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The importance of trades councils
Trades union councils promote working-class solidarity in local communities. STEVE GILLAN explains why all trade unions should be affiliating at local level and playing an active part promoting at national and regional levels throughout Britain and Northern Ireland
POA general secretary Steve Gillan chairs the trades union council joint consultative committee
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TRADES councils are the local trade union movement. They can be called upon by any trade union branch to show strike or other dispute solidarity, which could be via a picket line, media publicity or a financial appeal.
National trade unions can promote their priority issues more effectively when local trades councils assist with publicity, leaflet distribution, recruitment and speakers at meetings.
When trades councils respond to strong feeling in working-class communities, they can report this to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) at regional and national levels.
Trades councils at county and regional levels
Trades councils can combine within one or more local government areas to form a delegate-based county association (CA), which meets to co-ordinate campaign and solidarity work across that wider area.
Trades councils can also send delegates to regional TUC meetings and conferences, either directly or via their CA, and may have seats on the executive committee of regional TUCs.
Trades councils at national level
There are about 150 trades councils in England and Wales and about 25 county associations.
These are represented nationally by the TUC joint consultative committee (TUCJCC), which has nine elected trades council delegates and meets with members of the TUC general council six times a year.
I am currently the nominated person from the general council that chairs the TUCJCC. There are also trades councils in Scotland and Ireland that have links with the TUC and their own national TUCs.
Trades councils conference
This is held annually and consists of delegates from local trades councils and county associations.
Conference discusses a report from the TUCJCC, motions relevant to the movement, current campaigns and new programme of work ideas via conference workshops.
Conference selects a single motion for the TUC annual Congress and elects a delegate to move that motion.
I have had the pleasure over the last five years of chairing the TUCJCC annual conference and the level of debate and motions are excellent and varied from International topics to topics occurring at home.
What is a trades union council?
Trades union councils are local groups of trade unionists. They are elected from trade union branches whose members live and/or work in the area.
Trades union councils are often referred to as trades councils (TCs). TCs promote effective solidarity in disputes, joint campaigns on issues such as health, education, welfare and transport and indeed the criminal justice system and in general, provide the vital link between the workplace and the wider working-class community.
Trade union branches affiliate to their local TC on the basis of a small annual fee per member, which is usually between 10p and 25p.
In turn, TCs support and can themselves affiliate to local and national union campaigns for social justice.
What do trades councils do?
TCs activities are guided by an annual programme of work, determined by their annual conference.
This can include campaigns to defend the NHS, criminal justice system, to promote public education, transport, the welfare state, and to support benefit claimants, women, black, ethnic minority, gay, lesbian and transgender people, young people and people with disabilities.
Affiliation to trades councils
Being active and affiliating to your local trades council is vital as it spreads messages to communities and to other trade unions about issues affecting different unions locally and nationally so that active campaigns of resistance can take place.
The Prison Officers Association has a policy that all our branches should be affiliated to their local trades council.
Some of our branches are active but like other trade unions it could be a lot better and we must strive to make it better and more active throughout the trade union movement.
There is still much work to be done and my message is very simple: all trade unions should make an effort to ensure all TUC affiliates are playing a role and affiliating to their local trades councils as they are an integral part of the movement.
Steve Gillan is general secretary of prison officers’ union POA.
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