Whilst paid union officers are well catered for in respect of development programmes in relation to both organising and wider subject areas – via the TUC’s Union Professional Development programme, the TUC Organising Academy and of course Leading Change – there is currently no single distinct programme available for senior lay reps that  covers  matters related to development of innovative organising and recruitment strategies, use of resources, campaigning and work with unions in the  EU and globally.  The Lay Leadership Development Programme is designed to fill this gap.

Module dates and themes for the inaugural programme are;

• Module 1: Challenges, Strategy and Resources – January 20 & 21, 2011
• Module 2: Effective Organising & Campaigning – March 24 & 25
• Module 3:  Global Organising – May 5 & 6

Nominations from unions and supported applications from appropriate senior lay representatives are welcomed.  Additional details about the programme are available from Carl Roper, TUC National Organiser at croper@tuc.org.uk

• Help unions to engage difficult to organise segments of the workforce, particularly through the learning agenda
• Enhance the capacity of unions to achieve their core objectives, most notably around service delivery
• Project positive images of trade unionism in various ways, and

The report also identifies the factors that need to be present if union community engagement strategies are to be successful.  These include:

• Trust and flexibility – on the part of both unions and community organisations
• Leadership – in providing direction to community-based strategies
• Involvement of union reps and activists – whose own networks can serve to create new community links and expand existing ones

The report argues that the time is ripe for greater community engagement by British trade unions given that on the one hand, the Big Society agenda may allow unions to promote their unique position between the community and the labour market and on the other, community-based strategies will be crucial to the success of campaigns against imminent public sector cuts, determining whether unions can successfully win the hearts and minds of the broader public.

If you would like a copy of the full report, please send me an email at croper@tuc.org.uk

Much worse will come in October’s spending review.

Ministers tell us that there is no alternative. But the cuts won’t just hit vital services, they threaten economic recovery.

Coalition policies are not just about reducing the deficit, but undermining publicly accountable quality services.

Join unions, the TUC, teachers, pupils, parents and public sector workers in a lobby of delegates to the Lib Dem annual conference.

• Tell them just how unpopular and damaging the cuts will be.

• Explain the alternative of a fair tax system

Sunday 19 September

The Lib Dem Conference is being held at the Liverpool Arena and Convention centre.

Assemble from 12 noon to lobby delegates. Stewards will be available to direct you to the assembly point.

This event is being organised by the North West TUC.  For more information contact Alan Manning at amanning@tuc.org.uk – 0151 236 5432 – http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-18392-f0.cfm

Almost 30 years ago an incredible story of community activism began to unfold on the outskirts of Liverpool, the effects of which still continue to shape the lives of the local community there today.

 The area was Croxteth, a large council estate built in the 1950’s as part of the post war slum clearance programme in Liverpool.  A mixture of bad planning, manufacturing decline and lack of local amenities meant that by the early 1980’s the area had a number of severe social and economic problems. A shocking report in the early 1980’s stated that 81% of Croxteth residents survived on state benefits and youth unemployment was 95%. Nervous breakdowns, family break ups and attempted suicides were common. Housing conditions were unsanitary and the estate had a growing heroin problem.

When the Liberal controlled local authority declared in 1980 that the local school – Croxteth Comprehensive was to close the local community decided enough was enough. The school and the youth club attached to it were the only amenities the community had and they weren’t going to let it go without a fight. Within days of the shock announcement 650 parents met at the school and formed an action committee to campaign against the closure. A year and half of lobbying, letter writing, public meetings and media stunts ensued but all to no avail. By the summer of 1982 the school was due to close. After one final unsuccessful push when members of the committee met with the then Secretary of Education, Keith Joseph, the action committee members were returning home deflated when a monumental collective decision was taken to occupy the school.

Volunteers throughout the community rallied round. People slept in the school, drew up picket lines and refused the local authority access to the building. During the summer the volunteers set up a summer scheme and come September a decision was taken to run the school just as before. Up to 40 volunteer teachers were involved in the education of the children alongside dozens of local people who also took classes, raised funds, provided lunches for the children, worked in the office, slept in the school, cleaned the building daily, provided caretaking duties and continued to run the campaign and lobby local councillors.  All in all the achievements of local people was immense and the school continued to run right throughout the academic year of 1982/83. By the time the local election came round in May the committee had secured a deal that the school would go back under the control of the local authority if Labour won the election. Labour won with a landslide victory and the local community were victorious in saving their school.

The story however doesn’t end there. It wasn’t simply a case of taking back the school as it had been officially closed by central government and so there were all sorts of legal issues. The school thus ran as an independent until 1985 and the local volunteers continued in the running of the new Croxteth Community Comprehensive. The original action committee also became involved in all sorts of other community initiatives and today are known as the Alt Valley Community Trust who run a number of facilities in the area from training companies through to the local farm, a skills centre, a catering company and much more besides. For more info see www.communiversity.co.uk/

 In collaboration with National Museums Liverpool, the Trust has recently held an exhibition on the project including many photographs taken at the time. If you would like any more information on this incredible story please get in touch.

christine.gibbons@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

0151 478 4051

The Final Agenda is slightly confusingly titled though, in that it’s not totally final, and it’s not strictly the agenda. Hold on and I’ll explain the semantics here (those of a less nerdy bent may choose to stop reading now…)

In terms of being the agenda for business, Congress actually follows a running order which isn’t necessarily the same order at the Final Agenda (though which obviously does fit it all in), based also around the General Council’s Report to Congress. So don’t expect chapter 1 to start on Monday.

And in terms of finality, there are still a few more hurdles to get through.

Some unions will choose to accept the amendments other unions have offered to their motions. Often the amendments are clarifications from other unions’ experience, which aren’t contentious, and other times, an amendment might be helpful to the intention of the motion in other ways. If the amendments are accepted, the motion will be debated as though including the amendment. If the amendments aren’t accepted, they’ll be debated separately for inclusion.

And then there’s compositing. As unions submit motions independently, there are often several around the same or similar issue. Unions and TUC staff get together over the coming weeks to see if there’s scope for merging some motions and amendments together into composited motions (hereafter referred to as ‘composites’), that reflect as many of the points as possible from the original motions. So some of the motions you see in the Final Agenda won’t be debated in exactly that wording, and the final wording doesn’t appear until the last minute.

And of course, this is all happening over a fairly long time-frame, and circumstances are changing all the time. A number of unions will likely seek to add emergency motions to Congress, where the issue is too immediate to have been entered into the motions in the normal way. These can pop up at any moment. They’re discussed by Congress’ General Purposes Committee every morning of Congress, and those that are let through are publicised and allocated a slot in the running order. There’s generally only a few of these.

I think that’s hopefully satisfied any of the pedants out there. The Final Agenda is a final agenda in that it’s what’s actually going to be discussed in Manchester in a few weeks’ time. A bit like the Final Destination movie franchise though, its literal finality is possibly slightly overstated.

Trade unionists in Swaziland, a Commonwealth country in Southern Africa with the world’s highest rate of HIV/AIDS and the longest state of emergency in Africa. Poverty and feudalism (the country is run by the King) are sustained by a dictatorship where unions are heavily restricted and activists are harassed, arrested and worse. Now, the Government wants to stop trade unionism from existing in the public services.

In response, the TUC and ACTSA are organising activities on Tuesday 7 September as part of Swaziland Democracy Day, which unions around the world will be marking. The aim is to mobilise support for democracy, good governance and respect for human rights in Swaziland, and oppose the Public Services Bill.

I joined members of my union, the National Union of Journalists, at a demonstration today as NUJ member Charles Atangana faced the latest chapter in his fight to stay in the UK. Around 30 of us gathered outside his bail hearing in central London to support Charles, who faces deportation back to Cameroon where his life would be in serious danger.

NUJ General Secretary, Jeremy Dear, told us of the beatings and torture Charles faced when imprisoned in Cameroon. He also spoke about how he has been detained once again in the UK as his request for asylum was turned down. Jeremy described how Charles’ case is gaining more and more public support. He read out messages of support from Brendan Barber, John McDonnell MP and PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka, as well as a message from Charles himself, who could not attend his own hearing as he remains in detention in Dover Immigration Removal Centre.

I spoke briefly about how hundreds of journalists are killed year on year and thousands more are attacked or imprisoned.

Governments, political groups and criminal gangs, not just in Cameroon, but also in Gambia, Colombia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Russia and elsewhere believe they can just kill journalists and get away with it. And they’re right. The many fine words from the UN and governments have not translated into any real action to protect journalists.

Strange as it sounds in his current condition, Charles is in fact one of the lucky ones – he escaped, at least for now. He thought he was coming to a country where freedom of expression and the media were protected.

Charles has continued to write about Cameroon while in the UK, he has received death threats as a result. As Jeremy Dear pointed out, when the NUJ described their success in delaying his deportation as a “stay of execution”, they didn’t realise quite how accurate that was.

The competition has officially closed, and we now need your help to choose the shortlist.

 To help us to draw up our shortlist, we would like you to vote for your favourite ads, using our five-star online voting system. To vote visit the site, watch the ads and rate them according to your preference. You can only vote once for each ad, so rate carefully. Have fun! Online voting will close on Friday 20^th August 2010. The shortlist will be presented to our panel of judges on the 26^th August 2010 and the winner will be announced soon after. http://www.tuc60seconds.org.uk/

***The winning adverts will be seen at a special screening of ‘Made in Dagenham’ on the evening of the 8^th September 2010, so for hopefuls please make sure that you book space in your diaries