Wolverhampton, Bilston & DistrictTrades Union Council

Secretary’s annual Report of Workof 2014 and Plan of Action for 2015

www.wolvestuc.org.uk info@wolvestuc.org.uk

This year marks 150 years of our Trades Union Council.

In 2014, twenty local trade union branches, with 16,222 members affiliated tous: ASLEF, Community 17000, Community Craft, Community Region 4Associates, CWU, FBU, GMB X13, NASUWT, NUT, PCS (C&V), RMT,UCATT, UCU (College), UNISON Acute, UNISON General, UNISON PoliceStaff, UNISON University, UNITE WM6150, UNITE WM 6151 & UNITE-CYW(WM7697).We have met monthly for those 150 years, to discuss issues of jointconcern to the local labour movement and make democratic decisionsto organise events and campaigns which bring the message of tradeunionism to the wider public.These branches elected 45 delegates to us (much fewer than theirallocations and several branches that affiliated to us last year did not in2014) with a gender ratio of 44% female delegates. But only 7 sister and 7brother delegates attended meetings during the year.11 meetings averaging 12.6 (down on last year); with attendances doublingwhen we had advertised speakers. Half of the attendees were delegatesand the others were visiting trade unionists, unemployed or retired. 30%who came were women, this is up on last year.Other delegates did take part in many of our activities and attendances atevents were as good as ever.

The Trades Union Congress set our priorities as a trade union council for 2015:·  Expose the effects of the government’s cuts on services, benefits and

working people at local level and how austerity fails and rips the localcommunity apart

·  Press for an alternative economic model at local and national level whichdelivers good sustainable jobs for all

·  Help co­ordinate union campaigns to win better pay and work locally forthe nationwide campaign to spread the living wage to private and publicsector workplaces

·  Press for better state and workplace pensions·  Oppose outsourcing and privatisation·  Fight NHS fragmentation and defend local health services·  Campaign to defend welfare and oppose the stigmatisation of claimants·  Defend workers and union rights·  Work with unions to strengthen bargaining and campaigning power·  Expose discrimination against pregnant and older working women·  Oppose fascism and the far right at work, on the streets and ballot box·  Involve young people and community groups in the work of the trades

union council and the local union movement

In 2014, …… and onto 2015

Wages have continued to fall behind inflation. This resulted in a wave ofindustrial action over pay this year, particularly in the public sector. It willcontinue in the run up to the next general election on 7th May 2015.New Cross staff will again join NHS workers on strike in January andFebruary and the UNITE Defence SupportGroup workers whose action continues, aredue to speak at our 2015 AGM.West Midlands workers would be over £80a week better off had pay risen at pre-recession rate. This is the seventh yearthat average weekly earnings have been falling – the longest periodsince records began in the 1850s, says the TUC.Food banks are still thriving locally andfewer than a quarter of West Midlands localauthority areas have affordable house pricesfor local people, according to analysispublished by the TUC this year. InWolverhampton houses are now nearly 5 times average salariescompared to less than 3 times in 1997.The Tory/Lib Dem government started the year cutting 52% of the coun-cil’s central grant meaning £123million rath-er than £98million, cutting ⅓ of theworkforce, 2,000 jobs potentially, twice thatinitially proposed. The council's much her-alded Living Wage guarantee was beingthreatened within a year of the single statusagreement.The future is 'barely legal' service with hopefor a better deal under a new Labourgovernment. Wolverhampton’ Council’s ownprojections, delivered to a recent Bilston pubic meeting showed massdeficit by 2017 resulting in insolvency of the council due to the massivecuts they have been hit with.The Labour Party is neither locally nor nationally opposing governmentcuts; they have no alternative economic and political strategy. Illegal taxevasion is around 25x benefit fraud. Ending tax avoidance is part of thesolution; and the election of our Vice-President Rob Marris as Labour MPfor Wolverhampton South West in this May’s general election is another.

The Fire Brigade Union’s pension disputecontinued throughout the year, holding 22 days of strikeaction. Pension contributions increased to £4,000 ayear but plans mean that firefighters will be expected tobe as fit at 60 as at 20. The government’s own reportrecognises that two thirds won’t meet the current fitnessstandard. Fitness declines as we get older, firefighterswill face a stark ‘choice’: leave and lose up to 50% ofpension or face dismissal from the service. After almostthree years of discussions, the firefighters’ pensionscheme was eventually debated in the House ofCommons in December and a vote took place to annulthe regulations for the scheme and force the government to revise theirproposals. The Government won the vote to keep the regulations 313 to261. Under this ConDem coalition over 5000 firefighter jobs, 39 fire stationshave closed and 999 emergency response times have increased.

Black Country People’s Assembly the umbrella anti-cuts group, had a very successful launch in January2014 utilising a joint TUC development grant from thefour local Black Country trades union councils, with100 attending and 85 new sign-ups.

Government attacks on the unemployed, sick and people with disabilitieswere again top of the ConDem government’s priorities this year. Weorganised an anti-Atos protest inWolverhampton which was covered inthe Express & Star with a quote from thesecretary. 10,600 disabled people diedwithin 6 weeks of their disability benefitsbeing stopped by Atos/DWP January toNovember 2011, and then they stoppedcounting. There were 144 simultaneousdemonstrations outside Atos centres allover Britain called by the groupAnonymous. Within weeks Atos quit the contact early and a US firmMaximus has now taken over.

We had meetings with and gave advice to a delegation from theWolverhampton Roma Community who were seeking help in establishinga community group. They also spoke at our February meeting. There areabout 100 Roma families from Czech and Slovak backgrounds inWolverhampton.

UNISON and local campaigners raised a large Save Central Baths petitionwhich forced a council debate in February where there was a lobby and areprieve won in March.

Larger than life trade unionist and former Bilston MP Dennis Turner died inFebruary. He had led Social services for many years, developing elderlyservices. Dennis, along with Ken Purchase, was threatened with expulsionafter negotiating a council matched £400k government package with TonyBenn to set up a workers co-operative to save NortonVilliers. Benn was sacked and Villiers closed. He hadled the fight with brother Bert to save Bilston steelworksbefore being elected as MP and had been a greatadmirer of William Morris.Two of the great labour movement leaders died inMarch. Bob Crow leader of the RMT tragically young,feared by the establishment loved by his members; andTony Benn, after a lifetime in the labour movement.

BBC Midlands & ITV Midlands TV interviews, Express& Star and BBC West Midlands radio interviews byPresident and Secretary and local trade unionists at the Wolverhamptonprotest against 2,000 council job cuts. Turnout was dissapointing however.

There was a good rally in Birmingham filling Victoria Square, on theday of NUT strike action in March and a decent turn out.Wolverhampton had the highest number of schools closed in the area.Government reported showed primary teachers working 60-hour weekand secondary 56 hours.20% of work is data gathering. 40% of young teachers leave in first 5years. As well as excessive workload, pensions cuts, Victorian style-performance related pay threat.In Wolverhampton, Education managers have been paid off whileconsultants and interims are being employed on £500+/day. Whole ofWolverhampton's Education HR resigned and set up private firm.More schools leaving service level agreement is costing millions.

A Midlands trade union councils conference took place in Birmingham with 8brother & 6 sister delegates attended from Wolves, Walsall, Dudley, Coventryand East Midlands trades union councils; mostly reports of activities.

We joined along with members of the Wolverhampton Roma group, twocoaches from the Black Country that went to London in March to a nationaldemonstration against racism & fascism marking UN Anti-Racism Day.

Workers' Memorial Dayon 28th April sixty people attended inWolverhampton and heard severalexcellent speakers; wreaths were laid byUNISON General, UNISON University,UCATT, CWU, & WB&DTUC.Remember the Dead, Fight for the Living.

Wolverhampton’s 24th annual Workers' Memorial Day:Tuesday 28th April 2015 @12.30pmat the Cenotaph, St Peter's Square Wolverhampton WV1 1TS

1st May20th annual festival organised by theWolverhampton May DayCommittee, which we helpedestablish, went well, goodturnout again, about 300came, 200 free meals servedand 3,500 local homes wereleafleted. In total, 9,000 flyerswere distributed. Total cost£1,360 this year – generousdonations from UNISON, UNITE, NUT, CWU helped itcontinue as a free community event. Headline act wasUrban Roots, a Midlands based Reggae Band.The next event will be 7pm Friday 1st May 2015

at the Pegasus, Whitmore Reans WV6 0QQ.

Wolverhampton kept fascist-free again in 2014Wolverhampton, Bilston & District Trades Union Council took the decision tocontinue our successful policy of campaigning against the fascist BNPwhenever they stand.Wolverhampton, Bilston & District Trades Union Council organised eightleafleting sessions of Hope Not Hate Anti-BNP material in Bushbury North &Springvale wards. Our message was to use your vote against the fascists.Turnouts where we leafleted increased and were much higher than inneighbouring wards.BNP were trounced in Bushbury North and Springvale again with their lowestever votes.Springvale was the first UKIP victory albeit a defecting Liberal Democrat witha local [blinkered] following. 1,000 Anti-UKIP leaflets were also distributed tohomes in Wednesfield South, which Labour gained.

The annual Trades Union Councils conference was held in Cardiff andattended by our President sister Taylor who again raised our problems of theWest Midlands County Association of TUCs which continues to exist but hasfailed to function and acts as a layer of bureaucracy stopping any meaningfulinvolvement in the Midlands TUC. The next conference will be held inCrewe 13/14 June 2015.

Dr Francisco Dominguez, Secretary of VenezuelaSolidarity Campaign spoke at a public meeting Behindthe Violence in Venezuela which we organised inChapel Ash, though it failed to attract a local audiencedespite leafleting hundreds of local homes. 42 hadbeen killed in a three month wave of violence inVenezuela organised by the right wing. Ministries,health centres, schools, buses, underground transportand 15 universities were all attacked. Barricades wereset up with razor wire and thugs with masks carriedout attacks.

Academic, John Tulley from Australia, who hasbeen corresponding with us for the last two yearsand researching the Tinplate workers fromWolverhampton transported to Tasmania in 1819visited Wolverhampton in the summer and metWolves TUC secretary and members of the Craftbranch of Community which is the currentincarnation of the original Tinplate workers branch which dates back to 1802.

Action For Rail – we leafleted 1,000 commuters in the summer when theabove inflation increases in regulated fares were announced. We have the

most fragmented service in Europe, and thegovernment is now subsiding railways (and thefranchises) MORE than when British Rail was de-nationalised. During this government fares have risenover two and half times faster than wages. We needan affordable railway under public ownership that putspeoplebefore profit.

In June we joined two BlackCountry coaches and 50,000national People’s Assemblydemonstration in London.

Two million strong July national paystrike by FBU, UNISON, PCS, UNITE,GMB and the NUT. Strike was stronglocally. We helped co-ordinate a strikerally outside the Civic Centre which 150attended. An increased offer resulted inOctober action being called off.

Wolverhampton’s entire youth service wasmade redundant in July. The affected CWU-UNITE branch (which includedour President) reported that the consultation had been a farce and bullyinginto voluntary redundancy. The council bypassed TUPE laws.

2015 Women Chainmakers' festival will be on SUNDAY 12th Julyat Bearmore Mound Playing Fields, Cradley Heath, B64 6DU andthere will be a march along Cradley High Street.Organised by Midlands TUC, it celebrates the achievements of 800 womenchainmakers who fought to establish a minimum wage for their labour in1910, following a 10 week strike. The local employers sought to deny themtheir rights but were met with forceful opposition. The strike was led bytrade unionist Mary Macarthur, who founded the National Federation ofWomen Workers and later stood for Parliament as a Labour candidate.Hundreds turned out for tenth Chainmakers' Festival in 2014 despite adownpour and we again had a stall giving out information, promoting theMorning Star and selling our merchandise.Friends of Chainmakers’ group is now working to assist the event and toencourage more local people to become involved contact them viafwc_sandwellnut@btconnect.com

UCU and UNISON continued university and higher education strikesand action short of a strike throughout the spring in response to theemployers' failure to make HE members a proper pay offer for lastyear. The 2013-14 dispute finally ended when a conditional 2014-15offer of 2% from August 2014 in addition to last year's offer of 1%.

We took our banner on the Wolverhampton Pride walking parade inSeptember for the first time.

We took part in the Midlands TUC September march at Tory conference inBirmingham and the TUC Pensioners Network also staged a protest duringthe conference.

We joined the TUC’s Britain Needs a Pay Rise massdemonstration through central London in October2014. This was the fourth march that the TUC hadorganised since the coalition came to power.

Civil servants went on strike over pay.

Carolyn Jones, Director of The Institute of EmploymentRights spoke on the The Transatlantic Trade andInvestment Partnership (TTIP), a proposed trade deal between the EU andthe US in October and we had our best attendance of 24.

The Wolverhampton Citizens Advice Bureau’s Deaf Advisor adressed ourmeeting about cuts made to benefitadvisors and debt specialists. Adiscussion was subsequently held with theCAB and some of the issues addressed.

UNISON members from the NeighbourhoodWarden Service who collected over 4,000signatures from local council tax payers forcedthe council to debate the issue; a final decision isstill pending; as is the fate of Old Tree Nursery,Pendeford, where ten disabled UNISON councilworkers raised a 2,000 strong petition on top ofpostcard campaign.

The 35-hour week and increment freeze threat was been withdrawn, thoughsick pay is now under attack by the labour council. Between 600 and 1,000jobs had already been lost by the end of the year.

Changes at the Midlands TUC – after many years service and organising ofChainmakers, Alan Weaver moved abroad, and Rob Johnson moved to hisrole. Lee Barron from the CWU took over as Midlands Secretary. Lee waswelcomed to our December meeting and is proving to be an excellentleader.

NHS workers from New Cross and across England fromUNISON, UNITE & GMB and 8 other unions went on strike inOctober and in November and took action short of a strike for aweek after that over a rejected 1% pay offer and no rises forsome.They are due to come out again in January and February2015 with a month of work-to-rule in between.

Wolverhampton Palestine Solidarity Campaignhas again been very active organising rallies ofseveral hundreds along with local Muslims whoraised £30,000 locally at two events in WhitmoreReans, when Israel again attacked Gaza. Severalfilm shows were held as well as leafletingsupermarkets, a lobby of Parliament, campaigningagainst the Council’s involvement with Veolia andfor the West Midlands Pension scheme to divest from Israel.

Fundraising @ festivalsWolverhampton TUC has sent local volunteer teams to work on the barsat music festivals for the last sixteen years. We get£7/hour for each worker. A record £5,000 was raised in thesummer by 19 volunteers (last year's £3,000 was a record)working for us through the Workers’ Beer Company (set upby Wandsworth & Battersea TUC) at Glastonbury, Latitudeand Leeds festivals. £33,000 has been raised this way.Half of this money we use for adverts and donations to theMorning Star.If you offer to work, you must be available for the whole ofthe festival and work a shift of 6 hours per day during theevent.

We are recruiting up to March 2015 for bar work volunteers(see www.wolvestuc.org.uk) for:Glastonbury 2015, dates required to travel/be onsite: Tuesday pm 23rd

June - Monday pm 29th June. Places for this festival are often very limitedbut much more chance of getting place at other festivals so don't be toodisappointed, but apply anyway. We go to Glastonbury site by free coachfrom Birmingham.Latitude festival 2015 on Suffolk's Sunshine Coast, travel Wednesday pm15th July, return Monday 20th July; weworked it last year for 4th time and it was anexcellent smaller arty festival. WB&DTUCwill run transport to site & beach!Leeds festival 2015 arrive Wednesday26th August leave Monday 31st August.We've come here since it started andalways have a great time; seventeen of usworked there.We organise car shares to Leeds.

Our website www.wolvestuc.org.uk had a remarkable sevenfoldincrease in traffic in 2014 and 172,000 different people, reading 210,000pages. More than 8 in 10 who visit the website read about national minimumwage. The other most popular pages this year were: homepage;volunteering at festivals; socialist songbook; local government pay, armsexports to Israel, miners’ strike anniversary and Chainmakers' festival. Halfof visits are now via mobile devices or tablets, also a big change.Our email base continues to grow and is now 180 for local union events andwe have several other databases of people interested in other activitieslocally. People sign up directly from our website.

Our first 125 year History of Wolverhampton, Bilston & District Trades UnionCouncil is online at www.wolvestuc.org.uk/index.php/wbdtuc/589-wbdtuc1865-1990 There has been no progress on updating our history for the last 25years. Years 1990-1995 are in Wolverhampton city archives and 1996 topresent annual reports are also on our website.

TUC courses for reps are still being delivered in Wolverhampton, stage 1Stewards; Health & Safety Reps 01743 342 531 mikee@shrewsbury.ac.uk

MEETINGS 2015We meet the 3rd Thursday each month (executive meets one week before)

7.15pm – 8.45pm Wolverhampton Civic Centre, WV1 1RT(Wulfruna Street entrance), all meetings in Room 2 on 3rd floor

Annual General Meeting WB&DTUC Thursday 15th January 2015WB&DTUC Delegate meetings: Thursday 19th February Thursday 19th March Thursday 16th AprilWorkers’ Memorial Day 12.30pm @cenotaph/WM Day Tree Tuesday 28th AprilFriday 1st May 7pm Workers’ Day@ Pegasus WV6 0QQWB&DTUC Delegate meetings: Thursday 21st May Thursday 18th JuneCradley Chainmakers’ festival & march, Bearmore Park B64 6DU Sunday 12th JulyWB&DTUC Delegate meetings: Thursday 16th July no August meeting Thursday 17th September Thursday 15th October Thursday 19th November

Thursday 17th DecemberThanks to outgoing officers:President: Marie Taylor (UNITE) Vice-President; Rob Marris (UNITE)Treasurer: John Grant (UCU) Minutes Secretary; Marion Halfpenny(NUT)Auditor: Adrian Turner (UNISON)

Looking forward to a successful 150th year.Nick Kelleher, Secretary WB&DTUC January 2015

President's Report 2014

This year, I believe, has been a real low point for Trade Unionists inBritain. We are four and a half years into the ravages of the ToryGovernment that has exercised the most vicious class war on workingpeople, without a doubt.

The Tories came to power proudly proclaiming they would change theway Britain is ruled forever - and they have done so - dismantling theWelfare State developed at the time of the highest deficit ever in theUK, after the Second World War. They have adhered to their austeritydogma that has seen privatisation of essential public services, hivingoff public money to their friends in the city. We have seen bankersbonuses continue unregulated. Whilst they receive eye wateringamounts of money for their back pocket, on top of salaries each monththat most couldn’t earn in a year, working people have faced poverty,attacks on welfare benefits and being labelled ‘lazy scroungers.’ Taxevasion continues unabated, depriving the Treasury of money thatcould be used to tackle the deficit the Tories say they are so concernedabout. Benefit fraud though, representing far less significant sums ofmoney, is highlighted at every opportunity and cited as one reason forthe country’s financial ills. Issues of racism, immigration and terrorismare used cynically and gratuitously to pitch worker against worker.

The current statistic being widely quoted is that the richest 85 people inthe world have as much wealth as the poorest half of the world’spopulation. It must be right because Radio 4 said so! The reality ofthis makes me feel physically sick. Name them like the proposals forbenefit fraud! How much tax are they paying?

We have struggled as a Trade Union movement to have any impactagainst Tory lies. The Peoples’ Assembly, set up to be a coalition oftrade unionists and community organisations, has not been assuccessful locally as we had hoped. It has not been able to motivatepeople to challenge and take action. Nationally, it has done someeffective work with two significant events last year, supported by thistrades council, that were more effective than we expected them to be.The TUC under the leadership of the first woman General Secretary,Francis O’Grady has been bolder than previously, but has failed to findany new ways to mobilise workers against the Government agenda.Given the context, we cannot in all seriousness continue to walk roundLondon, cap in hand asking politely for a pay rise!

In Wolverhampton, We have seen the demise of local services that theLabour Council had spent at least the last twenty-five yearsdeveloping. These services are being cut at a time when they areneeded most in a demoralising process that brands them as failing,extravagant and inefficient using targets they cannot hope to meet andthat do not measure what they actually deliver. I believe that theredundancies and resulting loss of knowledge, local expertise,relationships, networks and experience of long-serving dedicatedpublic sector workers will cost the city dearly in the future and in waysthat cannot only be counted in pounds and pence - in ways that are farmore important than just money. The significant impact of theseredundancies on the private sector economy in the city, I believe, is stillto be fully realised. Short-term balancing of the books will spell long-term devastation and destruction.

Wolverhampton, Bilston and District Trades Council has continued tobe one of the best, well organised Trades councils in the country -mainly due to the dedication of the best secretary in the movement. Wehave to pay tribute to Nick, whose contribution is invaluable and meanswe are able to continue with regular meetings, high quality speakersand interesting debates all in a comradely spirit as well having a robustprogramme of activity and campaigning in the community.

As ever, delegates need to take their role very seriously too. We needto stand together and ensure that we make the extra effort to get tomeetings, bring a colleague, report back from the meetings tobranches and enlist support for the campaigns. This is VITAL goingforward if we are to achieve change.

2015 will be an important year with a General Election looming that willbe a watershed moment for certain. Whilst we may all be at a lowpoint, reeling from the unrelenting attacks from this Government onevery front, all at once as they look after their own class, this comingMay is a light at the end of a tunnel of gloom for us all. We mustcontinue to fight to see the end of austerity and poverty for workingpeople. We must advocate for the alternative. Austerity-light just won’tdo. A job, decent working conditions and a fair wage are basic humanrights. I fear it will be a struggle we need to continue after May. Let’swork for a change of Government as a first step.

Marie Taylor President WB&DTUC January 2015