GFTU BGCM Minutes 2017

THE GENERAL SECRETARY: Thanks very much, Larry. I would like to present you

with something on behalf of the GFTU to show our appreciation. Larry came

to our BGCM in 2009 and stimulated an equally important debate and that has

happened again today, so thanks for that, but this debate does relate to the

debate we had on education yesterday. What do the employers and the Tories

and the establishment side do? They send their kids off to prep school, they

then send them to boarding school and they then send them to university and

they learn really one thing – arrogance and the ability to pretend that they can

talk about something with authority, but they do not know anything about it.

The main subject that their avant-garde learn is politics, philosophy and

economics. Those key subjects used to be central to trade union education.

Trade unionists would go to their first courses discussing the real economy in

ordinary language such as that which you find in Larry’s articles in his

presentation today. We have almost completely lost that trade union education

to deal with the economic illiteracy that Carl was talking about, so we try in our

small little way to put it back into the programme. We have got to get to grips

with the real economy and for the GFTU that has always meant an absolute

focus on manufacturing and making things the source of all wealth and you will

see in the report that we have suggested that we refocus on that over the next

two years again as well and we will work with Community, Prospect, GMB and

our other manufacturing unions to really get back to the fundamental truth that

if you cannot make, you cannot spend it, it is as simple as that, and the wealth

of our country will need to be redeveloped through a re-renaissance of the

manufacturing centre.

That is my two penn’orth in the debate. Thanks, Larry. A small gift from the

GFTU.

The presentation was made amidst applause

THE PRESIDENT: We are going to adjourn now for lunch. Can I ask the members

of the Executive Committee of the GFTU to remain in here for the meeting.

That is the new Committee plus members of the old committee who are still

around. Conference adjourned until 2 p.m.

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