TUC 2020 Online next week – Monday 14th & Tuesday 15th
Union Matters September 9 2020
Wednesday 9th September 2020
Jobs, Security, Dignity and protecting workers during these challenging times will be central themes at the slimmed-down, online and much-changed TUC 2020…
Convening at a time when many Covid-19 restrictions and precautions remain in place, organisers have had to drastically alter this keynote event for the UK’s trade union movement, but have worked hard to ensure as many as possible are able to participate in what is, for this year, just a two-day Congress.
President Ged Nicholls opens proceedings on Monday morning and will introduce the first debate: Safety First – Working People on the Frontline of Coronavirus, followed by the general secretary’s address from Frances O’Grady (11am).
Frances will also formally launch the TUC’s pay campaign for key workers and lead the subsequent discussion on The Unequal Impact of Coronavirus.
Tuesday morning’s highlight will be Keir Starmer’s first TUC speech as Labour Party leader (11am), which is scheduled in between the Preventing Unemployment and Building a Better Recovery and Trade Unions at the Forefront of Tackling Racism debates, and then the truncated Congress is rounded off by a discussion on A Global Recovery for Working People.
The five set-piece debate topics can all be followed live and the CWU, along with all our fellow UK trade unions will have speakers taking part.
As always, many formal propositions have been submitted to Congress, but due to the current circumstances, these are all being dealt with ‘offline’ by the TUC General Council.
Two of these motions – M9 on Royal Mail, BT and the Post Office and M58 Campaigning for a New Deal for Workers in the Wake of Coronavirus – have been entered by the CWU, and we have also submitted amendments to propositions from the National Education Union (M16) and train drivers’ union ASLEF (M18).
But one regular feature of Congress – ‘The Fringe’ – is very much present this year, with a range of subjects covered on the two afternoons.
These include education, international trade, fighting racism, the climate change struggle, gender equality and the media and can also be followed online.
Each year, Congress delegates elect members of the General Council, which collectively carries out TUC policy over the following 12 months.
The membership size of our union entitles us to a minimum of one seat on the TUC’s executive, and as usual, this is our general secretary Dave Ward.
We also have three other CWU nominations for GC seats in specific categories, Maria Exall as the council’s LGBT representative, Jane Loftus for the category ‘Women from unions with fewer than 200,000 members’, and Connor McGann for the trade union movement’s under-27s.
Maria is the only nominee in her category, while Jane and Connor both face contests for their potential GC slots.
- Please see LTB 442/20 for further information, including details on our motions and amendments