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MOTIONS FROM TRADE UNIONS PASSED AT 2006 LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE

Posted on Thursday, October 12, 2006

Composite 2 – Corporate Liability

Conference notes the decision of the Trades Union Congress on the 14th September 2006 to campaign within the parliamentary timetable to amend the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill that was introduced into parliament on the 20th July 2006 to include secondary liability for corporate manslaughter against individual directors.

 Conference additionally notes that the Health and Safety Executive on the 17th August 2006 reported that 212 workers had been fatally injured in the year 2005/2006, of which the majority occurred in two industries, Construction, which accounted for 59 fatalities, and Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, which accounted for 33 fatalities.

Conference is concerned that since 1996/1997 2475 workers have been fatally injured at work and that the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill will not deliver the necessary sanctions to bring about the change in health and safety culture needed.

Conference agrees with the Home Affairs and Work and Pensions Committees report into the Draft Corporate Manslaughter Bill that stated; ’We believe that, just as the Government has taken the decision that when a company’s gross management failing caused death it should be liable for a more serious offence than that available under health and safety legislation, so it should be possible to prosecute an individual who has been a secondary party to this gross management failing for a more serious offence also. We therefore recommend that secondary liability for corporate manslaughter should be included in the draft bill’.

Conference therefore believes that the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill should be amended or that existing legislation be amended to include the following:


   1. the introduction of statutory health and safety duties on company directors:

   2. that company directors who have statutory health and safety duties should be prosecuted if they have been a secondary party to a gross management failure causing death.

   3. by analogy with the offence of causing death by dangerous driving the maximum term of imprisonment should be set at 14 years.

   4. That these measures be introduced in the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill or alongside the Bill, but within the lifetime of this parliament.


 Mover: TGWU  Seconder: UCATT

 Composite 3 – Rights at Work

Conference notes the findings of the Policy Studies Institute report published on the 10th September 2006, The Hidden One-in-Five  - Winning a Fair Deal for Britain’s Vulnerable Workers, and its recommendation for an early implementation of the EU Temporary Agency Workers Directive. 

Conference also notes with concern the attack on policies that formed the Warwick agreement from findings based on the latest annual CBI-Pertemps Employment Trends Survey, published on 11th September 2006.

 Conference recognises the Party’s policy making process culminating in the Warwick National Policy Forum, which successfully provided the basis for the manifesto ensuring we were able to win support for Labour at the last General Election.

It is now of prime importance that the momentum created by those detailed commitments is not lost by a slow down in their delivery.

Conference notes that whilst progress has been made on some of the Warwick commitments, too many of the issues identified are still awaiting delivery. Therefore conference calls upon the Government to ensure the speedy passage of all commitments into legislation. 

Conference notes that agency and temporary workers are made vulnerable by their current lack of legal protection in UK law. Conference further notes that this allows them to be used to undermine the terms, conditions and job security of other workers.  Conference notes that migrant workers are doubly vulnerable due to their migrant status and lack of employment rights, and notes that all UK workers would benefit from the delivery of full employment rights to this.  In particular, the protection of agency and temporary workers, many of whom are migrant workers. Conference calls on the Government to stop blocking progress on the EU Directive, and in any event to urgently introduce UK legislation to give equal employment rights to agency and temporary workers from day one. 

Conference demands promised improvements to statutory redundancy pay and the inclusion of pensions and training in statutory collective bargaining rights and the provision for 50/50 trustees on pension schemes, all of which are covered by existing legislation and only require ministerial decisions regarding their application. Conference rejects the arguments of the CBI released in a press release on September 11th calling for a breach of manifesto commitments.

Conference further believes that the CBI has no legitimacy in claiming the manifesto that Labour was elected on in 2005, should now be ignored.

Conference calls for a radical rethink of policy under the new leadership in order to build the progressive agenda necessary to deliver a fourth term Labour government and to halt the decline in voter support at elections in local and devolved institutions.

This is the way in which we will re motivate our activists and the only way with which we will secure victory at the next general election.

 Mover: AMICUS Seconder: CWU

 

 Composite 5 - Pensions

Conference notes the publication of the consultation on reform to the pension provision for NHS workers on the 1st August 2006.  It also notes that local government workers still face unacceptable reductions to their pension benefits at increased cost.

Conference welcomes the publication of ’Employer attitudes to personal accounts’ by the Department of Work and Pensions this August which shows that employers are willing to support the balance between employee and employer contributions proposed by the Pensions Commission. 

Conference also recognises the opinion of the Advocate General in relation to the UK implementation of the EU Insolvency Directive on 13th July 2006. 

Conference welcomes the commitment by this Labour Government to engage in a wide ranging and fundamental process of pension reform that aims to fulfil the party’s aim of cradle to grave security for all in the UK.

Conference believes this government’s progress in tackling pensioner poverty is one of its most important achievements, with policies such as the Pension Credit lifting two million pensioners out of absolute poverty and one million pensioners out of relative poverty.  

Conference notes that over the next 50 years increasing life expectancy will mean a 50 per cent increase in the number of pensioners. There will be only two people working for every one in retirement, compared with four today.  

Conference also notes that many people are not saving enough for their retirement - the Pensions Commission estimated there are up to 12 million people currently under-saving in Britain. 

Conference believes that everyone has a responsibility to take action – government, employers and individuals must do more to ensure future generations can enjoy a secure retirement. 

Therefore, conference welcomes the government’s commitment to address the long-term pension challenges we face with the proposals set out in the pensions reform white paper in May. 

Conference believes that the current system is unfair to women and does not recognise the important role that carers play in families, with only 30 per cent of women currently retiring on a full basic state pension. 

Conference welcomes as long overdue proposals to make it easier for women and carers to build up entitlement to a full basic state pension and contribute towards the state second pension. Conference notes that, by 2010, 70 per cent of women reaching SPA will be entitled to a full basic state pension, compared to 30 per cent now. Conference applauds campaigners in the Labour movement who have succeeded in securing proposals that will mean a much better deal for women. 

Conference agrees that the price of reform should not be paid disproportionately by the worst off in society.  Therefore, Conference opposes any suggestion that the state pension age should rise before health inequalities in the UK are eradicated and improved longevity is equally shared by all. 

Conference welcomes the Government’s decision to reinstate the indexation link between the basic state pension and average earnings that was introduced by a Labour Government and broken by the Tories in 1980.  Conference recognises that for many this will make a substantial difference to their income in retirement.  However, Conference is concerned that delaying restoration until 2012 or beyond will leave an unacceptable number of today’s pensioners reliant on inefficient means tested benefits, much of which does not get through to those who need it.  Conference therefore calls on the Government to expedite the restoration of the indexation to earnings of the basic state pension and bring its value up to at least £114.05 per week. 

Conference notes the proposals for a new low-cost pensions savings scheme into which employees will be automatically enrolled and employers will be obliged to make a contribution.  

Conference believes making it easier and more attractive for working people to save for their retirement is essential to tackle under-saving and help people retire in comfort. 

Conference therefore calls on the government to resist demands to water down the comprehensive nature of the savings scheme and the obligation on all employers to make a contribution. Nevertheless, conference believes that the government must do everything it can to minimise unnecessary burdens on small businesses from introducing compulsion. 

Conference recognises that good public services are essential when providing for an ageing population and that well motivated staff are vital for a successful, efficient public sector.  Conference is dismayed at the lack of progress in securing proper pension provision for outsourced workers and calls on the Government to ensure that all workers providing public services have access to public sector pensions. 

Conference agrees that trade unions have a vital role in the protection and reform of pension schemes.  Conference therefore urges the Government to introduce appropriate legislative reforms to ensure that changes to pension schemes are negotiated with trade unions. 

Conference understands that the best route for many workers to save for their retirement occurs in the workplace.  Conference recognises that the compulsory approach is the best way of securing employer participation in their workers’ retirement saving.  Therefore, Conference urges the Government to replace the individual opt out provision with full complusion on employers to contribute a viable amount to all their workers’ pensions through secondary saving. 

Conference notes that the proposed level of mandatory contributions to Personal Accounts is too low and calls on the Government to increase the level of employer contributions.  Conference further recognises that the proposed provision is weakened by an exemption for the first £5,000 of pay.  Conference calls on the Government to make employer contributions on this proportion of pay compulsory to ensure that low paying employers are not rewarded for this behaviour by a negligible rate of pension contribution and that all workers receive some viable contribution from their employer to their retirement. 

Conference recognises that a significant proportion of workers’ savings in private pensions is lost through administration costs.  Therefore, Conference calls on the Government to ensure that administration costs associated with the Personal Accounts are kept at or below 0.5%. 

Conference is concerned that any changes to occupational pensions should not weaken current provision and welcomes the government’s support for existing occupational pension schemes. 

Conference notes the ongoing pension scheme negotiations with public sector workers and urges the government and trade unions to come to fair and balanced agreements. But conference condemns the Conservative’s proposals to renegotiate the framework agreed last year as an attack on hardworking people that could see public sector workers lose their accrued pension rights. 

Conference notes the devastation caused to workers who have lost out on their pension because the scheme they were a member of was under-funded when it started to wind up. Conference believes Labour’s decision to establish the Pension Protection Fund will play a vital role in ensuring employers fulfil their responsibility to protect the pensions of their scheme members in these circumstances. 

Any successful pension reform relies on the confidence of those it affects.  Conference recognises that this has been seriously undermined by the loss of more than 100,000 individuals’ occupational pension savings through company and scheme insolvency.  Conference acknowledges that in response to unions campaigning on behalf of these workers, this Labour Government has done more than any previous Government in providing assistance in these situations.  However, Conference believes that the pension promise should be honoured, in full, and the provisions of the Financial Assistance Scheme and Pension Protection Fund should be reviewed accordingly.

Mover GMB Seconder Hendon CLP

 

Composite 7 - Health

Conference notes with concern the Government’s announcement on September 5th that NHS Logistics, an award winning service, will be outsourced to DHL and its Texas-based partner Novation and the ballot decision on 11th September of NHS Logistics staff to take industrial action against this step. NHSL has won numerous awards for efficiency and service excellence and its dedicated and committed staff wish to remain part of the NHS public service family.

Conference also notes the appeal court decision of 23rd August 2006 regarding the awarding of a contract for GP services in Cresswell and Langwith in Derbyshire by the North East Derbyshire PCT to United Health Group Ltd.

Despite the fact that investment in the NHS has increased substantially and will continue to increase under a Labour Government, immense damage is being done to some local services because of deficits and the breakneck speed of change. Private Finance Initiative projects, of which a fresh wave was announced on 18 August 2006, lock hospitals into long-term financial commitments and leave them unable to adapt to changing needs

Across the country, patients are finding themselves facing cuts in valued local services and in staffing levels as some local Trusts struggle to balance their books. 

Clearly, where such cuts are being made, local services are suffering. Moreover, staff morale across the NHS is being damaged as they feel their views are not being listened to and there is growing public concern that the NHS is once again in crisis. The party needs to listen to the concerns of those communities.

Conference recognises the widespread and spontaneous reaction of local communities as they respond to news about their local NHS with protests and demonstrations. In Cornwall 400 Royal Cornwall Hospital staff have received redundancy "at risk" letters, and services at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust’s two smaller hospitals are being curtailed (with possibilities of outright closure not excluded). A resolution of the South West Regional Labour Party for an independent review of the RCHT’s affairs, promoted by this CLP last March, when the Trust’s declared deficit stood at barely a quarter of its present level, has received no response from the Secretary of State.

Compulsory payments to independent treatment centres can impoverish local NHS facilities; in Oxfordshire, NHS trusts were forced to pay Netcare hundreds of thousands of pounds for cataract operations which were never carried out because local hospitals could already cope, driving them further into deficit. "Cinderella" services such as mental health are particularly hard hit, and though the south-east is considered affluent, there are pockets of deprivation and disadvantaged individuals who are suffering and who look to Labour for support.

Conference understands that the issues underlying some of these problems are complex, varied and often long-standing. But the major cause of the current crisis is a direct consequence of the move to a competitive, market-based system, the continued use of PFI and  payment by results.

The paper issued by the Department of Health on July 13, "Health reform in England: Update and Commissioning Framework" defines the key drivers for improvement through commissioning to be "contracting, contestability and service redesign." (para 2.4). This flatly contradicts Labour’s policy agreed at the end of the last round of Partnership in Power (Britain is Working, 2004, p117) which stated "Labour will develop an approach that builds on collaboration, not competition."

The Health Select Committee report in July into independent sector treatment centres has demonstrated that the NHS is not benefiting from the involvement of the private sector and that cuts in hospital services may come about as a result. The recent decision to freeze the expansion of payment by results is welcome, but many areas already covered by the national tariff have seen their finances destabilised by the system.

It is the rapid move from collaboration to competition which is forcing individual accounting units within the system to have to achieve "financial balance" in unrealistic timescales. Moreover, this is being demanded at the same time as other substantial changes are being introduced, some very welcome such as the new emphasis on prevention and the shift of resources to primary care. 

Conference believes that the sheer pace and weight of change is in itself causing damage, and that such major changes should be carefully trialled and evaluated before considered for wider application.

Conference therefore calls on the Government to rethink the headlong rush to a competitive system. There will inevitably be outcomes and consequences which the Government has not foreseen and will be unwelcome. There will also be serious political consequences for labour and could jeopardise our hopes for a fourth term.

Conference therefore calls for:

1. More time and flexibility be offered to Trusts and PCTs to achieve financial balance, to ensure that cuts are not made which damage local health provision and will incur wider costs later; 

2. No further extension of payment by results until a full assessment of the consequences for the local health economy has been carried out;

3. The further outsourcing of services to the private sector, such as NHS Logistics, to be  subject to review with  full consultation throughout the Party and the NHS to consider the impact on trust budgets and the co-ordinated provision of services;

4. All NHS stakeholders, including patient groups and trade unions, to be fully consulted and  included in policy discussions.

5. The Government to ensure that structures for patient and public involvement work effectively and that the public have a genuine say over commissioning and configuration decisions.

Furthermore, this conference reaffirms its commitment to the founding principles and values of the NHS and our commmitment to a universal, tax-funded service, with equal access for all, free at the point of need/use and provided according to clinical need and not the ability to pay.

Mover UNISON  Seconder Oxford West And Abingdon CLP

Source - TULO