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General Secretary’s report July 2017.
8
and unions need to use cultural workers more in their education organisation and campaigning
work. I very genuinely hope that all EC members will can seriously consider attending
themselves and ensuring that their union is represented at the event.
7.5 Our next major event will be the union building conference in February 2018. There was one
clear request from the previous conference to consider how unions can link with community
organisations. No further steer has been given and given how busy we have all been the working
group of myself, Sarah Woolley, Yvonne Pattson, Ian Lawrence and the previous president and
vice president has not met to consider some initial programme planning. As it would be
beneficial to promote this event at the TUC I attach a proposed paper.
7.6 A new initiative has emerged since the BGCM. I realise that our next BGCM will be in the
120
th
year of the GF TU. This together with the new build the new services, the new education
programme, the new affiliates, gives a great opportunity to extend and build our organisation
and celebrate the work of those on whose shoulders we stand. I therefore emailed some of our
educational trust members with great knowledge and interest trade union education, Keith
Gildart, Mike Sanders, Steve Orchard, Edda Nicolson, Sian Moore, Oshor Williams and Alice
Procheska, although expressed interest in contributing ideas and work for what we are calling
Project 120. Oshor, Mike and Keith have met to put some initial ideas together.
7.7 I am pleased to report that our offer of discount rooms for GFTU affiliates during the TUC
has been welcomed and as of the date of writing this report some 30 GFTU colleagues will be in
the same hotel.
7.8 Thanks to the Musicians Union for their support and to TC branding and our operations
manager Ian we intend to have another successful social evening and stall at the TUC.
7.9 During discussions on this year’s TUC the operations manager suggested we give
consideration to a bigger collective presents at perhaps the Labour Party and the TUC in 2018 to
prefigure our 2019 celebration. The idea of a collective’s band celebrating the work of all of our
partners is one we intend to work on.
7.10
A number of grant requests have been received by the educational trust. These have
been considered and grants have been made to Matt Wynne, Staffordshire Trade Union Council,
the radical book fair awards and others.
7.11
The GFTRU has affiliated to Hazards, Justice for Colombia, Venezuela Solidarity
campaign, the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom, the Institute of Employment Rights, Cuba
Solidarity, Trade Union Friends of Vietnam, Trade Union Friends of Bolivia, LRD, the International
Centre for Trade Union Rights.
7.12
There can now be real progress on our work on an exchange with the Vietnamese
General Confederation of Labour. In 2017 they will visit bringing a group of translators, courtesy
of Vietnam airlines and the embassy in Britain, who will learn the key concepts and language of
British health and safety at work legislation, campaigning and workplace implementation.
Following this an opportunity will be created for British health and safety trade union
representatives to visit Vietnam to assist training of their trade union trainers. I have asked the
new education officer who has long-standing connections with Vietnam to oversee this work. I
will provide an input on language issues on the first day of the exchange.