November EC Meeting 2019

EC MEETING

29 th NOVEMBER 2019

QUORN GRANGE HOTEL

LEICESTERSHIRE

How to find us

Easily reached by either road or rail (or by air from East Midlands airport just 30 minutes away), Quorn Grange Hotel is a useful base for guests wishing to visit the attractions in the area. In addition, the cities of Leicester and Nottingham are only a short distance away.

BY ROAD From the North : Leave the M1 at junction 23 (Loughborough) following signs for the A6 south (Leicester). Shortly after leaving Loughborough, turn off the A6 dual carriageway into Quorn. Go straight through Quorn. Wood Lane is a right turn, at the far end of the village, at the third mini roundabout. Quorn Grange Hotel is about a quarter of a mile further on, on the left. From the South : Leave the M1 at junction 21a and take the A46 Leicester western bypass (Newark). Turn left from the A46 onto the A6 dual carriageway, turning left at a small roundabout signposted Quorn/Mountsorrel. At the next roundabout, turn right towards Quorn. After about one mile, turn left into Wood Lane at a mini roundabout. Quorn Grange Hotel is about a quarter of a mile further on, on the left.

BY RAIL There are Midland Mainline services from London St Pancras to Sheffield which stop at Loughborough and Leicester.

BUS

The number 2 kinchbus, 126 and 127 bus runs from Leicester bus station to Quorn. The number 2 kinchbus, 126 and 127 bus runs from Loughborough town centre to Quorn.

Number 2 bus information

Number 126 / 127 bus information

Quorn Grange Hotel 88 Wood Lane Quorn Leicestershire LE12 8DB

Tel: 01509 412167 Fax: 01509 415621

GFTU Executive Committee Meeting and Social Event

Programme

12.30 Leicestershire Buffet Lunch.

2.00 Executive Committee meeting.

2.00 Afternoon of leisure with mulled wine and mince pies at hotel for partners during the EC meeting.

5.00 Drinks Reception

6.15 Performance - Free for All.

8.00 Evening Meal.

10pm Maddy Carty Entertainments.

EXECUTIVE DINNER MENU 2019

Canapes

Parsnip & Smoked Bacon Soup, Apple crème fraiche

Thai Red Mussels, Garlic & Coriander Naan

Galantine of Game & Poultry, Spiced Cranberry & Orange Chutney

Sweet Potato Scone, Poached Duck Egg, Vanilla Hollandaise

Baked Camembert Studded with Garlic & Rosemary, Ciabatta Crisps, Red Onion & Anise Marmalade

Scottish Salmon with Chorizo Crust, Olive Oil Pomme Puree, Kale, Smoked Fish Veloute, Salmon Caviar

Sirloin Steak ‘Au Poivre’, Rosti Potato, Leek & Mushroom Fricassee

Shoulder of Lamb, Minted Potato Cake, Roast Shallot, Carrot Puree, Parsnip Forest Mushroom Pappardelle, Butternut Squash, Chestnuts, White Truffle Oil

Twice Baked Goats cheese Soufflé, Apple & Watercress Salad

Cherry Clafoutis Tart, Clotted Cream Ice Cream, Crème Anglaise

Chocolate Profiteroles, Salted caramel, Crushed Meringue

Assiette of Mini Desserts

Mango Parfait, Coconut Sorbet, Kiwi Salsa, Toasted Coconut

Selection of British Cheeses, Celery, Grapes & Chutney

November 29 th 2019

Executive Committee

AGENDA

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Apologies

Welcome and introductions.

Welcome to new affiliate the Psychotherapists and Counsellors’ Union.

Minutes and Matters Arising.

Declaration of AOB

Plan for the day

Around the Unions.

The situation in Bolivia – Manuel Bueno Del Carpio

The Durham Marras – Davey Anderson

10 11 12 13 14

The Durham Gala and Redhills Appeal – Ross Forbes

Quorn Grange Hotel. New Build. General Secretary’s Report

Political situation and GFTU going forward.

GFTU and ET Finances

Management Accounts. Budgets Affiliation fees 2020

14 Any Other Business

General Federation of Trade Unions

Executive Committee Meeting

September 25 th , Quorn Grange Hotel.

Apologies: Roy Rickhuss, Manuel Cortes, Steve McGurk, Steve Gillan.

Present: Manuel Cortes, Paul Day, Zita Martin Sundom, Sarah Woolley, Deborah Lawson, John McGowan Oshor Williams, Garry Elliott, Angela Pratten, Keith Johnston, Keigh, Ian Lawrence, Andy Sweatman, (RBA), Rob Quick, (HCSA), Tom Howard (NHBCSA), Ronnie Draper.

1

New Affiliation.

The application for affiliation by the Hospital Consultants’ and Specialists’ Association was unanimously welcomed and agreed.

2

Confirmation of affiliations.

The EC confirmed the decisions taken by email to approve the affiliation of the Retail Book Association, and the National House Building Council Staff Association.

3

Potential additional new affiliate.

The General Secretary had met with the PCU and the NEC was recommending affiliation to their membership in a consultation.

4

Minutes of the previous meeting.

Correction.

Sis Angela Pratten had not been in attendance in Durham.

With that correction the minutes were agreed as a true and accurate record.

Matters Arising.

4.1

The PFA and NAPO were both considering sponsorship of the Shout Out Project.

4.2 It was agreed to encourage Shout Out to make contact with teacher training colleges.

5

Reports from new affiliates and members.

HCSA.

Bro. Quick reported:

The union was formed in the year of birth of the NHS.

The union is expanding and recruiting medical students free of charge at the moment.

Training for new representatives and negotiators is required and that is one reason why GFTU affiliation was attractive.

The union has six home based national officers and a forthcoming election for general secretary..

40% of hospital doctors are not in a union so there is plenty of opportunity for growth.

1

Doctors are in fact badly treated and there is a lot bullying and prevalent mental health issues. The union would like to provide a counselling service for members. The Union had a female President and Chair. It was noted that the majority of hospital doctors are womens.

There were considerable issues about pension cuts and workload.

National House Building Council Staff Association.

Bro. Howard reported:

The union had a good collective bargaining and facilities arrangement with the employer.

The union was seeking to look outwards and professionalise and engage more with the wider trade union movement.

The Win win services looked attractive and would be considered carefully.

The General Secretary Bro Howard was not full time but on 50% release for union work with an Executive of four.

Retail Book Association.

Bro. Sweatman reported:

The Union had decided to reaffiliate after a few years of some financial difficulty.

The union was mainly organised in WH Smiths which is growing.

The including of post offices in some Branches was leading to tensions with CWU in some areas.

The union was looking forward to taking up more GFTU training and using Quorn facilities.

There were members outside Smiths in some retailers.

National Association of Probation Officers.

Bro. Lawrence reported.

The union’s victory in returning key probation services back into the public sector following the failure of the privatising agenda would be followed through until all services were returned.

Society of Union Employees

Sis. Keig reported:

Continuing work to grow the membership inside UNISON’s staff were reported and the need to use GFTU Training facilities around the country.

Pharmicists Defence Association

Bro Day reported:

The first national representatives within Boots had been organised and their first training was held at Quorn with GFTU assistance.

A diversity network was being created also.

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There was considerable opportunity to grow within Boots nad in Community Pharmacies, the health service and elsewhere.

Association of Educational Psychologists.

Sis Pratten Reported:

The union was continuing its campaign as reflected at the BGCM of opposing parental smacking and various forms of restraint and isolation in schools.

VOICE the union for education professionals.

Sis Lawson reported:

VOICE would introduce GFTU to a good educational theatre group Blackboard Theatre.

Meetings had been held with the new Secretary of State. Any new state funding welcome for schools. However, investment beyond the political cycles for education was needed.

VOICE was the only union represented on the governmental workload group.

Ofsted had unfortunately become a toxic brand.

The union which organises members in independent schools did not support the Labour Party position in this area.

Aegis

Bro Linn reported:

There was a need with a significant change at the top of the company for new working relationships to be built and this was time consuming.

Bro. Linn Chaired the company European Works’ Council.

The union had promoted a diversity and inclusion statement and policy which was being adopted globally. The union had successfully won the idea at the TUC that mandatory collective bargaining should be introduced to all companies receiving government funding over the size of 250 employees.

Bakers Food and Allied Workers’ Union

Bro Draper and Sis Woolley Reported.

The union is intensifying its campaign for the public ownership of energy and for green environmental practices

The union is prioritising the recruitment of young people.

McDonalds are not paying proper taxes in the UK and will also be subject to further strikes in November to press the union’s demand for recognition and proper pay and conditions.

The GS election was due end of October.

3

Artists Union of England.

Bro Sundum reported:

The stereotype was that artists are either hobbyists of multi millionaires. The reality is that they are workers and there are 17,000 plus artists trying to earn a living from their art.

The union monitors a set of recommended rates of pay.

Many artists teach and run community workshops.

The union has produced a tool kit for casework and representation.

The GFTU will be undertaking admin for the union under a contract.

The union does international work and wants to take art and culture into workplaces and communities.

National House Building Council Staff Association.

Bro Howard reported:

Union successful in equalising maternity and paternity pay.

Pro active work with company on equalities and diversity successful.

Challenging period poverty nad supporting show racism the red card.

Pay negotiations being prepared.

Mental health a significant issue.

Retail Book Association.

Bro Seabrook reported.

Change in company leadership meaning more new relationships to be built.

Work life balance a big iossue for members.

Longer hours at a higher pace were being expected.

Mental Health awareness training was required.

Professional Footballers’ Association.

Bro Williams Reported.

An independent review of the union’s governance was being undertaken.

The Union had been closely involved in the difficulties in Bury and Bolton clubs and done such things as provide loans to members.

Womens football was increasingly represented in the union.

The union assisted members in welfare and education for end of sport life changes etc.

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6.1

November EC and dinner .

Banner Theatre will perform their wonderful show Free for All prior to the EC dinner. As usual we will invite the local labour movement.

It was hoped that all EC members will be able to attend the November EC and Dinner with partners.

We have invited Davey Anderson and Ross Forbes from the Durham Marras and Lawrence Caughlin and Alan Margham from the DMA with partners.

6.2

New Build and Funding.

A great deal of time has been spent with the Project Manager and General Manager considering both the funding and budget and the progress of works. A tenancy pack and marketing arrangements have been prepared for opening the rental accommodation in October.

6.3

New Affiliates.

The GS will meet the Counsellor’s Union on September 28th and we have had an expression of interest from the National Society for Art and Design in Education.

Several non affiliates are using Quorn.

6.4

Managing finances

Claire Smith left very good hand over papers and we prepared a budget prior to her leaving.

6.5

Ruskin College.

There remain three vacancies on the Board and we are forming a Friends of Ruskin Group. It was noted that the General Secretary had been elected Chair of Ruskin and the President was a Board member. There was a lot of work to be done to rebuild the College after a difficult period.

7

Staffing

Claire Smith has left our employment and we wished her well and she left paperwork and all related arrangements in very good order.

Claire Ryan has been on sick leave since early July.

Daniella Tedds has successfully passed her first stage in payroll training and exams. Daniella now does a 24 hour week for us. Ana Werner is successfully home working and has recently attended training for new accounting systems introduced.

One member of staff has had their probationary period extended.

We are currently interviewing for the positions of Senior Finance Officer and Head of Finance.

We appointed Georgia Wilkinson to assist with social media and new website on a part time temporary basis.

5

Staff meetings are held each Monday morning.

A pay increase has been awarded to the Operations Manager.

A pay increase will be proposed for the Maintenance technician.

A full HR audit report on the hotel has been received by the Directors from the Operations Manager and has proposed new improved practices. A full HR report has been received on one situation involving a member of hotel staff with mental health issues at work. A full report has been received from the Operations Manager on improving the site management arrangements. Requests for discounts on housing rental accommodation from two members of GFTU staff was declined.

A small extension in the flexi time hours has been agreed.

Compulsory training for all GFTU staff and relevant hotel staff in GDPR and Cybercrime has been held. The Operations Manager who is responsible for HR at the hotel and GFTU is creating a number of training opportunities for staff.

Recently Fire Marshall and first aid training was also held for relevant staff.

8

Educational Events/Programme.

Wigan Diggers Festival.

The GS wrote an article and delivered a talk on the words of Gerard Winstanely for the Diggers Festival. This was videos and will be written up as an educational resource. The organisers have requested further collaboration with the GFTU on education.

Leicester Book Festival.

The GS has been asked to give a talk on the novels and work of William Ash in the Leicester Secular Hall on October 24th.

The World Transformed.

The GS has been asked to introduce the political education section of The World Transformed discussion at Labour Party Conference.

TUC Fringe meeting.

As agreed a fringe meeting was held at the TUC chaired by the President on trade union education with speakers Jill Westerman from our Trust, Alison Stoecker from John McDonnell’s office, Matteo Bergamini from Shout Out, Colin Kirkham from the EC and the Trailblazer Apprenticeship and Mike Seal from Newman University. The EC understood around 26 attended which is good for TUC fringes. There was a general Fringe meeting on the new apprenticeship organised by the trailblazer group and this attracted 14 people.

6

Four Day Stage One and Two Course

Following the success of the recent courses we are running another one. Dates to be confirmed.

Cybercrime Training.

Leicestershire Police who have excellent expertise in this area and who provided training to the GFTU staff have offered to run a course for affiliates. Details to follow.

Northern College.

We have agreed to provide training again through residential courses at Northern College. Dates to be circulated.

9

Education strategy.

Discussions with Paul Skitt on our future education strategy have continued and we are working towards making final proposals to the November EC.

10

Support for affiliates.

BFAWU

The GS was asked to set and mark the questions for the written examination which forms 30% of the marking in the General Secretary’s selection process.

PDA

The EC was pleased to note that the PDA organised their first training for their first new group of representatives in Boots at Quorn.

TSSA

Work to support education and finance continues.

RBA

Agreed to affiliate and hopefully their next Conference will be held at Quorn.

11

Campaigning.

Chooseyouth.

The GS had held a number of meetings with Labour Party Colleagues to ensure that the fully funded and detailed proposals for building a new statutory youth service are agreed and the commitments are entered into the Manifesto.

12

Union Building Conference.

The EC agreed that we organise the Union Building Conference on 21/22/23 February at Quorn, and subsidise.

7

The EC agreed that the key themes are the New Deal for Workers’ motion passed at the TUC, the IER Manifesto for Labour Law, trade union education and win win services at the next level.

13

Other

TUC

A successful fringe meeting on trade union education was held at the TUC and a full page advert taken in the programme advertising the book and the hotel.

Democracy and accountability

The President Vice President and myself meet at least weekly by telephone conference.

John Hendy and Christine Blower.

The GS had congratulated John Hendy QC and Christine Blower former GS of NUT on their move to the House of Lords.

General Secretaries’ meeting.

The next meeting is on October 16th at Quorn and will discuss some work that the GS was asked to do on defining the roles of the General Secretary as a support tool for existing and new generations.

Hotel Directors.

The GS had prepared a comprehensive mailing for the Hotel Directors’ meeting on September 20th and a report back can be given. Increased business at the hotel since the July new room opening has achieved an additional £80,000.00 gift aid to the Educational Trust in that time.

Win Win services.

There are new win win services and we await the summary of all services available in a usable one stop shop. A lot of this is now presented on the website.

New website.

Thanks to the work of Bob Ansell, Ian Richards and Georgia Wilkinson a new look look website has been created and will be refined and added to.

New shift of management.

GFTU’s assets are all, or nearly all invested on the Quorn Grange site. This asset has to be protected. It is a busier site. The success of the housing, hotel income, win win surplus and other initiatives like Workable Books and the Ethical shop, including a reduction in the direct Education spend are now critical to the GFTU’s future. We also need a better fund raising capacity. The EC’s expectation of the quality of management on site is now therefore much higher and the GS has made this clear.

____________________________

8

General Secretary’s Report to the Executive Committee.

November 2019

1

New Affiliate.

The Psychotherapists and Counsellors’ Union Executive recommended affiliation to their membership in a recent consultation and this was resoundingly agreed. It is great to welcome a new affiliate into members and one hopefully that will be able to assist affiliates in the universal concern about mental health issues.

I recommend the EC accepts this affiliation.

2

Change of Title.

The work to change the title of ownership of the land and property of the Quorn Grange site into the name of the Secretary and Chair of the Trust is not yet complete. This was due to our lawyers requiring actual original copies of the 1970 and 1998 and amended Trust deeds. This week the original deeds, except the 1970 first original, were located in the strong room of the original solicitors, this should enable us to expedite this matter.

Once the title is properly changed we can agree licenses for occupation with the Hotel and the GFTU.

3

Site Management.

Site management is now undertaken by Neil High and Gary Shenton.

It is proposed that they become direct employees of the Trust or GFTU. They are managed by the GFTU Operations Manager and a detailed record of their daily works is updated by administration and sent to me on a weekly basis. I have emphasised to all management levels the vital importance of raising the standard of repairs and refurbishments inside and out. A major planting exercise required by planning permission is now due (£46k) and plans are in place to achieve this by the end of the spring.

4

Education administration.

The probationary period of Jayne Pacey was extended and she subsequently resigned. In order to keep business flowing a temporary, possibly permanent arrangement has been made, Mark Robinson has joined us and has had a significant backlog of work to put in order. This has included introducing a new statistical gathering system to meet the requirements of the Educational Trust Trustees at the last meeting.

1

5

New Winter Education Programme.

A new winter programme of courses has been advertised to affiliates following a request by the Executive Committee at its last meeting. This is attached.

6

Institute of Leadership and Management Awarding Centre.

We have decided to retain our awarding centre status. There has been no capacity between myself and the Operations Manager to undertake the detailed work involved in this so we have contracted an experienced consultant to do this on our behalf. This has been on a part fee paying part hotel room access arrangement. This should enable us to at least keep our Trade Union Management Programme running as a rolling programme. Thanks to the efforts of the Operations Manager we have signed a contractual agreement with a new online learning provider. Licenses cost £50 per annum per student. It is a better, more flexible, more customised, more in depth and user friendly, with significantly more materials than our previous system with learning pool. Like learning pool it can be customised to individual unions. This facility has been welcomed by the first students on our TUMP programme. 7 Online learning.

8

Trade Union Management Programme.

I decided to proceed with this course with 9 students. It will attract the Level 4 Qualification under ILM. I will be tutoring on two elements, leadership and management and managing people. Andrew Hollingsworth, Peter Pendle and David Green will be tutoring on other modules. Responses so far are positive.

9

Youth Members’ Development Weekend.

Sarah Woolley, who came as a young member to our 2013 event and who has now been elected General Secretary of the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union has brought this all together again and should be thanked. Also many congratulations on her fantastic election victory.

10

TUC Fringe meeting.

Due to an ankle injury I was unable to attend the TUC this year, my first absence for thirty years!. However a highly successful fringe meeting was held with Jill speaking on behalf of the Trust, Oshor Chairing, Matteo from the Shout Out project we sponsored, Alison Stoecker from John McDonnell’s Officer, and Mike Seal who edited our book Trade Union Education.

11

Community training and unions’ training.

Community, the union for life are holding all of their training at Quorn as are, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists, Prison Officers Association, and others, we also recently welcomed the Fire Brigade’s Union and National Education Union.

2

12

AV Equipment.

State of the art AV equipment has been ordered for the hotel and the GFTU Classrooms. I understand that this arrives in the new year.

13

Hotel use of classrooms

Hotel use of the classrooms has been recharged. The GFTU will now undertake the bookings for our classrooms.

14

Interesting training events.

We are increasingly asked to participate in training events. Over recent months I was asked to speak at the Wigan Diggers’ Festival on the works of Gerard Winstanley, which was a well attended and enjoyable event in the church where he was baptised. I was also asked to speak at the excellent festival of reading in Leicester now in its tenth year on the novels of William Ash. These events are added to the education statistics. We have successfully bid to become the End Point Assessment Organisation of the training providers for the trade union officials’ apprenticeship. This is likely to be launched now in March 2020. We have bid for a fee of £2,000 for each assessment undertaken. We do not know if this will be accepted. Assessments require trained assessors and will be monitored by a quality standards body. Assessment will be a mix of reading portfolios of students and interviews and are likely to take place all over the country. This will create a new funding stream for the GFTU in 2021. 15 Trade Union Officials Apprenticeship.

Prior to then we will need to train a cohort of assessors.

17

Training the trainers.

A further tranche of the training the trainers course was delivered to 15 PCS members at Quorn by colleagues from the youth and community department at Leeds Beckett University. Once again this was very successful.

18

Workers Educational Association.

A new Chief Executive has been elected. Simon Parkinson, currently at the Co oP College, and we will seek to establish a relationship.

19

GMB Outreach.

A very imaginative community education project run from St Anthony’s Catholic Church in Trafford Park Manchester and in conjunction with the GMB Union has visited us and we believe there are several areas for future joint working. A further report to follow.

20

Win Win Services.

We are constantly reviewing and seeking to expand our services to unions. A consolidating meeting will be held at the end of January.

3

We have been approached by an employment law service to consider buying their company. We are at the early stages of due diligence. Leicestershire Promotions who rent office space from us, are interested in us providing the full suite of services for them from ICT to accounts. They are also providing quality training for the hotel staff. A new Head of Finance, Heather Bundock, and a new Senior Finance Officer, Surjeet Dhillon commence employment with us at the beginning of December. Part of their contracts are attributed to the Educational Trust. It should be noted that some five days of interview and recruitment time were spent and that we were ably assisted by the Operations Manager and Angela SInclair the Office Manager of POA and Paula Larwell the Finance Officer. With thanks to them.

Payroll work is undertaken for three unions.

Financial accountancy work is undertaken for two unions.

Education management work is undertaken for two unions. In one case this is subsidised by us.

Administrative back up is undertaken for two unions.

A copy of the latest Win Win summary is attached.

21

Wider educational work.

The Trust supports the development of lifelong learning opportunities for learning in the widest sense. One priority has been to try and re-establish the Youth Service. I am Chair of the campaign group Chooseyouth, the largest in the field representing all of the main organisations in Youth Work. Campaigning has led to, the government consulting on the adequacy of existing youth service legislation, various parliamentary debates and the most significant policy document ever, now produced by the Labour Party, Only Young Once, which you can see on their website. I have argued that this should be a central campaigning priority for the Labour Party as I believe it will be an election winner. As Chair of Ruskin College I have been keen to work to ensure that this institution survives as an independent college. This has been a time consuming role over the last period. Our sponsorship of Shout Out proved very useful and our position this year was not to directly sponsor but to promote and encourage others to do so. This strategy appears to be working with several unions interested in their work and sponsoring them. The outgoing marketing manager at New Internationalist expressed the desire to end the imprint. We are taking this up with his successor as we believe this imprint occupies a unique space. Sales of recent publications are slower than expected – Heroes in the Evening Mist and For the Many Not the Few. These would make ideal Christmas presents. A book stall will be arranged on November 29 th . 22 Workable Books.

23

New website

A new website has been constructed and has a better system of advertising courses and our sense of history.

4

24

Illustrated History of the GFTU.

An illustrated history of the GFTU was commissioned and can be seen on the website.

25

Finances.

Andrew Pearson FCCA and former Head of Finance at the Co Operative College, has been overseeing and improving hotel accounts and producing the budget and cash flow forecast. This is under close examination by the hotel directors and will all be further scrutinised at their next meeting on December 13th. Following Claire Smith’s departure I asked Andrew to maintain the Trust and GFTU Accounts. These are attached. The financial strategy agreed some years ago was to ask the Educational Trust to generate income so that it did not rely on the GFTU for 100% of its funding. The gift of £3m given by the GFTU to the Educational Trust on the sale of Central House was used to purchase Quorn Grange Hotel.

After an initial good start and some investment for refurbishment, the hotel incurred losses.

The Trust also invested in an onsite commercial nursery. After an initial good start government funding changed and nursery provision on site did not become viable and we closed the nursery.

The cash flow issues at the hotel necessitated the GFTU and the Trust providing significant loans.

The GFTU and Trust were persuaded that the hotel was just the wrong size to make a good profit.

Following extensive consultation and business planning it was agreed to invest most of the GFTU’s investments into the hotel. The financial planning required new housing on site to generate around £100,000 a year and the hotel £235,000 a year.

The latest draft budget for the hotel, subject to further revision is attached.

The estate agents are optimistic that the housing will be taken up quickly and achieve targets. These will open in early December.

Further costs would be saved to the GFTU by having its own offices and classrooms on site.

The £335,000 generated on site is insufficient to sustain the same level of education provision and other activities increasingly required by a growing GFTU membership.

Our other income generation activities are win win and direct provision of services.

Our aspiration is to generate some £60,000 from accountancy work

Our aspiration is to generate some £40,000 per annum from win win services.

Our aspiration is to generate some £30,000 from Education management.

The aspiration of the GFTU is to raise £190,000 per annum from affiliations. It should be noted that in effect the GFTU subsidises every affiliate, all get more out than they put in.

If this can all be achieved we have an annual income of £655,000.

5

This is insufficient to sustain our level of activities and educational provision at the current levels.

The GFTU therefore agreed to use some of the money normally allocated for a full time education officer to get a consultant, Paul Skitt, to propose a way forward to obtain additional sources of funding for education. The report on this work expected for this meeting is not finalised. It will be forwarded as soon as possible. In general terms it looks as though a combination of new partners and sources of funding could within a couple of years have replaced a lot of the GFTU subsidy without compromising our control and curriculum. It is vitally important in my view that there is a shared sense of ownership and responsibility for the income generation so I will be discussing the following with relevant staff. Inevitably in our current position I do not see how we can avoid having some income targets against staff.

I propose that we put the affiliation fee up by 2p per member to become £1 in 2020.

26

Housing.

It was agreed to enhance the salary of Cecile Henry Martin a hotel receptionist and former chartered surveyor to manage the tenancies for the housing. Cecile’s work in the regard is accountable through me to the Trust not the hotel directors as the income generated will be paid directly into the GFTU Educational Trust Account. This will provide a regular and steady monthly flow of cash. The houses open on December 1 st and I am chasing the estate agents to try and fill them from day one. So far it looks as though 3 properties are rented out.

27

Insurances.

A significant insurance survey was undertaken and some cost savings made and insurances renewed.

28

New Build.

Weekly site meetings have been held involving the Hotel General Manager.

Weekly reports from our Project Manager to me have been assessed throughout.

Monthly Project meetings involving the contractors and Project Manager and Hotel Manager have been held. Where relevant the Operations Manager has been involved to ensure communications with our own site managers. Generally speaking the contractors have been slack on timescales and suffered penalties according to contract, the quality of the work is good and our Project Manager has been very good protecting our interests at all points. Despite heavy penalties for delays on each section of the work, the contractor has missed lots of deadlines, which has been costly to us. We are secure in the penalties deducted but also mindful that there is theoretically a special jurisdiction for the contractor to go to should they wish to challenge our deductions.

6

The hotel extension is complete with a range of snagging still being undertaken.

The GFTU offices are complete with a range of snagging to be done.

The Goodacre suite is complete and functional.

The housing is way behind, but five houses are imminently complete and the remainder should be complete by the beginning of December. We have therefore asked the agents’ to start marketing. A tenants’ pack and contract have been prepared. A deposit account has been opened in accordance with legislation. Garden and common areas are being landscaped. Two tenants have already been identified.

29

Hotel Directors.

The Hotel Directors have met twice since the last Trust meeting and are paying close attention to all aspects of hotel management and finances.

30

Education Statistics.

Educational Trustees requested better statistics of participation in education events. Historically this has not been well maintained in recent history. Over the last few weeks the new education administrator has been seeking to bring this together for the Trustees so what is forwarded is as it were the first draft of a new system. A copy of the latest update is attached.

31

Ken Loach film. Sorry we missed you

Oshor and John from the EC were able to attend the launch and we donated one free ticket to Estella Schmidt of the Freedom for Ocalan campaign.

Our logo is proudly displayed at the start alongside CWU, Unite, SWU as sponsors.

We intend to encourage viewings of the film.

The film is on national release from November 21 st .

32

Union Building Conference

The hotel has been booked for February 21-23 2020.

Booking forms have been distributed to unions.

Could I suggested as before an email or skype working group to put the agenda together.

Arrangements for November 29 th .

33

Notifications of the performance of Free For All have gone out widely in the region including to all hospital union reps in Derby, Leicester, Nottingham. A number of guests have been invited to join us. There will be a strong delegation from the Durham Miners’ Federation.

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34

Members’ discounts at the hotel.

A great £85 for two nights plus freebies deal has been offered to affiliates’ members, we hope this can be advertised widely.

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'Piston, Pen & Press' –

The following report of the project we are partners to with Manchester University has been sent by Michael Sanders who also proposes joint work to develop our history programme. - pleased to report a successful one-day conference was held at the Finnish Labour Museum in Tampere in June. - our first exhibition ‘Literature in the Factories & Mills’, opened at the Jute Museum @Verdant Works on 17 August 2019. It will move to Dundee Central Library in November. We've also produced a free poetry pamphlet to accompany the exhibition - which can be downloaded from our website. - our second exhibition ‘Literature in the Mines’ opened at North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre in Motherwell on 30 August 2019. It is combined with a great exhibition on local Lanarkshire writers, ‘Rhyme and Reason’. This exhibition will move to the Scottish National Mining Museum in spring 2020. You can pick up a free poetry booklet at the exhibition, or download it from the ‘Poetry Anthologies’ page. These exhibitions will be accompanied by talks and musical performances by our partners. At North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre and the Scottish National Mining Museum, you will also be able to attend a reading from the play written for ‘Piston, Pen & Press’, about Lanarkshire miners, by playwright and project partner Martin Travers, ‘A Daurk Maiter.’ In spring-summer 2019 we have worked on creating three free online courses, led by the University of Strathclyde and hosted on FutureLearn. These ‘Working Lives’ MOOCs explore the history of railway workers, coal miners, and textile factory workers in the long nineteenth century. We filmed at the National Railway Museum, the Scottish National Mining Museum, the National Coal-Mining Museum for England, the Big Pit National Mining Museum in South Wales, Quarry Bank Mill, New Lanark, Stanley Mills and Verdant Works, including in sections of these museums not open to the public. The MOOCs will run in 4 week blocks, starting with ‘Working Lives on the Railway’, from the end of September 2019. Participation is free. MOOCS: Massive Open Online courses

Here's the link to our website - which gives further details

https://www.pistonpenandpress.org

One last thing, I wonder if the MOOC might provide a way forward for delivering the working-class history/culture strand of our educational aspirations? There might be the possibility of bidding for some money to do something along these lines.

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Nationalised Coal Industry study.

This project is going extremely well with many oral interviews having been done in 8 coalfields to look at the impact of coal nationalisation. The project has attracted international interest amongst

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trade unions and historians of the coal industry. A book will be produced along with a website and other materials and exhibitions.

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International study of deindustrialisation.

I have indicated GFTU’s support for a funding bid for an international study of deindustrialisation and its social and economic impacts.

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Articles

I attach an article I wrote as chair of Chooseyouth on the Labour Party policy on the Youth Service in context, an article I wrote in a personal capacity on the history of the struggle for the universal franchise in context, and a piece I did as GS of the GFTU on the union busting of big EU corporations in the US south.

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EC vacancies.

Two nominations were received for the LGBT+ position and one, from the PFA for the young member’s seat. An election was triggered for the former and the young members seat nominee from the PFA filled nem con.

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Rule Book.

In the light of the agreement to revise the Rule book with regard to general neutral language, the latest version is attached.

This incorporates the explicit amendments made at the BGCM.

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Leave

I will be on leave from 18 th December- 6 th January.

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Time for the GFTU.

It is not my habit to reflect on the political situation in my reports, but this is the end of our 120 th year as an organisation and some reflection for the record should be undertaken, especially as this EC comes in the middle of a critical general election campaign. Every EC member will have their own and contrary views, and my purpose in setting down some thoughts is so that our customary comradely debate can be held. A couple of areas of these reflections are in italics indicating I think they may need special policy attention.

It is best to be honest about an uphill struggle.

The 2015 GFTU BGCM was held just after the re-election of the Tories. The mood was exceptionally glum, but instantly the delegates picked themselves up and got on with union building. In the last, 2017, election Labour did increasingly well as the campaign went on when they moved the debate off Brexit and onto domestic social and economic concerns. After all their programme of green industrialisation, reinvestment in public services, reducing the obscene wealth gap and nationalising key industries, is the most popular one. Britain has to be rebuilt and transformed, everyone knows that, except a few at the top in the board rooms. And everyone knows Labour has the best policy answers. The machinations of Hilary Benn, Yvette Cooper and other Remain supporting Labour MPs in Parliament has done, I believe, untold damage and diminished chances of electoral success. Given the origin of the Labour Movement and Trade Unions in the long struggle for the universal franchise (achieved for all over 18 in 1969) there should have been greater concern both about the role of the Supreme Court and the attempts by many in Parliament to overturn the result of direct democracy with a strange form of unrepresentative decision making in Parliament. People see Labour as trying to obstruct a clean Brexit. The Labour position that we need to be in an EU customs union and in closer alignment with the single market is, whether we like it or not, unpopular. Their idea that Labour could achieve a quick re negotiation on the EU withdrawal deal and put it to the public in a referendum is similarly not convincing people at the moment. But this is not the 2017 election. A Brexit deal should have been concluded before an election, this would have enabled the Labour Party to fight the election on the domestic policies needed to rebuild an independent country in the interests of the majority. This has not happened. Consequently, I do not believe that it will be possible for Labour to move the election away from Brexit. It is a Brexit election. My sense is that the majority of trade unionists and people at large, regardless of how they voted in the referendum want to honour the democratic mandate and get us out of the EU and concentrate on putting our country back together again. Bad sequencing.

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In this context it seems most likely to me that, as the Tories and Brexit Party have done a deal the Tories will win with a small minority or Parliament will be hung. There are likely to be lots of new kinds of MPs Brexit and wild cards also. I cannot see Labour winning the election at this stage. One of the greatest dangers politically in my view is the Scottish Nationalist Party. Forget the non sequiter of claiming independence while remaining in the EU, they are a divisive force, and like Plaid, seek to divide workers on narrow nationalist lines.

The Labour Party.

For trade unionists generally only one political party, the Labour Party, is committed to a repeal of all anti trade union legislation and the development of a Ministry of Labour to introduce new more worker friendly, trade union supportive legislation and collective bargaining. For the GFTU in particular, I cannot think of one of our policies passed at BGCMs over the years that would be supported by the Conservative Party or the Liberal Democrats. Most of our policies are supported by the Labour Party and many were reflected in their last manifesto. The GFTU has prioritised winning a statutory Youth Service, this is possible only with a Labour Party victory. Any other party being elected to government will mean the final extinction of the Youth Service and no chance of revival. The recently launched Labour Party policy for the future of the Youth Service is the best statement on this area of work there has ever been by a political party. Only a minority of trade unions in both the TUC and the GFTU are Labour Party affiliated. The GFTU and TUC worked together originally to form the Labour Representation Committee which went on to form the Labour Party. For a long period in recent history the Chair of the Labour Party would report on work to the GFTU EC on a regular basis. For a period the GFTU represented smaller Labour Party affiliates on the TULO Committee. Our 2019 120 th year Parliamentary launch, like our 100 th year celebrations, were held in Parliament with the leadership of the Labour Party. The GFTU has no political fund and is not affiliated to the Labour Party or any other. We should also recall in this important anniversary year that the GFTU was one of the main providers of welfare services for trade unionists and their families and one of the main campaigners for the welfare state. When the welfare state was introduced in 1945 in fact the GFTU had an identity crisis and debate about its future role. The purpose of a trade union federation is to bring unity and practical support and solidarity to its affiliates. Our affiliates naturally adopt very different positions on the variety of issues confronting us all today. On big issues like Brexit and how to vote in a general election our affiliates take different positions or no position. No federation can, nor should, seek to resolve such differences or impose an alternative view. It is important to debate the issues involved in a comradely manner. At this critical time the GFTU needs to stay strong and united and bring even more support to unions. There is great politics to practicality. By supporting trade unions in the period ahead we will be making a major political contribution whatever the outcome of the election. There are two developments that I believe are extremely political and which should be uniting for trade unions and the GFTU in particular. The GFTU – well placed either way.

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These developments will in my view be especially important in the light of any general election outcome.

Unsettled environment ahead.

If Labour do win, we will have to be engaged as never before in taking responsibility to build a new economy and legal infrastructure. There will be a huge backlash from some large employers and a new progressive government would need defending. We have seen how hostile the EU has been to governments in Europe seeking to reinvest in public services and industry, and how hostile the US is to governments around the world doing the same. New collective bargaining arrangements, new legislation and a new Ministry of Labour would have to be administered and supported by unions. There would have to be a great degree of active involvement. If Labour do not win there will be an intensifying set of difficulties in dealing with a re energised set of employers. My own view is that we are not likely to see an immediate assault on the unions even from a newly elected Tory government. The main reason for this is that legislation and political culture is already so stacked against us that no immediate new attack is necessary. More likely is a continued use of the Courts, as in the recent CWU decision, against us. With a rise of illusory ‘independence’ thought in Scotland and potentially further wrangles over how to leave the EU, there could be more political paralysis and therefore neglect of all the issues of great concern to our affiliates. Inevitably our campaigning capacity will need to increase . Our political education and reps training will need to intensify. It is unlikely that any winning party will give a commitment to restraining the flight of capital overseas. The decision taken by the Thatcher government in 1979 to remove exchange controls on capital has in my opinion been one of the most damaging of all. It has facilitated the globalisation of capital and the trickle upwards of wealth and the replacement of real production with financial speculation. Without a national commitment to control flows of capital and reinvest in our economy, we will see a further erosion of remaining industrial production and potentially another financial crash. The finance houses have not been sufficiently regulated to avoid this. More economic education in unions on these issues is required. With all of the unsettling political uncertainties ahead at a macro level, the stability, growth, support and solidarity that we can create for our affiliates should be seen as a really positive and unique contribution we can make and testimony to the value of the GFTU. Workers will not stop forming professional associations and unions. We want them all in affiliation. We want to encourage new groups to organise and strengthen all established affiliates. We have been very successful in supporting people into becoming trade union and political leaders. Many people have gone on to great things having started on our young members’ conference, or reps training. GFTU certainty.

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