Below are the Summary Minutes of the January 2017 GMB Northants Community Branch Meeting which took place on the 25th January 2017
You can also download a copy of the minutes here in PDF format
You can also download a copy of the minutes here in PDF format
GMB Northants Community Branch
Secretary: Gordon Glassford, Corby, Northants, NN17 2LL
Email: gordonglassford@gmbnorthants.org
www.gmbnorthants.org
Minutes of the branch meeting held on 25.01.17
1. Apart from the attendance being wrong the minutes of the last meeting was a true record.
2. Matters Arising: Fergus has been nominated as a delegate to Corby CLP, but as the local labour party seems to be in disarray he hasn’t heard anything yet. There will be a meeting on Friday 27th January.
3. Correspondence:
a) It was agreed to donate £100 to the Lewis Foundation which raises funds for cancer patients on the Talbot Butler ward at Northampton General Hospital and to Autism Concern. These donations came about from the newsletter sent out by the secretary which included an appeal for suitable charities to give money to.
b) It was also agreed to donate £100 to each of Justice for Columbia, Labour Behind the Label and the Sounds of Home Orchestra, a new orchestra which is being set up in Corby.
4. Nominations to Regional Council: It was agreed to nominate Maggie, Martyn and Jackie, depending on circumstances.
5. Motions to Congress/ election of delegates to congress: It was agreed that we would not send a motion to congress, given our failure to have any motions adopted by region in the past. We would vote only for Martyn in the election of delegates.
6. Secretary’s Report:
a) The secretary hasn’t started to organise Workers Memorial Day yet. It was agreed to invite Glenys Wilmot MEP, leader of the labour group in the European parliament, Bert Schoenberg, International affairs director at the GMB, a senior regional speaker from the GMB and someone from Labour Behind the Label to speak. We will ask Ray to arrange a suitable room in the Cube in the event of bad weather and to organise the buffet from Bradbury’s.
b) The newsletter has gone out to all members as a result, apart from the donations, the secretary had been informed that two members had sadly died so there families should get the GMB funeral benefit, some members had asked for diaries and some had changed address.
c) It was agreed to sponsor the taxi in Corby again for £500.
7. Financial Report was noted.
8. Presidents Report: Jackie felt that there are interesting time s ahead and she is fearful for the future. She said that according to the regional committee minutes that a lot of legal cases had been settled by Thompsons and Unionline and it looked that the introduction of Unionline had been a success, although this was the subject of some disagreement at the meeting. The amount of compensation won by the union for members should be more publicised.
9. Social Media Report: Adrian had sent out 1,379 copies of the branch email newsletter of which 32% had been opened, above the average. Everything else about the same. The website is up to date.
10. Equality Officers Report: Martyn felt that there might be an upsurge in hate crimes similar to that following the referendum result after article 50 has been triggered. He noted that there had been a lot of news stories recently about what women are allowed to wear in the workplace and hopefully this might lead in a change of attitude by employers or, failing that, a change in the law.
11. Workplace Reports:
a) Kier: Fergus had nothing to report.
b) Accuma: Rajko said that the question of whether his members were getting the living wage has still not been resolved. The way their payslips are set out after the introduction of monthly pay does not make this clear.
12. Any Other Business.
a) It was agreed to invite Bob Riley, labour candidate for Corby rural at the county council elections in May, to speak to the next meeting.
b) Rajko had received an email appealing for funds for defribulators. He will forward it to Gordon.
The meeting closed at 8.10 pm.
2. Matters Arising: Fergus has been nominated as a delegate to Corby CLP, but as the local labour party seems to be in disarray he hasn’t heard anything yet. There will be a meeting on Friday 27th January.
3. Correspondence:
a) It was agreed to donate £100 to the Lewis Foundation which raises funds for cancer patients on the Talbot Butler ward at Northampton General Hospital and to Autism Concern. These donations came about from the newsletter sent out by the secretary which included an appeal for suitable charities to give money to.
b) It was also agreed to donate £100 to each of Justice for Columbia, Labour Behind the Label and the Sounds of Home Orchestra, a new orchestra which is being set up in Corby.
4. Nominations to Regional Council: It was agreed to nominate Maggie, Martyn and Jackie, depending on circumstances.
5. Motions to Congress/ election of delegates to congress: It was agreed that we would not send a motion to congress, given our failure to have any motions adopted by region in the past. We would vote only for Martyn in the election of delegates.
6. Secretary’s Report:
a) The secretary hasn’t started to organise Workers Memorial Day yet. It was agreed to invite Glenys Wilmot MEP, leader of the labour group in the European parliament, Bert Schoenberg, International affairs director at the GMB, a senior regional speaker from the GMB and someone from Labour Behind the Label to speak. We will ask Ray to arrange a suitable room in the Cube in the event of bad weather and to organise the buffet from Bradbury’s.
b) The newsletter has gone out to all members as a result, apart from the donations, the secretary had been informed that two members had sadly died so there families should get the GMB funeral benefit, some members had asked for diaries and some had changed address.
c) It was agreed to sponsor the taxi in Corby again for £500.
7. Financial Report was noted.
8. Presidents Report: Jackie felt that there are interesting time s ahead and she is fearful for the future. She said that according to the regional committee minutes that a lot of legal cases had been settled by Thompsons and Unionline and it looked that the introduction of Unionline had been a success, although this was the subject of some disagreement at the meeting. The amount of compensation won by the union for members should be more publicised.
9. Social Media Report: Adrian had sent out 1,379 copies of the branch email newsletter of which 32% had been opened, above the average. Everything else about the same. The website is up to date.
10. Equality Officers Report: Martyn felt that there might be an upsurge in hate crimes similar to that following the referendum result after article 50 has been triggered. He noted that there had been a lot of news stories recently about what women are allowed to wear in the workplace and hopefully this might lead in a change of attitude by employers or, failing that, a change in the law.
11. Workplace Reports:
a) Kier: Fergus had nothing to report.
b) Accuma: Rajko said that the question of whether his members were getting the living wage has still not been resolved. The way their payslips are set out after the introduction of monthly pay does not make this clear.
12. Any Other Business.
a) It was agreed to invite Bob Riley, labour candidate for Corby rural at the county council elections in May, to speak to the next meeting.
b) Rajko had received an email appealing for funds for defribulators. He will forward it to Gordon.
The meeting closed at 8.10 pm.
| summary_minutes_250117.pdf |
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