Billy Hayes = Eastern Regional Meeting, NUT Headquarters

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.billyhayes.co.uk/permalink.p ... 34_0_1_0_M" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

General Secretary notes for Eastern Regional Committee

1. Most important event in coming year will be General Election. Will shape whole context within which CWU has to work.

2. In the run up to the General Election the CWU¡¦s position is more uncomfortable than usual. Unless we get a resolution in Royal Mail, including on the pensions deficit, it will be impossible to turn the union behind Labour¡¦s campaign.

3. Our stance is understood by other TULO unions. They are supportive of our position.

4. There will not be an NPF before the election. Instead there are direct negotiations between the government and the unions on the manifesto.

5. Our two key policies on the manifesto are ¡V holding the line on Royal Mail; and ¡V promoting our position on Digital Britain.

Royal Mail dispute and pensions


1. Negotiations appear to be making good progress. Nominal date for final agreement is January 22nd. May be tight but Roger Poole pressing on this. Final agreement will go out to members ballot.
___________________________________

2. We are stepping up the pressure around the pensions deficit. Government still insisting that there will be no resolution without a transformation of the company. We are working on the basis that there will be a modernisation agreement, and that we must take initiatives to secure government action on pensions.

3. Our intiatives are:
a) Mailing all CLPs with Party conference emergency motion, and DVD of debate. Already had some CLPs writing in who have passed model motion and written to Party GS (Ray Collins).

b) Publishing a pamphlet on pensions for politicians and others. This being printed ¡V as we meet. Contains a great deal of valuable information and arguments.

c) Organising a meeting and parliamentary lobby on January 26th. All branches are expected to provide delegates to ensure the success of the day.

d) Arranging a meeting with Mandelson to re-engage the government in discussions around a solution. No date fixed, but he has agreed to meet.

Delivering Digital Britain Update

Briefings outlining the Delivering Digital Britain campaign objectives were circulated to T&FS Branches, MPs and Lords in November last year. I have attached the MPs briefing here for reference purposes, which sets out the campaign background and key objectives.

The Digital Economy Bill was announced in the Queen¡¦s Speech in November and is one of the Government¡¦s key priorities ahead of the general election.

The Bill was published on 20th November and since then we have been concentrating on how we can secure changes to the Bill that reflect our campaign objectives.

Due to the time constraints and the risk of numerous amendments stalling the passage of the Bill, as well as indications of amendments from other organisations that support our agenda, we are focussing on submitting one amendment to the Bill on the issue of workforce training. ¡V

By concentrating our efforts on getting the support needed to secure this amendment there is every chance we will succeed, and this would be a real achievement for the union and our members.

A draft amendment has been drawn up and is attached, which calls for a new duty to be placed on Ofcom to promote workforce training and development in the telecommunications industry, as it is required to do in the broadcasting industry.

We have been seeking a Lord to move the amendment in the House of Lords where it has begun its passage through parliament. Unfortunately we have not yet been successful in identifying a Lord to support us, but there is still an opportunity to move an amendment at Report stage or third reading stage. Otherwise, there is the opportunity to submit an amendment to the Bill in the House of Commons.

We have approached Lord Maxton who contributed to the debate at second reading stage and was in tune with our objectives on infrastructure investment and universal access.

Andy wrote to him in December and followed up again this year, but we have not heard from him as yet. Andy also sent our proposed amendment to John Robertson MP, who is supported by Prospect and is the Chair of Apcomms, the All Party Parliamentary Communications Group.

Mr Robertson agreed to help us identify a Lord to move our amendment, or failing that to help us move the amendment in the Commons. We are also considering asking Bob Laxton for support.

We have been in discussions with Consumer Focus who have indicated that they intend to submit an amendment calling for the introduction of a universal service obligation for broadband. There will therefore still be an opportunity to lobby on this issue which is a key campaign objective. ¡V

There will also be a chance to lobby for a change to the scope of the Next Generation Access levy to extend to mobile operators, as this element of the legislation will be introduced under the Finance Bill following the Budget.

An LTB (967/09) has been sent to branches asking them to promote the campaign amongst CWU activists, the CWU membership, local MPs and other local politicians to galvanise support and help us meet the campaign objectives. The attached leaflet was sent with the LTB.

We have also held a meeting with TFS regional representatives, and Ian Tomlinson and Carl Webb in the North West region have been particularly active in raising the CWU¡¦s campaign amongst local MPs and CWU activists.

John Blevins in the North East has also been active in political campaigning as well as talking to BT regional directors about their plans for fibre investment.

We have also drafted the attached motions for STUC and Wales TUC conferences.

I believe Martin Keenan met with Alex Salmond on 12th Jan with a plan to raise the CWU¡¦s campaign objectives. I sent him a brief update on the campaign responding to specific questions he had on our position on the Network Design and Procurement Group (which will be responsible for spending the Next Generation Access Fund created from the 50p per month levy on fixed lines), and the Next Generation Fund, as follows:


Specifically on the Network Design and Procurement Group, we have not given any detailed consideration to how we believe it should operate. However we agree that it is necessary to ensure that the Next Generation Fund is allocated efficiently and effectively.


We also agree with the aim set out in Digital Britain of the NDP Group ensuring a coherent framework for network design and systems so that networks offer all end users an optimum level of service quality and choice.

With regards to the Next Generation Fund, we are still arguing that it should be funded by mobile telephone operators as well as fixed line operators, because they are set to make millions from next generation fibre networks built by public funding.

This is because the extension of fibre access networks to back haul would improve 3G coverage and enable the doubling of cell site nodes required by Long-Term Evolution mobile networks.

However, time is running short and it is unlikely we will sway the Government on this issue at this late stage ahead of the Finance Bill. Stephen Timms has justified the position by saying that it is difficult to implement a levy in practice on pay as you go handsets and mobile companies are already contributing to broadband infrastructure through 3G spectrum licences.


The main focus now is to continue trying to identify a Lord to move our amendment on workforce training (also attached here), before time runs out.

(SEE ATTACHMENTS)

REGIONAL SECRETARY STRUCTURE

Annual Conference agreed that the union should review the roles and responsibilities of the Regional Secretaries.

This, to include the remuneration of the secretary, the department /officer they report to and the tasks they are expected to undertake.

We were instructed last year that a Report had to published to Branches by January 2010.

The timescale is going to slip ¡V because we had other competing industrial priorities in 2009.

However, A Working Party has been set up - we are due to have our second meeting next week ¡V and I am determined to press ahead on the review and be in a position to place appropriate policy and rule amendment changes to 2010 Annual Conference.

There has been little change to the Regional Secretary Structure since we merged in 1995.

An overhaul of the structure is long overdue.

Back in 2002 the CWU commissioned Professor Keith Ewing to complete a report on the union¡¦s structures post merger.

On the Regional Structure he said -:

Steps should be taken to strengthen the regional structures of the union, as a way of bringing the different parts of the union closer together, and in order to raise the political profile of the union regionally, as well to make services more accessible to members.

He went on¡K¡K..

The union should examine how this can be done in a way that would lead to the recruitment of officers at regional level to undertake the diverse demands of organisation, representation and co-ordination. These officers should work closely with all branches and steps should be taken to ensure that they are remunerated in accordance with the work they are asked to do, rather than the work they may have done in the past.

The Regional Secretary structure is an important additional resource for Branches - and their coordinating role is invaluable to CWU Headquarters.

However, The Regional Structure itself has grown beyond recognition over the last few years and we now have 7 Committees ¡V all administered by the Regional Secretary

„X Regional Women¡¦s Committee
„X Retired Members¡¦ Regional Committee
„X Youth Members¡¦ Regional Committee
„X Regional Political Committee (RPC)
„X Regional Equality Officers Committee
„X Regional Learning Committee (RLC)
„X Health and Safety Forum

I want Regional Secretaries to be proactive in their roles
I don¡¦t want them to become bogged down in administrational tasks and find themselves attending and organising endless meetings.

The working party will address this, and other structural issues.

It will also focus on the introduction of a proper Job Description ¡V election period remuneration of the regional secretaries.

We will also need to consider ¡V with a declining membership base - whether there is a requirement for 10 Regions.

We can not ignore the ongoing reduction of income in the union and we must also take this into account as part of the review.

To make progress on this policy, the working party needs both the support of the NEC and branches - across all constituencies.

Branches have been asked for their input into this issue ¡V by 27th January ¡V (LTB 1112/09 and LTB 027/10) - and I urge everyone today to take the time to respond to me on this important subject.

I would like to congratulate and thank Paul Moffet for all the work he has done in the Eastern Region.

In most respects this is a ¡§Model Region¡¨ ¡V because you have had great co-operation between constituencies and branches ¡V and your Regional Secretary possesses the skills and enthusiasm that has created a good team spirit.

You have organised events for the region and you have always made a collective effort to support those national meetings and rallies organised by Headquarters.

I want to thank Paul and the Region for their continued support in these challenging times.