Report - Fire Brigades Union

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SECTION G — INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION hosted by East Sussex fire and rescue service with the support of their own fire authority. Of note this year, was a change in policy with London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA). London Pride is our national pride event by virtue of it occurring in the nation’s capital. Over the last decade LFEPA has hosted a pride celebration on the morning of the Pride event to which members of the FBU LGBT committee have been invited as well as members of any other fire authority attending Pride. The LFEPA Pride breakfast was traditionally a good opportunity for getting all fire service stakeholders together prior to the Pride march. LFEPA has withdrawn support for this event and the loss of this support will impact on the organising of our members attending this event. Stonewall workplace equality index 2010 The LGBT committee continues to support Stonewall and to encourage fire authorities to work with this organisation and be members of the Workplace Equality Index. In 2010 a total of 42 fire services were registered as members. Of these, four made it onto the list of Britain’s top 100 gay-friendly employers. In March 2010 Stonewall hosted its workplace conference in London. For the first time a workshop was held at the conference on the specific issue of the fire and rescue service (FRS) and this was facilitated by members of West Yorkshire FRS and East Sussex FRS. Putting the T into LGBT In the last year we are pleased to report that we have been contacted by many more members who are progressing through transition. Currently we have five members who have sought advice and support. It is encouraging that so many members are finding the courage and confidence to move forward on gender identity issues and we shall continue to work closely with those members and their employers to ensure their needs are met. G12 National LGBT committee AGM report 2010 On 17 December 2010 members of the LGBT section met at FBU head office, Kingston for their annual general meeting. The meeting was opened by the committee chair Yannick Dubois and committee secretary Pat Carberry presented the annual report on all the work the committee had been involved with over the last year. A total of 11 resolutions were submitted and debated with the following being passed: RESOLUTION 1 – TRANSGENDER MEMBERS’ AWARENESS DAY This AGM of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) members is delighted that so many members of the section who identify as transgender/transsexual or transvestite are becoming more self-assured and confident enough to confront head on the issue of ”coming out” at work. We congratulate them and wish to offer any further assistance we can to enable them to continue the process with their respective employers. It is vital that we as a union support and encourage our members in any way we can, and the LGBT section has been able to provide this support for many of our members. We therefore request that the executive council organise, in conjunction with the LGBT section, an awareness/networking day for our trans members within 12 months of conference 2011. REGION 10 RESOLUTION 2 – MEDIA PORTRAYAL OF THE LGBT COMMUNITY This national LGBT committee is frustrated at the way in which the media portrays the LGBT community. The media is a powerful tool; television, radio, newspapers and magazines have the capacity to educate, inform and challenge individuals, but they can also be damaging to the LGBT community by perpetuating homophobic attitudes. The media also plays a huge part in influencing public opinion towards our community. It is all too easy to dismiss clichéd stereotypes as inoffensive harmless fun, but stereotypes when they are the only images portrayed are harmful and can encourage victimisation of LGBT people. This LGBT AGM calls on the executive council to work with the TUC and affiliate trade unions who represent staff within the media industry to seek an initiative to begin to address the damaging and offensive way in which some of the media consistently portray LGBT people. REGION 8 RESOLUTION 3 – THE FIRE SERVICE EQUALITY STRATEGY October 2010 finally saw the Single Equality Act come into law. The act consolidated equality law under one single act and introduced a new public sector equality duty that includes sexual orientation. The equality duty will take effect from April 2011. Progress with equality and diversity in the fire and rescue service has been problematic. Many members and officials of the FBU have worked to improve our performance in this field and gradually we have witnessed positive changes. Within weeks of the general election we saw the new fire minister announce that the fire service equality strategy was scrapped. This has left the service in limbo without clear direction on what is expected in the continued promotion of equality and diversity. This AGM of LGBT members calls on the general secretary to raise this issue with the employers and fire minister to ensure that progress in equality continues and that statutory duties are monitored to ensure compliance. REGION 9 116 FBU Annual Report 2011
SECTION G — INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION RESOLUTION 4 – EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY STRATEGY FOR THE UK FIRE SERVICE The Fire Brigades Union notes the equality and diversity targets for women and BME firefighters within the national framework have supported the embedding of diversity and equality, fairness and inclusion in all that the fire and rescue service does. Although targets were not set regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) staff under the new Equality Act, as of April 2011 a new equality duty that includes sexual orientation will apply and delivery of this duty will depend on the strategy. The coalition government have stated that they are not going to monitor, or impose the strategy or targets. Without such strategy or targets many services have already questioned their need to maintain equality and diversity activities and there is evidence that some are considering ceasing such work. Conference calls on the executive council to campaign for the national framework, post 2011, to include a commitment to support the fire and rescue equality and diversity strategy 2008-2018, with FRAs being required to demonstrate that they are continuing with plans to deliver its outcomes. REGION 3 RESOLUTION 5 – LGBT SCHOOL: SUPPORTING OUR MEMBERS’ NEEDS Lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) members congratulate the officials responsible for organising the successful LGBT School in October 2010. The school was a great triumph, despite a large number of our members from London being unable to attend as a result of London Fire Brigade withdrawing trade union leave facilities, as a consequence of industrial action taking place over imposed changes to duty systems. Our members have benefited from access to an annual LGBT school for over a decade. Although the function of the school is primarily trade union education, it also provides a unique opportunity for our members to access their officials and discuss issues in a safe environment. For many members the school has been the first step in a process of “coming out” and many of our officials first active trade union involvement has been at the school. In previous years, as a result of financial hardship to the union, the LGBT School has had to be cancelled. Last year again faced with financial constraint, the school had its budget cut by 50%, the largest reduction applied to any education event. The impact of such a reduction meant the promotion of the school was reduced and student numbers greatly restricted. LGBT members call on the national officer with the remit for education and executive council to ensure that prior to future cuts in education, full consideration be given to the function of the LGBT School not only in terms of education but also support. LGBT members ask that consideration be given to the fact that we have already received the heaviest burden in requirements to make savings in education and ensure the LGBT officials tasked with planning the school are fully consulted on any efficiencies that need to be made. REGION 9 RESOLUTION 6 – OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS INTEGRATED HOUSEHOLD SURVEY LGBT members are still angry and disappointed at the refusal of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to include the question of sexual orientation in the 2011 census. The ONS offered compromise by including the question in the 2010 integrated household survey (IHS). The IHS is very different from the census; it involved a sample of nearly 450,000 being surveyed. The survey was conducted on doorsteps or over the phone and this can affect how people choose to answer questions of a very personal nature. The results of the IHS indicate that the size of the LGBT community was around 1.5%. This figure is much lower than the figure of 5-7% which has been more widely used. Many of the enemies of LGBT equality have now seized on this new figure as the definitive measure of our community’s size. LGBT members recognise the value of monitoring, however they also realise that it is a long term process in building confidence for people to feel safe answering questions relating to gender identity and sexual orientation. We call on all officials when negotiating on LGBT issues to avoid the use of the IHS statistic as a definitive and would ask that they continue to encourage employers to engage and utilise workforce monitoring. REGION 8 RESOLUTION 7 – LGBT RIGHTS IN IRAN The Fire Brigades Union applauds the decision of the Iranian government to remove the mentally ill label from transgender people and to give them legal rights. However within the country same sex acts remain punishable by death. Recent human rights campaigns have focussed on the sentencing of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani to death, by stoning. This has led to massive international pressure upon the Iranian government and so far saved her from this punishment. We fully support the action to save Sakineh, however there are other human rights issues, especially for LGB people, which are not receiving the same attention. Conference calls on the executive council to campaign for the human rights of LGB people in Iran, especially those facing the death penalty for expressing their love, and to publicise all human rights abuses wherever and whenever they occur. REGION 3 RESOLUTION 8 – IDAHO DAY This AGM of LGBT members is concerned at the lack of participation in IDAHO Day (International day against homophobia) and urges the union to do more. The international day against homophobia aims to coordinate international events to call for respect for lesbians and gay men worldwide. May 17 each year provides a focus for the whole world because homosexuality was removed from the international classification of diseases of the World Health Organisation (WHO). The TUC/LGBT committee has provided the focus in the UK over the last few years for this event for trade unionists, but it FBU Annual Report 2011 117
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The Fire Brigades Union Executive C
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