GFTU BGCM 2019 Minutes

Executive Committee in ways as it may deem appropriate following an open

recruitment and selection process. The salary of the General Secretary shall

be determined by the Executive Committee; and the General Secretary shall

remain in office so long as his/her work and conduct give satisfaction to the

Executive Committee. Under Rule 15

(h) the Executive Committee shall have power to appoint an Acting General

Secretary immediately that a temporary vacancy occurs. In the event of a

permanent vacancy occurring, the Executive Committee shall conduct an open

recruitment and selection process, including the establishment of essential and

desirable criteria, job description review and fair and rigorous selection

processes to secure an appointment from a committed and experienced trade

unionist”. In the event that we approve these motions then Appendix 1 would

be deleted in total.

It seems to me that a selection process that enables us to choose from a wide

talent pool from candidates that have the appropriate skills, competence and

experience is the most important aspect of continued stable governance of the

General Federation of Trade Unions. Conference, I move. (Applause)

BRO RONNIE DRAPER (Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union): Conference,

Chair, delegates, Ronnie Draper from the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers

Union seconding Motion 5. First of all, I would like to thank Claire for pointing

these things out. We have done exactly the same in our own trade union,

looking at gender specific stuff. It should not be about titles, it should be about

people, about members, about the ability to do the job and I am sure that is

something that we will change as an Executive in the future.

I just want to share something, and I have actually done it before, share my

sort of baptism of fire into the General Federation. The guy who was my

General Secretary at the time was the Chair of the GFTU and I took over from

him as General Secretary and he saw out his period and all of a sudden I was

left in this other organisation that I had never been a part of, used to get reports

on it, did not necessarily meet with people, other than the likes of John and that

at the TUC. That was my whole experience really of the GFTU and I sort of got

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