NLC Update (31/0715)

What would you say is the 'core business' of a pub?

Selling beer to its customers would be at the top end of my list because that's what pubs are all about and a pub without beer doesn't make any sense.

So what about the core business of trade unions?

Negotiating and campaigning on over pay is a bread and butter issue for any union, both locally and nationally, and a key part of that process is holding regular meetings with the rank and file union members.

Now that's the lifeblood of trade unionism, if you ask me: reporting back to members' meetings and asking for their continued support over a campaigning issue or an industrial dispute, for example.     

For certain that was the case during my time as a full-time official with NUPE and latterly in my role as Unison's head of Local Government and chief negotiator in Scotland.

So it comes as a real surprise that the GMB union is reluctant to hold meetings with union members to discuss the handling of their equal pay claims against North Lanarkshire Council.

Members' meetings can be fraught and difficult sometimes, but that's why full-time officials are paid handsome salaries from the union contributions of their members - and it's no less than the members deserve and expect. 

Up until now the only sign of action from the GMB was a series of roadshows over two days in North Lanarkshire which none of the union's senior officials attended, apparently.

I'm told that GMB members had an individual 'consultation' with the union's legal adviser, but were not all brought together at the same time for a proper question and answer session.

Which is a farce in my book because trade unions are 'collective' organisations and the job of union representatives is to report back to the members collectively so that they can hold their leaders to account.

So in the absence of any proper leadership from the GMB maybe it's time that I held a meeting for North Lanarkshire Council workers who are concerned about the way in which their equal pay claims have been handled.

If people locally can identify a suitable venue, a community building or church hall for example, then I'm happy to come along and have the kind of discussion that the GMB should have been having with its members in North Lanarkshire weeks and months ago.

If readers are interested in organising such a meeting, then drop me a note and start looking for possible dates after the school holidays.