Join us at the next online meeting of Green Party Trade Union group, at 6pm on Tuesday 23 January.

This one is on the theme of international solidarity – how workers can collaborate across borders, disrupt multinationals and work across unions and industries for shared interests.

We have a great line up confirmed:

James Schnieder, Communications Director for Progressive International, speaking about the global Make Amazon Pay campaign

Garfield Hylton and Darren Westwood, Amazon workers and GMB reps in Coventry. Read about their resistance to Amazon here:‘We’re not going away’: UK strike trio bullish over battle for Amazon union.

We’ve also invited Workers for a Free Palestine to come and speak to us about their successful actions organising UK workers to disrupt arms sales to Israel and will hear from an organiser of the We Make Tomorrow conference in London on 28th January, Stuart Melvin from the Climate Justice Coalition’s Trade Union caucus.

We look forward to seeing you there!

REGISTRATION

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The NEU has issued a New Year’s message reiterating its call for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza where the relentless Israeli bombardment has killed more than 22,000 Palestinians since 7 October, over 70 per cent of whom are women and children. 

The NEU is also calling for an end to the raids, demolitions, detentions without trial and attacks on civilians in the West Bank which have led to the deaths of more than 80 children, with over 500 injured by Israeli forces or settlers since 7 October. 

NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede said:

“Children should not pay the price of war. Yet in Gaza, almost 9,000 children are reported killed; a further 9,000 have been injured and thousands more are missing – presumed to be lying dead beneath the rubble. More than a million of Gaza’s children are displaced with no homes remaining for them to return to. The psychosocial impact of this horrific war will have consequences for decades to come.

“In the West Bank, 83 children have been killed since 7 October, with many more injured and others detained by Israeli forces. According to UNICEF, conflict-related violence has killed 124 Palestinian children and six Israeli children since the start of 2023. These are truly shocking statistics.”
 

Schooling has stopped for all children in Gaza and is severely disrupted in the West Bank. Schools have special protection under international law, yet in Gaza 342 schools have sustained damage according to the United Nations (UN), affecting the education of almost 500,000 students. About 90 per cent of school buildings are being used as shelters by Gaza’s displaced civilian population yet are still being targeted for attack by Israeli forces. Over 200 teachers and other education staff have been killed since 7 October.

In the West Bank, most schools are closed and online education has resumed for children as conflict-related violence makes the journey to school unsafe.

“Children have the right to life, to live and play without fear of violence and to attend school and learn in safety,” said Mr Kebede. “My Union calls for an immediate and lasting ceasefire and for negotiations leading to a just and enduring peace in which Palestinian and Israeli children can live, learn and play together in peace and security.”

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The Campaign Against Climate Change has circulated a motion that it hopes will unite as much of the trade union movement as possible around a strong call for climate action as a class issue and a trade union issue. This is in response to the disappointing position taken by the TUC.

Green Party members may wish to circulate the motion to their trade union colleagues and take it to their branches. It has not been officially endorsed by the GPTU:

Below and in printable form is a General Motion intended for wide circulation across the trade union movement, and adoption by branches, regions, trades councils and annual conferences, with an ultimate aim for it to be heard at the 2024 TUC.

The motion is deliberately pitched at a high level, starting with the basic assertion that climate change is a class issue and a trade union issue.  It sets out the fundamental elements that should underpin the climate policies of every union in order to achieve a common understanding of the crisis, and how to respond to it in the interests of climate justice for workers, public service and the planet.  Many of these elements will already be clearly understood, but there is a need for a consistent and coherent articulation of these across the movement.  

The reason this General Motion is being raised now is due to the fragmented and inconsistent responses of different trade unions, within unions, and between members and their leaderships.  In particular, the climate-related motions passed at recent Trades Union Congresses have been deeply regressive, producing a narrative that runs counter to the long term interests, and job security, of workers, both in the U.K. and globally.  This motion seeks to redirect that narrative towards more progressive and radical solutions that will produce and secure thousands of jobs, restore a public service ethos, and make genuine progress towards countering the climate emergency.

Adaptations to the motion are welcomed to incorporate specific local, sectoral or international factors; the motion needs to be relevant to each constituency while ensuring that the fundamental elements are retained.  It purposely avoids specific references in order to be universal, and it is envisaged that details of specifics would be covered in complementary motions.

Finally, this motion is not viewed as the property of any one union, climate organisation or political faction.  It has emerged from a common analysis among activists across a number of trade unions, many of whom are also involved with the Campaign Against Climate Change Trade Union group (CACCTU), Greener Jobs Alliance (GJA) and other climate networks. 

NOTE: It would be very helpful if you could fill in the form here if your branch or other trade union forum has passed the motion.

Motion text

Conference affirms that climate change is a class issue and a trade union issue.

Conference notes that the:

 –  UN Secretary General has said we are in a new era of global boiling with unprecedented extreme weather impacting every part of the globe with increasing frequency.

 – International Energy Agency (IEA) states that to stay below the Paris Climate Agreement of 1.5oC fossil fuel use must reduce by 25% this decade and we cannot develop any new fossil fuel sites.

– Working class in the U.K. and globally are already being impacted by the terrible consequences of climate change, through loss of lives, livelihoods, food, access to water, housing and accommodation, forced migration, unbearable working conditions and an intolerable burden on emergency services.

–  UK government is doing little to safeguard workers or people from the impacts of climate change and, far from it, is advancing a narrative that seeks to make a virtue of weakening its commitments.

Conference believes:

– We need a rapid transition away from oil and gas to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown.

– Failing to take urgent measures to transition away from fossil fuels puts jobs at risk from sudden climate events or their economic consequences and foregoes opportunities to build in a timely way the larger skilled workforce needed across the whole economy without which decarbonisation cannot happen.

– Inequality and declining standards of living for working class people are explicitly locked into a fossil-fuelled market economy and austerity policies.

– The costs of transition to a decarbonised economy and society must not fall on those least able to pay.

– Transition policies must be generated by state investment.

– We must resist attempts aimed at using climate to divide working people; this only serves elites and distracts us from our common interest in jobs and a secure future.

 – Political posturing on net zero policies does not help our class and we must fight for policies that address climate change and environmental degradation rooted in economic and social justice.

– Trade unions and workers in all sectors are central to transition plans.

– Workers in other countries are our allies.

Conference agrees to fight for:

– Policies to address climate change and environmental degradation that are in the interests of workers and communities, and a plan for the forms of bargaining and industrial action to achieve them.

– Negotiated transition plans that guarantee protection for all workers in all sectors of the economy including across all equality strands, and as a minimum should cover jobs, wages, pensions, training and skills and trade union rights.

– Public ownership of key sectors such as energy, water, transport, mail, broadband, education, health and social care.

– A fair and progressive taxation system, accessing the wealth of one of the world’s richest countries without asking working people to pay for a crisis they did not create.

– A National Climate Service to plan, coordinate, fund and ensure education/ training for the workforce necessary to undertake the rapid and wide scale transformation to a decarbonised economy.

– Workers and their unions being directly and immediately engaged with government in designing and defining what the decarbonised industries and their workforces of the future look like.

– Solutions to the climate crisis that are in the interests of workers and communities, not capital.

Further, conference agrees to build combines within and across sectors, at the level of branches as well as nationally and globally, to develop common industrial strategies that contribute to a ‘whole economy’ approach to decarbonisation, including engagement with community and climate justice groups. 

• CACCTU’s blog

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Many schools are facing cuts due to lack of funding, rising inflation and huge energy costs. The largest proportion of school budgets is spent on staff: teachers, teaching support staff, nursery nurses, admin and caretakers. All are essential to maintianing the quality of education and the smooth running of the school.

In recent years teaching support staff, despite low wages, have become more professionalised, training for intervention projects to support children who have fallen behind, assisting childen with special needs or disability, and working with children with English as an additional language. They have become vital to the educational progress of children and especially their wellbeing.

These staff are often women working several jobs to make ends meet and in urban areas are from ethnic minorities.

When Lyon Park Primary School in Wembley hit budget problems they were unable to get a ‘licensed deficit’ from Brent Local Authority. The licence enables schools to plan to bring the budget into balance over several years often using natural wastage.

The immediate crisis led to a series of proposed measures that included fire and rehire (ending contracts and rehiring at lower salary or worsened conditions). Support staff are already on low wages given the importance of their jobs and may have term time only contracts. Given the role they now play it is scandalous that they now faced compulsory redundancy, reduced hours, pay cuts and a requirement to cover teacher absences.

The support staff at Lyon Park were not having it and achieved 100% support for action in an NEU strike ballot and were supported by teaching staff, parents and the local community. Brent North MP, Barry Gardiner joined the picket line and so did new NEU General Secretary, Daniel Kebede. Retired teacher union members and members of the Brent Trades Council helped leaflet the parents explaining how their children’s education would be affected if the proposed restructure was implemented.

I went to speak to the strikers whose pay has never been generous but have a fierce commitment to the children they work with.  Many had been at the school for more than 30 years and working with the second or third generation of children. They are proud of their role and the way it has evolved into a professional (though often unrecognised as such) job over the past few decades.

The support staff described themselves as the backbone of the school, well known to the local community and often the first port of call for both parents and children experiencing difficulties.

They emphasised that they played a valuable part in moving the school out of the Ofsted ‘Requiring Improvement’ category and now feel betrayed.

Strikes took place over several weeks, closing the school, and Brent Council became involved in the negotiations with unions that gradually won the strikers’ demands on voluntary redundancies and the other issues with an an eventual acceptance of a ACAS negotiated offer on outstanding issues.

Many schools are facing budget challenges, dipping into reserves (if they have any) that will soon run out. The strength and solidariy shown in this strike should be an inspiration to staff in other schools facing budget cuts.

The answer is of course not cuts but increased funding from central government.

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*Under the Green Party, the full time working week will be reduced to 35 hours in the short term and 32 in the medium term. In the medium term, workers will have a right to request these reduced hours at no loss of pay and without detriment. The Green Party will develop pilot schemes, monitoring and effective support, for small to medium sized businesses and public sector institutions, during the process of transition to a shorter worker week.

*All employers will be expected to agree flexible working arrangements for those with family and caring commitments, and/or to permit the workers to fulfil their hours over a four day week, unless the work is such that distributing duties in such ways is clearly impossible or harmful. Decisions concerning exemptions must be agreed with the relevant trade union.

Unfortunately conference time was at a premium and the motion to strengthen the Green Party’s ambition to build stronger links with trade unions was not heard but this ambition was evidenced by events at the conference.

John Maloney Assistant General Secretary of the PCS union urged Greens to engage in trade unions struggles saying that we have to bring trade unions with us in the fight for the right to strike for climate justice.

Safe Landing, a group of Aviation workers campaigning for a sustainable future for their industry attended and networked widely. A positive review of their conference activities can be found on their website HERE.

Patience Bamisaye and Antonia Berelson of the RCN and Phil Clarke Vice President of the NEU took part in a GPTU discussion on the struggles of public sector workers. Patience spoke of the ‘callous’ treatment of NHS workers from overseas: ‘They are putting people’s lives at risk. It is not right. It is not fair. Something has to be done.’

Phil called for support for the repealing of anti-strike laws to enable unions to improve their pay and conditions: ‘When governments come for us we need to be able to defend ourselves.’

The NEU who have been one of the most supportive unions at our conferences, running a regular stall and a fringe, held a meeting on the sector’s recruitment and retention crisis. The meeting was led by Daniel Kebede the NEU’s new General Secretary amd it was clear that the union’s positive relationship with Vix Lowthian our Education spokesperson would continue. Our approach to the recruitment crisis and broader issues were closely aligned – although we go further with Ofsted calling for abolition rather than reform of the body.

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The Green Party Trade Union Group are proud to have played our part in supporting the campaign to keep ticket offices open along with thousands of others. It is a victory that shows mass mobilisation and a cogent argument works.

Congratulations to the RMT and all its members. The union statement is below:

RAIL UNION RMT today welcomed the government’s complete withdrawal of its ticket office closure plans in light of passenger watchdog objections as a complete victory.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that it was a resounding victory for the union’s campaign and a win for passengers, community groups and rail workers alike. 

“We are now calling for an urgent summit with the government, train operating companies, disabled and community organisations and passenger groups to agree a different route for the rail network that guarantees the future of our ticket offices and stations staff jobs to delivers a safe, secure and accessible service that puts passengers before profit,” he said.

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5 October 2023

UUK has agreed to reverse the 35% cut made to the industry’s Universities Superannuation Scheme pension and restore what has been lost.

In a joint statement, UUK and UCU agree to full benefit restoration to pre-April 2022 levels by Monday 1 April 2024, which is worth between £15 to £17bn, as well as an additional one-off pension payment of around £900m to help make good the money members have lost since April 2022. The agreement also paves the way for new contribution rates to be introduced as soon as January.

The scheme trustee has estimated total contribution rates need to be 20.6% for benefits to be restored. This will likely bring employee contribution rates down from 9.8% to 6.1% with a decision by the USS trustee board expected in November. The trustee has shown it is sustainable to keep the new contribution rates and improved benefits for at least two valuation cycles (six years) [1].

UUK and UCU also committed to continuing to work together to ensure the stability of benefits and contributions at future valuations. This will be done through the stability working group that UCU, UUK and the scheme trustee jointly sit on. 

Tomorrow, UCU’s higher education committee will vote whether to ratify the agreement, which is then subject to an ongoing consultation of scheme members and proposals that will be submitted to the USS joint negotiating committee on Monday 30 October 2023. 

UCU members have taken a total of 69 days of strike action in defence of their USS pensions since 2018. This includes 14 days of strike action in 2018 over threats to close the defined benefit element of the scheme and 55 days since 2019 over contribution increases and benefit cuts. 

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said ‘Four years ago our members were told that winning back their pension was an impossible task. When standing for election, I made it clear that it was only by the whole union pulling together and never giving up that we would win this dispute. Many doubted us.

’69 days of strike action, years of campaigning, protesting and lobbying have brought us to this moment. Today is a historic victory for UCU members. It should also be motivation for every single worker in the UK who has seen their pension slashed. Our members can be rightly proud. 

‘This is just the start for our union. We have pension justice. We now move on to delivering justice on pay and job security. We will not stop until we create a higher education sector that properly values its staff.’

[1] USS data refers to the range of contribution rates 20.6%, 25.2% to 26% for stability analysis over the next two valuations. The data reports that maintaining benefits to pre-2022 levels over the next two valuation cycles is most likely sustainable for this range of contribution rates.

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The Trade Union Congress yesterday joined more than 60 organisations including tade unions, human rights and climate action campaigns in opposing the government’s Anti-Boycott Bill.

The bill would prohibit public bodies, including universities and councils from supporting BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) on issues that the government deem not in line with their foreign policy.

It does not prohibit individuals and other organisations from advocating BDS but could well have a chilling effect, particularly if extended to other issues as is happening in the USA.

This is the Trade Union Congress motion that was moved by the National Education Union and seconded by UNISON that was passed yesterday.

A motion opposing the Bill is on the agenda for the Green Party Autumn Conference,

MOTION

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August 2023

The Green Party Trade Union Group has continued to grow in 2023, albeit less active than last year. Members have used our resources to back campaigns like the RMT’s to keep ticket offices open and we have proposed a series of worker-friendly policies to Autumn Conference. A summary of our activity so far this year is provided below.

Elected in December 2022 this year’s Committee took time to get up and running and many members have struggled to keep the momentum up with GPTU alongside other work and GP commitments. We have lost two committee members in recent months, but have still held fortnightly committee meetings and – no doubt thanks to the continued prominence of UK trade unions and industrial action – our membership has increased from 460 at the end of last year to 706 now.

Our Members meeting at Conference will be on Saturday 7th October (5.15-6.30pm). Any questions can be sent to the Committee via Robert (rob_magowan12@live.co.uk).

Events

We have held three full members meetings this year. At the first we heard from Hannah David, Vice President of PCS trade union and UCU member Cllr Nicola Day (also a GPTU Committee member) about ongoing national industrial action at each. The second focused on Conference policy motions GPTU might propose, (detailed below). At the third we heard from Peter Krakowiak, a Unite rep at St Mungo’s homelessness charity (and Chair of Enfield Green Party), about their ongoing 11-week strike.

Campaigns

Throughout the year we have undertaken to support strike action as it continues across the UK. The @GreenPartyTU account continues to show a constant stream of Green Party activists and representatives showing solidarity at picket lines and supporting headline union demands such as a £15 minimum wage.

We have produced dedicated resources in support of the RMT ticket office closures campaign, and many members have brought our posters to demonstrations and promoted support for the campaign locally, giving us a strong stance on the issue.

The Amazon workers strike in Coventry, a milestone walkout as part of a global day of action, was also subject to a GPTU blog following support from members close to the dispute.

Conference policy

Early in the year the Committee had a number of discussions to help Matthew Hull as TULO identify policy gaps and priorities for the early stages of the manifesto drafting process. This fed into two members’ meetings where we discussed motions to propose to Autumn Conference, with a particular view to filling manifesto gaps and strengthening the Green Party’s public stance on trade union rights ahead of a General Election. GPTU has now submitted the following motions:

• The Green Party’s ambition to build stronger bonds with trade unions
  
  
• Strengthening Rights for ‘Gig Economy’ (Platform-based) workers
  
  
• Fair pay through collective bargaining

We have also agreed to give support to the following motions:

• Four day week (Currently ruled out of order by Soc)
  
  
• New deal for carers
  
  
• Opposing the Anti-Boycott Bill
  
  
• Allowing All Special Interest Groups to Propose Motions
  
  
• Enabling the Disability Group to fulfil its role in the party

Union networks

We successfully began work this year to build networks for specific trade unions within the Green Party. We surveyed GPTU members to improve the data we hold on their membership – Unite is the most represented, followed by NEU and then Unison. Matthew Hull ran two meetings for Unite members, inviting them to discuss how they could organise as a network within the Green Party (e.g. building solidarity throughout the party for Unite disputes) and also within Unite (e.g. by standing in internal elections). A separate email list now exists for Unite members and we aim for this to become a self-organising network for sharing info and support.

The Committee would also like to see trade union membership as one of the optional questions put to new members on their joining journey. This would not only collect important data to help GPTU organise, but show new members that trade union relations are important to the Green Party and its vision of a just and democratic society.

Trade Union Liaison Officers

A number of Trade Union Liaison Officers are already in place in regional and local parties in the Green Party, as well as our national TULO. One objective for the Committee this year was to establish a record of people in those roles, expand them to more local and regional parties, and provide guidance and resources on how to work as a TULO in a local context.

We have surveyed most regional parties and now have a good list of where TULOs exist. At our last members meeting we discussed what GPTU members thought TULOs could do in their area and how they could be supported. The next step is to convene existing regional TULOs to discuss their approach to the role and how GPTU can help. We expect to progress this before the end of the year.

Alongside Matthew Hull as TULO we have also worked with the party’s new Policy and Communications Officer to increase engagement with TUs nationally and at leadership level.

Councillor network

Another initiative is the network for Green councillors which was first established last year. This remains a dedicated whatsapp group, where Councillors can share best practice and successes, and ask questions. We still have the ambition to host a workshop for councillors but haven’t had the capacity to run this yet.

Membership

The membership of the Group is now at 706. This is up from 460 at the end of last year and 200 the year before.

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The First Agenda for Autumn Conference 2023 has been published and all members can take part in deciding which motions they think are the most important (and should therefore be heard first) by taking part in the prioritisation ballot.

The deadline for completion is midnight, September 1st.

It is important to fill in the ballot completely with those motions you most want to be discussed at the top and those you least want discussed at the bottom.

Early in the year the GPTU Committee had a number of discussions to help Matthew Hull as Green Party trade Union Liasion Office (TULO) to identify policy gaps and priorities for the early stages of the manifesto drafting process. This fed into two members’ meetings where we discussed motions to propose to Autumn Conference, with a particular view to filling manifesto gaps and strengthening the Green Party’s public stance on trade union rights ahead of a General Election. GPTU has now submitted the following motions which we ask members to prioritise (the full motions can be found on the First Agenda:

The full motions can be found on the First Agenda.

E27 The Green Party’s ambition to build stronger bonds with trade unions

E23 Strengthening Rights for ‘Gig Economy’ (Platform-based) workers)

E15 Fair pay through collective bargaining

We have also agreed to give support to the following motions:

E21 New deal for carers  (The current carers allowance payment needs to be increased to a living wage for the hours of care provided and young carers should have the right to be compensated by government, supported in education and be provided with respite written into law.)

E22 Opposing the Anti-Boycott Bill  (Trade union backed campaign. The legislation has major ramifications for international solidarity work, including on workers’ rights)

D08 Allowing All Special Interest Groups to Propose Motions. (This would allow GPTU and others to directly proposed motions)

D16 Enabling the Disability Group to fulfil its role in the party.   (Allocates resources to ensure that the Party’s Disability Group can function adequately. In setting the Party’s budget the Executive must provide the necessary funding through to 2025.)

The motion on a Four Day Week has been ruled out of order. It is not therefore in the prioritisation ballot but could be reinstated by Conference,

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