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Sub-committee: equality

Members:

  • Members will be decided at the Regional Committee meeting on Friday 2 September 2011

Latest reports

From the Annual Report, December 2010

LGBT Update

Norwich LGBT Pride would once again like to thank the PCS region for their donation towards the 2010 event on 31 July in Norwich. It was larger than the first Norwich Pride in 2009 with around 5000 people attending with a large parade through the centre of Norwich. There was better trade union representation and media coverage and next year’s event is planned for Saturday 30 July 2011.

Julie Bremner

Associate and Retired Members (ARMs)

The Executive committee met times during the year in addition tothe AGM. Meetings were well attended and discussions range from issues that affect us as retired members together with the major issues that affect facing PCS and its members.

The committee continues to support and participate in all PCS activities, in particular we continue to support PCS members whose jobs and conditions are under threat.

Our Representatives continue to play an active role on the National Pensioners Convention (NPC ), Eastern Region, with one or two of our members on the NPC Regional committee. Since its inception we have been represented on the PCS Eastern Disability Equality Network.
The ARMs Region continues to be represented on the South East Region TUC.

Our AGM will be on Thursday 3 March 2011 in Norwich.

Report from Vince Fitzgibbon, ARMs Regional Secretary

Eastern Disability Equality Network (EDEN)

October saw the first EDEN AGM which was well attended and at which Darrell Binding, Howard Crosse and Carole Griffiths stood down as convenors and Mark Lancaster, Vipin Dattani and Jo Baxter were appointed. Sue Bond was the guest speaker who talked about the Comprehensive Spending Review and its potential effect on public services, such as Disability Living Allowance cutbacks, means testing and Incapacity Benefits which would mean less support and harsher penalties for disabled people.

The three new convenors have set their first convenors meeting for 26 November. Amongst the many things that will be discussed will be UK Disability History Month, possible EDEN Events and whether an update on training and reasonable adjustments is required in light of the Equality Bill which came into force from October 2010. We are also looking at the impact of the cuts to the public services on disabled people.

Another of the topics that will be discussed will be the forthcoming conjoined EDEN and BAME meeting on the 16th December, and how to forge greater links with the all the other equality groups such as LGBT, Women and Young Members Networks. Such links should in themselves promote EDEN and the disability agenda, and it is hoped increase the circulation of the EDEN newsletter and encourage wider contributions.
One of the by-products of greater distribution is hoped to be the ability to have a contact point for each of the departments, thereby allowing EDEN Events in a workshop format to be held in the locality for groups of disabled members, managers and activists progressing the Network further still.

The convenors will continue to move EDEN forward through promoting the Social Model of Disability, attending PCS National Disability Seminars and Forums, Regional Reps meetings, SERTUC events and training and by any other means, such as the new Facebook page, with the aim of highlighting the Network’s existence and raise awareness.

The new convenors would like to thank the Eastern Region Officers and Committee for their continuing help and support which is much appreciated and they, alongside the previous convenors, must share the praise EDEN has received for being the most developed PCS Regional Disability Network nationally.

Jo Baxter

Young Members

In current reports that I have received from HQ, I currently have 38 young members in the network. However there is a potential of 780 members to join. I have two area convenors, Essex and Cambridgeshire but I still need area convenors for Norfolk, Suffolk, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

We are very much involved in the TUC campaign for Young Workers and there is an Event being held in Manchester which is called: A future that works: a TUC National Rally for Young People.

This will be held at Manchester Town Hall on Saturday January 29 2011 from 10.30am to 2.30pm. The aim of the rally will be to highlight the impact of the recession and the coalition cuts on young workers and young people in general.

Speakers will include representatives from unions and the TUC, the NUS and other partner organisations. There will also be at least two speakers from union Young Members sections.

If this is definitely going ahead, I would appreciate some support in getting some of our guys up there for the rally.

I am disappointed that I have not heard much from anyone else who is interested in joining the YMN. If you do know of anyone that wishes to join the network, please could you let me know, and I will pass on the details to Tracy Edwards.

All support that is offered is very much appreciated, and support for everyone is much needed in this time of the coalition government.
Overall the region has made some progress, however more needs to be done. Recruitment is always priority, we need to make sure that majority of the workforce joins the union. We need to make sure all the Young Members join the network. We are the future of the union; young members are now becoming more vocal, now is the time to get them more involved. With the attacks from the Government with the cuts, it is now the time, more than ever, to get the young people involved.

Peter Cotton

Useful links

PCS Equality homepage