A Christmas message to you from me.

This has been an amazing year for me.

I was elected on to the USDAW Divisional Council and I have enjoyed being part of the Divisional Council for the last 7 Months.

I'm looking forward to 2016 and continuing the hard work with the rest of my Divisional Council Colleagues..

I would like to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a Happy New Year.

Divisional Council Meeting Number Seven

Wednesday 2nd December I attended my seventh Divisional Council meeting at the USDAW Redditch office. 

Apologies were received from:

Gareth Davies

Minutes from the previous DC meeting

We then read the minutes from the previous DC meeting. These were accepted. 

Minutes of the recent EC meeting

We received the EC Minutes from Andrea.

Minutes from other Divisional Councils

We took a look at the minutes from other Divisional Councils. These were accepted. 

Central office circulars and press releases

We looked through a selection of circulars from central office and a selection of press releases. These were accepted. 

Federation reports

East Midlands

No report 

West Midlands

No report

Divisional officers report
We received the Deputy Divisional officers report from Gavin Dadley.

Membership total  - 441,614 nationally and 57,451 divisional. 

We received the Divisional officers report from Gavin Dadley.

(1) Divisional Conference Saturday 21st November - Sunday 22nd October - Hilton Hotel Bromsgrove.

The charity collection raised a total of £285 split between The Salvation Army and MENCAP both receiving £142.50.

(2) Thanks were given to everyone involved in the Divisional Conference. The roving Microphone will be used again. The DISCO dancing competition will carry on. 

The Divisional officers report was read and all points noted/endorsed.

TUC Young Workers Conference 

There is one nominee and one reserve required for this conference.

We looked at the Nominees we had for the USDAW Young Workers Conference and voted on who we wanted to go. The nominee will be contacted.

TUC Black Workers Conference 

There is one nominee and one reserve required for this conference.

We looked at the Nominees we had for the USDAW Black Workers Conference and voted on who we wanted to go. The nominee will be contacted.

Divisional Political Committee 

The Divisional Political Committee needs to be reformed so all seats were up for election.

Some seats were already assigned without election due to there being no other nominee.

We looked through the seats and voted on who is to be on the political committee.

Road Transport Committee 

There were two nominations received for one seat on the committee. 

We looked at the two nominees paperwork and then a vote was taken.

The member who was voted onto the committee will be contacted shortly.

Any other Business

we then moved on to any other business.

There was a question about using more retired members for stand down recruitment. 

This will be answered at the next meeting.

The meeting was then closed. 

Preparation for the final Divisional Council meeting of 2015

I await the last USDAW Divisional Council meeting of 2015 on Wednesday 2nd December.

The Divisional Council need to select a delegate and a reserve for the TUC Black Workers Conference 2016. There are 5 nominations for this Conference.

We also need to select one delegate and one reserve for the TUC Young Workers Conference 2016. there are 79 people that we can consider so this will be a hard choice with so many candidates.

The Divisional council also needs to select members for the newly reformed divisional political committee.
there are thirteen nominations.
I'm not sure how many people we need to choose as this is not clear in the paperwork.
I have drawn up a list in order of preference which includes all thirteen nominations.

I will post a report after the Divisional Council Meeting.

USDAW Midlands Divisional Conference 21/11/2015 - 22/11/2015

On Saturday 21/11/2015 and sunday 22/11/2015 I attended the USDAW Midlands Divisional Conference at the Hilton Hotel Bromsgrove.

This was my first USDAW Divisional Conference as a member of the Divisional Council.

The conference went very well and the subjects we covered were very well received by all of the delegates.

Presentations were made to the Academy Organising officers and a few of the USDAW Organising awards Midlands Divisional winners were present.

It was good to see so many old friends and to make some new ones.

There was plenty of entertainment in the evening with lots of jokes and plenty of odd dancing on the dance floor.

There was a collection held which is to be split between MENCAP and the Salvation Army. The total figure wasn't know at the end of conference as the collection was still being counted up. Once the total figure is known I will update this post.

USDAW Midlands Divisional Conference paperwork

The paperwork for the USDAW Midlands Divisional Conference has arrived. 

The conference will be taking place on Saturday 21st November and Sunday 22nd November in Bromsgrove. 

The conference will cover " looking ahead to 2016 and USDAW's 125th anniversary year ".

There will also be two guest speakers - Zoey Purdy from men cap and lee Barron who is the Midlands regional secretary for the TUC. 

There will be two workshops run by our training officer Warren Scott. 

We will also be holding a presentstion for all the students who took part in the 2015 USDAW organising academy program. 

USDAW organising awards 2015.

The USDAW Midlands organising award winners have now been contacted and the winners names have been published.

I can now announce the winners for each category. 

Individual organising award - Claire Poole. 

Individual recruitment award - Joshua Halliwell. 

Team recruitment and organising award - Shaun Horton and Mark Hurn. 

Campaigns award - Nicola Hitch. 

Health and safety rep award - Linda Gray. 

Union learning rep award - Claire Poole. 

Equalities award - Paul White. 

Most promising new activist award - Julie Haycroft. 

Outstanding achievement award - Leslie Roulstone. 

I'm most excited about the outstanding achievement award, as I nominated Leslie Roulstone from my branch due to all the hard work he does keeping all the branch upto date with meetings, letters, news, union elections, conferences, courses, rule changes and sending this to us as soon as it arrives on his doorstep. Leslie has been retired for over 10 years but is still a very important member of our branch and committee. 

This award nomination was to show him how much we all appreciate his hard work. 

Congratulations Leslie and I hope you have a great night at the awards ceremony with your wife. 

I will post an update after the conference with a report on how the conference went. 

Divisional Council Meeting number six

Wednesday 28th October I attended my sixth Divisional Council meeting at the USDAW Redditch office. 

Apologies were received from:

Gareth Davies - Holiday
Jenny Chiltern

Kate MacLeod

Minutes from the previous DC meeting

We then read the minutes from the previous DC meeting. These were accepted. 

Minutes of the recent EC meeting

We received the EC Minutes from Maureen.

There is a proposed membership contribution increase for membership scales A and C.
As in previous years this will be debated and voted on at ADM.

Minutes from other Divisional Councils

We took a look at the minutes from other Divisional Councils. These were accepted. 

Central office circulars and press releases

We looked through a selection of circulars from central office and a selection of press releases. These were accepted. 

Federation reports

East Midlands

Thanks given to Alex Fraser and the office staff at Kegworth for organising and planning the event.
The federation school concentrated of pensions. The subject was well received by all in attendance.

There was a collection and food was brought and donated by the attendees. The food was given to a local food bank and the money went to the wounded soldiers benevolent fund.

West Midlands

Thanks given to the office staff at Redditch for planning and organising the federation school.

The subject was - Trade Union bill - redundancies and changes to contracts.

All attendees enjoyed the subject.

Divisional officers report
We received the Deputy Divisional officers report from Gavin Dadley.

Membership total  - 443,934 nationally and 57,802 divisional. 

Stand down - 169 reps since 1/1/2015

Who have signed up 1,841 new members. 

We received the Divisional officers report from Gavin Dadley.

(1) 9th - 13th November - Respect for shop workers week.

(2) Divisional Conference Saturday 21st November - Sunday 22nd October - Hilton Hotel Bromsgrove.

A guest speaker has been invited to attend. There will be a work shop on the Chain Makers Festival. There will be presentations to the 2015 Academy members.

The Divisional officers report was read and all points noted/endorsed.

Midlands Regional TUC 

There are four seats available on the TUC's regional committee in the Midlands.

Members of the Divisional council were asked to consider if they would like to take up one of the seats. 

We discussed this and nominees came forward and after a vote the following was agreed.

Gavin Dadley will take seat number 1 as our Divisional officer.

Ann Lloyd will take seat number 2.

Claire Thomas will take seat number 3.

Kate MacLeod will take seat number 4.

Ann Lloyd will be put forward for the womans reserved executive seat which is voted on by the whole of the regional TUC committee.

Simon Willmott will be a reserve should any of the above members not be able to attend a meeting.

USDAW Organising awards 2015

After several weeks of the Divisional Council members reading through the 108 USDAW Organising Awards nominations forms and many hours of re reading some of the forms - the time has come to vote for the person/team who we all think deserves to be the Midlands regional winners for each category.

We needed to pick one person/team for each of the 9 categories.

We all filled out our winners list and handed them into Gavin Dadley, Maureen Bowen and Andrea Watts who went to count up the votes and to see if there were any outright winners.

In a first for the Midlands one person had been selected to win two separate awards.

In another first for the Midlands in the Team Recruitment and Organising Award there were 9 teams selected, as each Divisional Councillor had voted for a different team. 

We then had a second round of voting which left us with three teams with the same number of votes.

We then had a third round of voting and an outright winner was selected.

All USDAW Organising Awards Regional winners have been contacted.

I have not named any of the winners in this report but I will do once the Divisional Conference has been held and the winners have been made public.

I have been lucky enough to be a regional award winner and the experience of the awards presentation is amazing so I send my congratulations to every category winner and I wish you all the best of luck and again well done to everyone who was nominated.

Any other Business

we then moved on to any other business.

I handed out a written report from the USDAW National Pensions conference.

A proposition has been sent into the Midlands Division for inclusion at the Divisional Conference. This was read, Discussed and agreed it would be included at the conference.

The meeting was then closed. 

Preparation for the next USDAW Midlands Divisional Council meeting. 29/10/2015

I have been reading through lots of paperwork for the next meeting.

I have had to read through 108 USDAW Organising Awards nominations forms.
I need to pick one person for each of the 9 categories who I think deserve the awards.

This is the hardest part of being an USDAW Divisional Councillor, as I know that each person who has been nominated has done an amazing job representing USDAW and their members.
It makes it hard to decide when there are so many people who have done very similar things during the year.

I have decided on who I will be voting for in three of the categories. The other six I have drawn up a short list and I will look at these over the next two days before the Midlands Divisional Council meeting on Wednesday 28th October 2015.

I'm pleased to say that every single person who has been nominated will receive a framed certificate in recognition for there nomination.

The 9 winners of the Midlands Divisional awards will be invited to attend the USDAW National awards Presentation night in Manchester in January 2016 where they will be presented with there Regional award and they will enjoy a three course meal, over night stay and the ceremony revealing the National award winners.
I have been lucky enough to be a regional award winner and the experience of the awards presentation is amazing.

I send my congratulations to every nominee and wish you all the best of luck.
I will not list any of the regional award winners until they have been officially announced at a later date.

USDAW 11th National Pensions conference - Part 3

Afternoon session

Workshop 4 – Debra Blow USDAW Hot Topics

(1) Pension freedoms and problems

Options at retirement for defined contribution pensions 

100% cash - Cash withdrawals - 25% cash and drawdown - Annuity purchase

Problems

Taxasition issues

(2) Pension transfers and the pitfalls
Transferring a defined benefit pension into a Defined contribution pension.
Exit penalties
Loss of guarantees
Reduced transfer value

(3) Short service refunds
The current options if you leave a pension scheme are –
Deferred pension or transfer into your next pension fund.

Refund of your contributions minus tax and employer contributions
Transfer into your next pension scheme
From October 2015 you can only get a refund of your paid pension contributions within 30 days of joining a pension scheme.
This is designed around the auto enrolment scheme where you need to opt out of the pension.

(4) Pot follows member
The average person will have 11 jobs in there lifetime.
This could result in lots of small frozen pension pots that are easy to lose track of, can lose value due to continuing charges each year and the pots are to small to buy a pension.
The DWP are proposing a new system where a person can take their pension pot from one employer to the next as long as the pot is no more than £10,000. This will make it easier to track pension pots and allow you to buy an income with your pot.

(5) Auto Enrolment
All companies have to re enrol all staff that are not in the pension scheme every 3 years. This still applies if a staff member was previously auto enrolled and they decided to opt out of the pension scheme. The company should write to these employees explaining this so they are aware and can re opt out should they wish to do so.

Small and medium sized companies are about to introduce auto enrolment.
Some employers have deferred this until 2017 / 2018.
Where employers have a pension scheme with the state minimum contributions these will be increased.

October 2012 – Sept 2017
Employee 1% employer 1% total 2%

October 2017 – Sept 2018                                                                                                                         Employee 3% employer 2% total 5%

October 2018 – onwards
Employee 5% employer 3% total 8%

(6) Cap on pension charges
From April 2015 a cap on pension scheme charges was introduced. This is 0.75%

(7) How can USDAW and Reps help?
Reps can hold Pension awareness days using the great range of leaflets that USDAW has produced on Pensions.

Reps can encourage members to complete the USDAW home study courses on Pensions.

Afternoon session continued

Catherine Lockyer First actuarial – TAX.

Catherine spoke about how we all need a pension we all need to pay tax in different amounts and in different ways.

Catherine explained how workers are affected by tax, national insurance and pensions.

The tax free allowance is £10,600 – no income tax up to that level

The basic tax rate is £10,600 to £42,400  – 20% income tax rate

Anything above £42,400 you will pay the 40% income tax rate

 National insurance payments start at £8,060 with a 12% rate

 Earning over £42,400 will pay 2%

Your pay will be deducted of national insurance first and then it will be deducted of income tax.

When you are making contributions to a pension scheme its good to know where the tax relief happens.

Some pension schemes will take contributions before tax from your gross pay (net pay scheme) others will take it from net pay (relief at source schemes).

There is no difference to fulltime employees who pay income tax.

The people who benefit are low paid workers who don’t pay income tax as the government will pay the income tax into the pension fund only if your pension scheme is a relief at source scheme.

Other pension schemes will take your contributions from your net pay - which means you have paid full income tax on all of your pay.

The pension company will then claim the tax back from the government and add this into your pension fund. 

USDAW 11th National Pensions conference - Part 2

Morning session continued

Workshop 1 – Debra Blow USDAW 10 point Pension plan

(1)    Find out if your company has a pension scheme

What type of scheme is it?

Do you qualify for auto enrolment?

Advantages of a pension scheme

Employer contributions, government also contributes, tax concessions, additional benefits and retain entitlement if leave employer.

(2)    How much will it cost?

Check the company pension booklet.

What will your employer pay?

Auto enrolment scheme?

What additional benefits are available?

(3)    Should I pay additional voluntary contributions?

Can boost income in retirement

Choice of investment

Low charges

(4)    How much will I get when I retire?

Pension will depend on the amount of contributions you have paid in

How long have you paid contributions

What are the charges on your pension fund

(5)    What has happened to your previous pensions?

Keep all your pension statements and documents especially if you leave an employer and have a frozen pension.

(6)    What choices will I have when I retire?

Up to April 2015

Lump sum and pension or pension only

After April 2015

Entire fund as cash or series of smaller lump sums

Quarter of pension fund as a lump sum plus a regular income ( drawdown ) or a pension

(7)    What happens if I die before I retire?

If your pension fund is in a defined contribution scheme your pension fund will be paid to your beneficiaries along with any death in service benefit your scheme offers.

Ensure you have an up to date nomination form

(8)    Should I have a will?

USDAW offer a free will service.

Having a will makes it easier to know what your wishes are should you die.

(9)    What will my state pension be?

At present this will be £115.95

You can claim at 67

Use the pension forecast forms

(10) How can I avoid pension scams?

      Seek advice from a registered financial advisor before you do anything regarding your pension.

Yes this will cost you a few hundred pounds but its better to be safe than sorry.

USDAW 11th National Pensions conference - Part 1

I applied to attend the National pensions Conference and was offered a place..
I drove up on Wednesdsay 7th October and due to the distance USDAW booked me into a hotel.
I met up with a few others from the Midlands Division and we had a good catch up that evening over a meal at the EFFS Braserie ( greek and indian food ) in Warrington.

On Thursday 8th October I arrived at 9.30am to register for the conference.

Upon arrival I was given my credentials and a welcome pack.

The welcome pack contained the agenda for the day and a list of which groups delegates would be in along with several useful leaflets and posters.

Morning session

  

The conference started with a welcome from Jeff Broome and Debra Blow USDAW Pensions officer.

We then herd from our first guest speaker of the day Sheena Taylor – DWP who spoke about the changes being made to the state pension.

Guest speaker Sheena Taylor DWP – State Pension.

Sheena spoke about the changes being made to the state pension.

Sheena explained that the government is currently looking at the state pension to make it fair and sustainable.

The current state pension contains several criteria that can allow an increase in a persons state pension.

The new state pension will still have disability benefits and means tested housing benefit and council tax.

The new full state pension will be at least £151.25 this figure will be set in the autumn statement.

The new state pension will start from 6^th April 2016 and will affect anyone who will reach state pension age from that date. Men – 6^th April 1961 Women – 6^th April 1964.

You need at least 10 qualifying years of paying national insurance to qualify for the state pension but to get the new full state pension you need 35 qualifying years of paid national insurance.

There will be a transitional period that will likely be several decades due to the number of years people are required to pay national insurance. This will cover workers who are working now and wont qualify for the new state pension until after 6^th April 2016.

The transitional period will do calculations using the old and new state pension systems.

You would then receive the higher of the two calculations.

Sheena also explained that it is worth keeping all of your p60’s so that when you do come to retire from work and go to claim the state pension these will help to prove the national insurance you have paid, as there can be gaps in records if you have moved jobs and moved house during your working life.

There is a state pension toolkit that can be found on gov.uk that will be useful to members.

As the full state pension figure is still not known the documents will only be for the current state pension figure.

Divisional Council Meeting number Five

Wednesday 30th September I attended my fifth Divisional Council meeting at the USDAW Redditch office. 

Apologies were received from:

Gareth Davies - Holiday
Maureen Bowen - Conference

Minutes from the previous DC meeting

We then read the minutes from the previous DC meeting. These were accepted. 

Minutes of the recent EC meeting

We received the EC Minutes from Andrea.

There is a proposed membership contribution increase for membership scales A and C.
As in previous years this will be debated and voted on at ADM.

There will also be E.C statements at the 2016 ADM regarding -
Europe
Equalities
Politics

There will be a by-election in the North West due to a member of the E.C Leaving USDAW.

There will be a new Domestic Violence leaflet in production.

Minutes from other Divisional Councils

We took a look at the minutes from other Divisional Councils. These were accepted. 

Central office circulars and press releases

We looked through a selection of circulars from central office and a selection of press releases. These were accepted. 

Federation reports
There were no Federation reports but it was noted that Paul white will be reporting back for the West Midlands Conference at the next meeting due to Kate Macleod being away on Hol.

Divisional officers report
We received the Deputy Divisional officers report from Gavin Dadley.

Membership total  - 439,719 nationally and 57,293 divisional. 

Stand down - 161 reps since 1/1/2015

Who have signed up 1,459 new members. 

We received the Divisional officers report from Gavin Dadley.

(1) Paper work for the USDAW Organising Awards 2015 will be sent to all Divisional Council members two weeks before the next meeting to allow time to select our choice for each award..

(2) Labour party leadership team.
There is a new Labour party leadership team and we all need to give them our full support and work towards the next general election.

(3) National TUC rally in Manchester on 4th October.
There will be no transport due to not enough numbers attending from the Midlands. Those who are travelling to the rally have access to flags and USDAW will be taking the giant USDAW balloons, as have been used in previous TUC events.

The Divisional officers report was read and all points noted/endorsed.

East Midlands Regional Labour Party Annual Conference
we needed to select a delegation of four people from six applicants.
One of the delegation needed to be an Area Organiser.

We selected one Area Organiser and three members to attend the Conference.
We each voted for three members and the three with the most votes will be contacted.

Black and Asian Members Weekend Workshop
We needed to select three members as delegates and two reserves from a list of thirteen applicants.
Before we voted three people were removed from the applications due to not completing the required information sheet.

We each voted for three members and the three with the most votes will be contacted to say they are attending the Weekend Workshop and the two people with the next highest votes have been placed on the list as our reserves.

National Retail Trades Conference

No vote required as the total number of applicants was under the number of places available.

Any other Business

we then moved on to any other business.

The meeting was then closed. 

USDAW Pension Conference update

I have received my official invite to attend the USDAW Pension Conference in Warington on Thursday 8th October.

I will be travelling up on Wednesday 7th October and I will be staying overnight in a hotel due to the distance I need to travel.

I'm looking forward to the Pension conference, as I've not been to one in a few years.
It will be good to get upto date with all the new changes that have come into effect.

I will post my report on the Pension Conference on here along with the Minuets of the October Divisional Council meeting.

Divisional Council Meeting number Four

Wednesday 26th August I attended my fourth Divisional Council meeting at the USDAW Redditch office. 

Apologies were received from:

Gavin Dadley - Academy duties
Maureen Bowen - Holiday

Minutes from the previous DC meeting

We then read the minutes from the previous DC meeting. These were accepted. 

Minutes of the recent EC meeting

We had no minutes from the EC. This was due to there being no August meeting.

Minutes from other Divisional Councils

We took a look at the minutes from other Divisional Councils. These were accepted. 

Central office circulars and press releases

We looked through a selection of circulars from central office and a selection of press releases. These were accepted. 

Federation reports
Paul white will be reporting back for the West Midlands Conference after the Federation weekend due to Kate Macleod being away on Hol.

Divisional officers report
We received the Deputy Divisional officers report from Gareth Davies.

Membership total  - 439,792 nationally and 57,404 divisional. 

Stand down - 143 reps since 1/1/2015

Who have signed up 1,397 new members. 

Academy 1 - 4 organising officers have so far signed up 352 new members and 16 new reps.

. 

Academy 2 - 3 organising officers who have signed up 371 new members and 38 new reps.
Academy 2 has now ended.

We received the Divisional officers report from Gareth Davies due to Gavin Dadley being on Academy duties.

(1) 17 Nominations have been received so far for the USDAW Organising Awards 2015.

(2) USDAW Pensions Conference 8th October 2015.
There were seven applications received and only six places available.
I had applied and I proposed to the Meeting that I be selected as the reserve to allow the other six people to attend.

It was decided that as two people had applied from the same branch - only one would be selected to attend and the other would go on the reserve list.

All applicants have now been written to.

I will be giving a report about the Pensions Conference at the October meeting.

The Divisional officers report was read and all points noted/endorsed.

Any other Business

we then moved on to any other business.

USDAW 125 years old in 2016 - Would the division look at creating and selling clothing with the Midlands division on it?

TUC March in Manchester on 4th October - will there be any transport provided from the Midlands?
The number of people signing up from the Midlands is low and would not warrant the hire of transport.

The meeting was then closed. 

Divisional Council Meeting number three

Wednesday 29th July I attended my third Divisional Council meeting at the USDAW Redditch office. 

The meeting started with me standing in as Chairman of the meeting due to our Divisional Council Chairman - Ian Bateman being on holiday. 

Apologies were received from:
Ian Bateman - Holiday
Gareth Davies - Holiday

Minutes from the previous DC meeting

We then read the minutes from the previous DC meeting. These were accepted. 

Minutes of the recent EC meeting

We then read through the minutes of the recent EC meeting. Maureen Bowen read through the items that were important.  Andrea Watts also gave feedback from the meeting. 

(1) An EC member will be leaving USDAW to work as an organiser for UNISON.
USDAW wishes them all the best in the new role.

(2) Louise Curtis - Head of the USDAW Legal department will be leaving USDAW.

(3) A former USDAW EC member - Mrs Creed passed away at the age of 73.
USDAW will be arrangements will be made for representation at her funeral.

(4) Reps are receiving there initial training faster and this is reducing the number of reps who step down as a rep or leave USDAW.

(5) There will be a TUC demonstration on 4th October in Manchester. This will coincide with the start of the Conservative Party Conference.

(6) Labour Leadership. Maureen and Andrea explained that a discussion had taken place regarding the Labour party Leadership and who USDAW should be supporting.

Maureen and Andrea explained that the reason that Andy Burnham MP ( Leader ) and Caroline Flint MP ( Deputy Leader ) were the preferred Candidates is due to the level of support USDAW has received from the two Candidates in the past and that it is believed that they will further help USDAW should they be elected as Leader and Deputy leader.

(7) Trade Union bill. Maureen explained that part of the Strike action bill is that any members who do not vote in the Strike Ballot will have there vote counted as a NO vote.

This of course is not right as due to a varying number of reasons people wont be able to take part in a vote - Illness, Holidays, Family emergencies and many other reasons.

The minutes were accepted. 

Minutes from other Divisional Councils

We took a look at the minutes from other Divisional Councils. These were accepted. 

Central office circulars and press releases

We looked through a selection of circulars from central office and a selection of press releases. These were accepted. 

Divisional officers report
We received the Deputy Divisional officers report - this was read out by Gavin Dadley due to Gareth Davies being on holiday.

Membership total  - 434,894 nationally and 56,962 divisional. 

Stand down - 124 reps since 1/1/2015

Who have signed up 1,280 new members. 

Academy 1 - 6 organising officers were selected but due to personal reasons one has had to leave the academy programme. The 5 organising officers have so far signed up 291 new members.

. 

Academy 2 - 3 organising officers who have so far signed up 344 new members.

We received the report from the Divisional officer and discussed a few items.

(1) A midlands USDAW member has been offered a position as organiser by UNITE which they have accepted.
USDAW wishes them all the best in her now role.

(2) Membership week Monday 28th September to Sunday 4th October.

(3) 2015 Women Chainmakers Festival. We spoke about the festival and those who attended said we need to do more to represent USDAW at the event as there was no Stall.This led to the following idea below (4).

(4) USDAW will be 125 years old next year. Possible link in with the 2016 Women Chainmakers Festival and also the 2016 Birmingham Pride event.

(5) Thanks were given to those who attended the Parents and Carers spotlight day held at TESCO Redditch on Wednesday 24th June.

The Divisional officers report was read and all points noted/endorsed.

Political forum and Equalities forum 

There are DC positions on the Political  forum and the Equalities forum. 

The position on the Political forum was opened first.

Simon Wilmott expressed an interest in the position and, as no one else expressed an interest Simon Wilmott was elected up-opposed with the agreement of the Divisional Council.

The position on the Equalities forum was then opened.

Paul White expressed an interest in the position and, as no one else expressed an interest Paul White was elected up-opposed with the agreement of the Divisional Council.

Venue for the August and September Divisional Council meetings
This item was discussed, as the previous Divisional Council had suggested moving some meeting to Kegworth.

It was agreed to keep the meeting at the USDAW Redditch office as it was easier to get to for the majority of the Divisional Council members.

Date of the first 2016 Midlands Divisional conference
Due to the general election in 2015 the USDAW Midlands Divisional conference was moved to March.

We discussed the issues faced with having the conference in June bearing in mind we want to encourage as many people as possible to attend the Women Chainmakers festival which historically has taken place in June or July.

The decision was made to have the first Midlands Divisional conference of 2016 in March.
The date of the conference will be announced as soon as it has been booked.

Any other Business

we then moved on to any other business.

No other business was raised.

The meeting was then closed. 

Second Divisional Council meeting.

Today - Wednesday 24th June I attended my second Divisional Council meeting at the USDAW Redditch office. 

The meeting started with the first item on the agenda - Election of Divisional Council Chairman, Vice Chairman, East Midlands Federation Observer and West Midlands Federation Observer. 

There were two people proposed and seconded for the position of Chairman. 

These were Paul White and Ian Bateman.

A vote was taken and Ian Bateman was elected as the Divisional Council Chairman.  

There were also two people proposed and seconded for the position of Vice Chairman. 

These were Paul White and ( myself ) Jon Mcewan. 

A vote was taken and I was elected as the Divisional Council Vice Chairman. 

There were two people proposed and seconded for the position of East Midlands Federation Observer. 

These were Simon Eggleton and Simon Willmott. 

A vote was taken and Simon Eggleton was elected as the East Midlands Federation Observer.  

There were two people interested in the position of West Midlands Federation Observer. 

These were Jenny Chilton and Kate MacLeod.  

A vote was taken and Kate MacLeod Being elected as the West Midlands Federation Observer. 

The positions on the Equalities forum and the Political forum will be decided at the next meeting. 

We then read the minutes from the previous DC meeting in May. These were accepted. 

We then read through the minutes of the recent EC meeting. Andrea Watts read through a few items that were important.  Maureen Bowen also gave feedback from the meeting. These were accepted. 

We took a look at the minutes from other Divisional Councils. These were accepted. 

We looked through a selection of circulars from central office and a selection of press releases. These were accepted. 

We received the report from the Divisional officer and discussed a few items. 

We received the Deputy Divisional officers report.

Membership total - 429,256 nationally and 56,582 divisionally. 

Stand down - 115 reps since 1/1/2015

Who have signed up 1,186 new members. 

Membership week - over the 4 week period 862 new members were signed up. 

Academy 2 - 3 organising officers who have so far signed up 232 new members and 29 new reps. 

Academy 1 - 6 organising officers were selected but due to personal reasons one has had to leave the academy programme. The 5 organising officers have so far signed up 170 new members and 5 new reps. 

There are several events due to take place. 

Membership week Monday 28th September to Sunday 4th October. 

Your pay your say campaign and ballot. 

Morissons get together in August. 

Sainsburys campaign. 

We had to select one person to be on the National Young Workers Committee 2015/16. 

There were two nominees. 

These were 

Shawney Hind - Tesco Leicester Hamilton. 

Russell Jones - Morrisons Bromsgrove. 

A vote was taken and Shawney Hind was selected. 

We moved on to any other business.

I mentioned that on Monday 15th June I attended the South Derbyshire Labour Party A.G.M and was elected on to the committee as an USDAW representative. 

The meeting was then closed. 

First Divisional Council meeting.

On Wednesday 27th May I attended my first Divisional Council meeting at the USDAW Redditch office.

The meeting was started by all of the DC introducing themselves with a brief resume of there involvement with USDAW. 

We then moved into the agenda and we all read the minutes from the previous DC meeting in April. These were accepted. 

We then read through the minutes of the recent EC meeting. Maureen Bowen read through a few of the main points and gave feedback from the meeting. These were accepted. 

We took a look at the minutes from other Divisional Councils. These were accepted. 

We looked through a large selection of circulars from central office and a selection of press releases. These were accepted. 

We received a list of dates for all the 2015 Midlands Divisional Council meetings.  

We discussed an upcoming spotlight day. This will be held at Tesco Redditch on Wednesday 24th June the same day as the next DC meeting. I will nip and support the event for a few hours after the DC meeting. 

We also discussed the Women's chain makers festival. Being held in Cradley Heath high street, Cradley Heath on Sunday 12th July. The Midlands Division is aiming to raise £1,000 to donate to the event. 

We received the report from the Divisional officer and discussed a few items. 

We received the Deputy Divisional officers report. This included a discussion on the positions available within the Midlands Divisional Council. The positions of Chairman, Vice Chairman, East Midlands federation observer and West Midlands observer will all be discussed and voted on at the next meeting on Wednesday 24th June. 

Membership total as of May 23rd - 429,434 nationally and 56,554 divisionally. 

Stand down - 113 reps since 1/1/2015

Who have signed up 1,133 new members. 

Membership week - over the 4 week period 862 new members were signed up. 

Academy 2 - 3 organising officers who have so far signed up 186 new members and 19 new reps. 

Academy 1 - 30 reps applied. 14 were invited to take part in the interview / test sessions. 6 organising officers have been selected. 

We discussed the applications for summer school series one and two. 

We voted on the nominees who would go forward to the EC for concideration. 

Eight people were nominated for summer school series one and six people were nominated for summer school series two. 

A reserve list was created for both summer school series. 

We moved on to any other business. 

The referendum on EUROPE was mentioned and what USDAW will be doing to campaign on this issue. 

The leadership of the Labour Party was mentioned and that a strong leader is needed. 

The meeting was then closed.