Musings on Wednesday afternoon's business

TUC: The afternoon began with Amnesty International – short film presented 30 year history of Amnesty and its partnership work with trade union Branches and regions to affiliate to Amnesty. Support for the ‘Miami 5’ and all victims of injustice and prisoners of conscience was explained with examples of their important work.

Composite 1 highlighted the real dangers throughout the country of the Posted Workers Directive that seeks to undermine collective agreements. Norma Black from UNISON spoke in support of the Composite identifying the specific threats to public services and the reality of having £80 billion already being spent on the private sector within our public services.

Composite 2 Temporary Agency Workers – the startling fact that there are already 17,000 registered agencies in the UK was presented alongside the demand to achieve equal treatment for these workers

Composite 3 Jobs, The Recession and Redundancy Rights – Calls to end the casino culture of employment were made, one senior union official confessed that ‘laissez faire has always been Greek to me’ and a delegate gave details of the appalling treatment of workers employed, then made redundant by the ‘greedy nasty swine’ CEO of Thomas Cooke.

Late into the afternoon I wondered why so many speakers were being ‘allowed’ by the Chair when so may had been ‘excluded’ yesterday and suspected it might be a plan to avoid getting to the very important motion on Palestine which had already caused much debate with UNISON seeking the TUC to support its own position as outlined in the FBU but undermined by an opposing ‘amendment’ submitted by the GMB. As I am typing this the Chair must have read this blog and decide to announce that the mover, seconder and only one other speaker will be allowed as we have a full agenda……………………..watch this space.

Motion 7 The POA motion called for street demonstrations throughout the UK and selective days on which the trade unions will break anti-trade union laws…and this to continue until the government changes the hostile legislation!

It felt like one of those crazy tasks set in the BB house and Congress waited for pigs to fly over the Liverpool Pier Head! The specific hardships felt by the POA in which oppressive anti trade union measures are implemented more harshly such as removal of right to strike than most other unions were acknowledged, but the real question of whether the affiliates really believed this motion of illegal action, the threats of sequestration of funds and endless time in courts was actually anything more than an empty gesture that would not carry the confidence of our members was roundly defeated on a show of hands. Something I believed to be common sense had prevailed but without compromising the ongoing legitimate strategies to achieve a Trade Union Freedom Bill.

Motion 35 – Britain’s Got Talent – Contestants are not paid as performers, tied into contracts that prevent them earning should they get deals later on. The exploitation of these was epitomised by Susan Boyle and concluded with a magic fairy wand announcing that if Britain has got Talent, then pay them!