LGBT Conference
Mercure Hotel – Leicester
09 November 2016
Matt Bellamy (Eastern No5 Branch) – LGBT Officer – Delegate Report
Introduction
LGBT Conference is held annually in different locations around the country, this year it was held in Leicester. It forms part of the 4 equality conferences the others being, Black Worker’s, Women and Disability.
Below is a full report of the day including the speakers present.
Kate Stuart – Chairperson’s Opening Remarks
Kate officially opened conference and welcomed us to Leicester. She also announced that as of close of conference she would be stepping down from the committee for personal reasons. I wish her all the very best for the future.
Linda Roy – Equality Officer
Linda announced that this year’s LGBT Conference was the biggest yet with around 160 delegates and observers from across the CWU. She warned us about the dangers of Brexit with regards to hate crimes in the LGBT community and reported that hate crimes have risen 147% since June!
She also warned us about UKIP and their constant attempt to derail LGBT rights, stating that they have opposed most subjects that have been presented to them
Dave Ward – General Secretary
Spoke about the shock of the US Election, with Donald Trump now being President Elect. Dave also spoke of his disappointment that Brexit still seems to be widely debated across all parties even though the result came out months ago, he reminded everyone that we must fight to retain our worker’s rights and laws following Brexit as staying in the past will not help nor change the outcome. In closing Dave suggested that if the CWU was to provide a pride float then he will make sure he is on it!
Kate Hudson – Regional Secretary
Gave a warm welcome to Leicester and talked us through a few previous recognisable celebrities in the LGBT community that lived-in Leicester.
Motions
Motions are debated and instruct the LGBT Advisory Committee what the members would like to see. I’m not going to list all the motions as they are over several pages but will list what the outcome of each one was. If you would like the list, please let me know. The motions highlighted in yellow were selected for General Conference. The motion in blue was the motion from our branch.
Motion Branch LGBTAC Outcome
1 Plymouth & East Cornwall Support Carried
2 Birmingham, Black Country and Worcester Support Fell/No Mover
3 York and District Amal Remit/Oppose Withdrawn
4 LGBTAC – Carried
5 LGBTAC – Carried
Motion Branch LGBTAC Outcome
6 LGBTAC – Carried
7 Gloucestershire Amal Support Carried
South West Regional Equality Committee
8 Eastern No.5 Remit/Oppose Carried
9 London Regional Equality Committee Support Carried
10 London South West Postal Support Carried
11 North West Regional Committee Support Carried
12 Nottingham and District Amal Support Carried
13 South East Wales Amal Support Carried
14 Greater London Combines Support Carried
15 Portsmouth and District Support Carried
16 Greater Mersey and SW Lancs Support Carried
17 Mount Pleasant International Support Carried
18 Great Western Support Ref/Opposed
19 Wolverhampton and District Amal Support Not Admitted
Amanda Richards – Safety Officer – Wexford Council Ireland
Amanda was pleased to announce that Ireland recently became the 21st Country to legally allow same sex marriage and the only debate to be held via a referendum! She spoke about the ‘No’ campaigner’s and how they used a family photo in their campaign which they had taken without permission, the family in the photo released a statement saying that the No campaigners did not have permission to use their image and that they supported equal marriage.
Trish Lavelle – Head of Education
Gave a presentation on mentoring and how reps can help members and unexperienced reps through their programme. She also announced the start of a shadowing scheme which originally came from Youth Conference and that it will start in the new year.
Lee Barron – TUC – Dying to Work Campaign
This was a heart-felt presentation on the individual case of Jacci Woodcock who regretfully had terminal breast cancer. Jacci (who’s wishes were for this campaign) wanted to stay in work for as long as possible as a type of coping strategy and to keep her independence. Her turmoil soon started once her cancer treatment began when she had a home visit from HR who assessed her capability for work and how the business she worked for, proceeded down the lines of dismissal.
Her saddening message stated that there is no law in the UK to prevent this! Lee went on to say that this sort of business tactic has been seen in some employers who offer a death in service benefit.
I strongly encourage everyone to look in to the campaign and pledge their full support!!
Conclusion
Kate officially closed conference. Reflecting back on the day it had been a good and eye opening conference.
If anyone wishes to know more information or would like to contact me, you can do so by the details below.
Matt Bellamy
Youth + LGBT Officer
Eastern 5 Branch
Mattbellamy.cwu@outlook.com
