the GFTU strategy, but the

benefit of the summit was that it gave us, I would say, a much needed forum for

discussion, exchange of ideas, shared good practice. It brought into that forum

all the main elements that you can see contained within our education offer and

really, if I can go back to the progressive summit, we looked at key areas,

organisational change, and these were then developed the following year,

organising, and there was a key theme of members to activists. We are all

conscious that we need to increase density within our unions, but it is pointless

increasing that density if there is no activism. We are talking about increasing

the number of young members and that then led on to the need for a new offer

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