Conference season
- Tim Roache
- Oct 2, 2018
- 2 min read
September is always a busy month for events. No sooner are you back from holiday, you’re back on the road again for TUC and Labour Party conference.
This year we had the pleasure of heading to the North West twice within a few weeks. TUC Congress took place in Manchester this year and Labour in Liverpool.
Delegations to conferences are a mix of GMB staff and lay members and I have to say that we had two fantastic delegations this year. Our National President, Barbara Plant, led both delegations and we had lots of people speaking on behalf of our members on the main platform, in fringe meetings and policy seminars.
At TUC we focused on insecure work and the scandal of firms like Amazon – whose owner is the richest man in the world – failing to pay decent ways, to pay their taxes and treat their staff with respect. I was proud to move our motion calling for action to fix a broken system that benefits only shareholders and not society.
Our second motion was on energy, making sure that over 125 years of experience, representing workers on the front line of the energy industry, shape the policies of the TUC and our wider movement.
Over the course of the Congress, we had a number of amazing contributions from delegates including Barbara on Trans rights, Rehana Azam on public services and young member Josh Smith earning a standing ovation.
At Labour, Brexit had top billing. GMB announced our position to campaign for a final say on the terms of the deal earlier in the month and took that message to conference. It was an absolutely packed audience in the conference hall when I moved a motion, agreed by multiple unions and 20 constituency Labour parties. You can read a full review of conference from our Political Officer Tom Warnett here: https://www.gmbactive.org/single-post/2018/10/02/GMB-plays-central-role-at-Labour-Conference
Thank you to all the delegates who attended and made sure our members’ voices and experiences were heard.
