General Council Meetings - The STUC

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There was significant involvement of Labour MSPs in the
Trade Union Week events and in following matters up
with affiliates. This is ongoing.
WESTMINSTER LABOUR
TRADE UNION GROUP
On 15 May 2007, Grahame Smith, STUC General
Secretary, attended a meeting of the Westminster Labour
Trade Union Group.
The Chair and Secretary of the Westminster Labour Trade
Union Group, Frank Doran MP, and Ann McKechin MP,
attended a meeting of the Scottish Parliament Labour
Trade Union Group with members of the STUC General
Council, on 6 February 2008. This meeting considered a
number of issues of shared concern, and agreed to
establish more regular contact. Subsequently, a joint
photocall was arranged in Glasgow in support of Andrew
Miller MP’s Private Member’s Bill ‘The Temporary and
Agency Workers (Equal Treatment) Bill’, prior to its
second reading in Westminster on 22 February 2008.
On 18 March 2008, Grahame Smith, STUC General
Secretary, along with Dave Moxham, STUC Deputy General
Secretary, and Matt Smith and Martin Keenan from the
General Council, attended a meeting of the Westminster
Labour Trade Union Group. Matters discussed included
Temporary and Agency Workers; Constitutional
Commission; concerns to resist any restrictions in the
provisions of the 1967 Abortion Act; and the STUC
Congress agenda. Members of the secretariat are also in
discussion with the office of Frank Doran MSP, with a
view to establishing regular STUC briefings and Scottish
Parliamentary news for MPs.
Katy Clark MP has lodged an Early Day Motion welcoming
Trade Union Week in the Scottish Parliament and calling
for a similar event at Westminster. EDM 1072 ‘That this
House recognises that free and independent trade unions
are a force for good in UK society and around the world;
further notes that workplaces with organised trade unions
have better pay and conditions and health and safety
protection than non-trade union workplaces; therefore
welcomes the success of the second Scottish Parliament
Trade Union Week organised with the Scottish TUC, which
was an excellent showcase for trade union values and
policies; and hopes that a similar event can be held in the
Westminster Parliament in the near future.’
WESTMINSTER GOVERNMENT
AND MINISTERS
Meetings with Government Ministers have included:
On 22 August, members of the General Council and
members of the Secretariat met with Des Browne MP,
Secretary of State for Scotland. Items discussed included:
the Energy White Paper; the Economy; Constitutional
Reform; and the Comprehensive Spending Review.
In September 2007, members of the Secretariat met with
Peter Hain MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions,
to discuss the call for a full Public Inquiry into the ICL
Stockline explosion and, later that month, members of
the Secretariat participated in a video conference with
Des Browne MP, Secretary of State for Scotland, on the
same topic.
On 8 November 2007, an STUC delegation met with
Malcolm Wicks MP, Minister of State for Energy, for a
discussion on issues raised in the Energy White Paper.
On 11 January 2008, Grahame Smith, STUC General
Secretary and Stephen Boyd, STUC Assistant Secretary
attended a Budget Seminar with Des Browne MP and
Dave Ramsden, Head of Macroeconomic Policy, HM
Treasury.
In February 2008, representatives of the STUC attended a
meeting with Harriet Harman MP, Minister for Women, in
Edinburgh. Topics discussed included: equal pay audits;
violence against women; women asylum seekers and
homelessness; and women’s representation in public and
political life. Members of the STUC Women’s Committee
were subsequently invited to attend a reception for trade
union women at 11 Downing Street, London.
SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
Regular meetings have taken place between the STUC
Secretariat and Scottish Government officials. This has
assisted with the preparation of meetings with the First
Minister and with the Cabinet Secretaries and their teams.
A member of the Secretariat attends meetings of the
Scottish Executive’s Regulation Review Group.
Grahame Smith, STUC General Secretary, has attended a
meeting with Scottish Government officials and trade
union representatives from the Public Services Forum,
has met with Sir John Elvidge, Permanent Secretary, and
with officials from the Scottish Government, to discuss the
Scottish Union Learning Fund.
POWERS OF THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT
The question of the future governance of Scotland and the
powers of the Scottish Parliament were a major area of
policy concern for the General Council. Following the
election of the new Scottish Government, the “National
Conversation” was announced, accompanied by a
consultation document.
In November 2007, the Scottish Parliament agreed the
formation of a Constitutional Commission – a joint
initiative with the Westminster Government – to
investigate the existing constitutional arrangement and
consider proposals for new powers for the Scottish
Parliament. At the time of writing, details are still awaited
on the format and membership of the Commission. The
General Council is assured that the Commission will
include trade union representation.
Congress 2007 agreed that the General Council should
undertake consultation with affiliates on the potential for
the devolution of additional powers to the Scottish
Parliament. The detail of this wide-ranging consultation
SCOTTISH TRADES UNION CONGRESS