CWU NI REGION ATTENDS 2018 ICTU (NIC) BIENNIAL DELEGATE CONFERENCE
April 20 2018The Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (NIC-ICTU) hosted its Biennial Delegate Conference (BDC) in the City Hotel in L’Derry. The conference, held on 11th and 12th April, was attended by 250 delegates from the 24 trade unions and ten Trades Councils affiliated to the ICTU in Northern Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Committee (NIC) of the ICTU is the representative body for 24 trade unions with over 200,000 members across Northern Ireland. In membership terms, it is the largest civil society organisation in Northern Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Region of the CWU was represented at the two day conference by outgoing Congress Executive member, and former NI Regional Secretary, Lawrence C. Huston, together with current Regional Secretary David Kennedy and a delegation drawn from the branches in the Region. With reference to the union’s proportionality agenda, it is worth noting that there were more women than men on our delegation!
The conference debated 38 motions covering a comprehensive agenda of issues relevant to all workers and their families in Northern Ireland. The conference had as a common thread, its Better Work Better Lives Campaign (https://www.betterworkbetterlives.org/ ), which promotes decent work, fair pay and real investment for all workers across Northern Ireland.
See copy of full Conference Report and agenda attached:
Our motion, number 2 on the Agenda (copied in report) in support of the Congress Executive promotion of the “Better Work, Better Lives” campaign received unanimous support from Conference.
In moving the motion, David Kennedy, Regional Secretary (NI) said the CWU would fully support the “BWBL” goals as they were in line with what the wider trade union needed to work towards, before the next general election. He added that he would be leading a delegation to London on Saturday, the 12th of May to the TUC march and rally and urged the affiliates of Congress to fully support this historic gathering of working people.
During the course of the two days, the conference was addressed by senior trade union figures, including leading representatives from the TUC, STUC and WTUC.
Patricia King, General Secretary of the ICTU, told the conference that “This movement supports the return of devolved power to the NI Assembly and Executive. We campaigned for that during the last period of suspension which ended with the St Andrew’s Agreement a dozen years ago, on the grounds that the interest of working people were better served by locally accountable politicians.”
“Democracy, accountability, human rights protections, pledges of equality, devolved powers over the economy, the health services, the education system and employment laws – those were the values we championed and the potential in the Good Friday Agreement which we supported. We want to see that spirit of ‘98 regained and we want to see the Agreement implemented in full.”
Speaking at the conference, ICTU Assistant General Secretary (NI) Owen Reidy said the unions should celebrate their successes, such as the UCU members who went on strike to protect their pensions and the Bombardier shop stewards from UNITE and GMB “who faced a daunting task in challenging the crazy prospect of facing a 300% tariff on their work. They took their campaign across NI, the UK and internationally. They argued with reason, they stood up for their workforce and they won!”
The biennial delegate conference, which sets common policy goals for Northern Ireland’s trade union movement for the next two years, debated and voted upon motions on topics including:
- Brexit
- The political impasse at Stormont
- Defending the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement
- Harassment in the workplace and other equality matters
- Developing an industrial strategy
- Celebrating the NHS on its 70th anniversary
- Gaining real terms pay rises for working families
- The policy priorities of the Better Work Better Lives Campaign
Mr Reidy added: “The trade union movement is unified in its determination to achieve decent wages for quality jobs, promote real investment in public services and gain support for these objectives through a forum on Social Dialogue. Such a collaborative approach is common and successful across most European countries, and has been an effective part of devolved governance in Wales – there is no reason why it could not be a useful means of developing policy in Northern Ireland, regardless of whether Stormont is functioning as fully as we would all like to see.”
In making reference to the work of the Northern Ireland Committee of Congress, Mr Reidy said he was greatly heartened by the swell of support for the “BWBL” campaign. He said this should only be the beginning of what we can achieve for working people in the North.
NIC Executive member, and past CWU NI Regional Secretary, Lawrence C. Huston, in his last speech to Congress, paid tribute to the A/General Secretary, Owen Reidy, his predecessor Peter Bunting and the Congress Secretariat for their unwavering support to the CWU over the 15 years he had served on the Committee. He said the CWU, a small union in membership terms across Northern Ireland, was wholly dependent on the support of the affiliates of Congress. Lawrence wished Congress strength and solidarity in their struggles and in closing, reminded them that “There is a better way”
Note: The CWU will continue to be represented on the Northern Ireland Committee of the ICTU as our NI Regional Secretary has been elected for the next two year term unopposed.
Lawrence C.Huston
ICTU NIC Executive.
April 2018.