proportionality document

CWU branch forum at TUC congress House
to discuss PROPORTIONALITY IN THE cwu
Tuesday 28 January 2014
STRENGTH, RELEVANCE AND EQUALITY THROUGH
PROPORTIONALITY BRANCH FORUM
TUESDAY 28TH JANUARY 2014
TUC CONFERENCE CENTRE
CONGRESS HOUSE
GREAT RUSSELL STREET
LONDON, WC1B 3LS
AGENDA
10.00
Registration & coffee
11.00
Chair’s welcome
Kay Carberry, Assistant General Secretary TUC
Billy Hayes, CWU General Secretary
Theme 1: Data Monitoring & Information
Theme 2: National Structure and Roles
13.15
Lunch will be provided
Theme 3: Regional and other below National Structure
Theme 4: Branches
Theme 5: Training, Development, Mentoring, Access & Culture
Closing comments: Billy Hayes, CWU General Secretary 16.30
Close of forum
Contents
Introduction
4
What we mean by proportionality
5
Where are we now?
6
CWU as an employer 8
industrial landscape 8
employer data 8
broad aims and objectives 9
where we want to be 10
themes for discussion 11
branch forum 14
General conference 2014 14
Strength, Relevance and Equality through Proportionality 3
Introduction
In this era of austerity, under-employment, zero hours contracts and poverty wages there is extreme pressure put on
working people to do more for less and with less protections at work. It is arguable that these tough conditions should
provide fertile ground for trade unions to organise and recruit new workers. With young workers, women workers and
BAME workers in particular bearing the brunt of the cuts it has never been so important for trade unions to make sure
that we are connecting with this part of the workforce, and that crucially we are recruiting and organising these workers.
We are not alone in the trade union movement in finding it challenging and difficult to positively engage and include
under-represented groups such as women, BAME, part-time workers and young workers in trade union activity. However,
as a union we have a proud history of stepping up to this challenge and seeking to involve minority groups.
Over the last 18 months we have embarked on a very ambitious project to ensure that our structures and rules are
inclusive and proportional and that any barrier to us being inclusive and proportionate is removed. In other words,
we have decided to test whether our paper policies and rules are actually working for us and making a difference
on the ground.
We have carried out detailed research into our membership and activist data, producing
a very clear analysis of how proportionate we are. We know, for instance from the data
we have that nearly 15% of our members are from ethnic minorities – around 1 in 7
members and that the proportion of women workers in the industry is increasing and
will continue to increase in the future. We also know that part-time work is an increasing
feature of employment in the communications sector – our own part time members are
twice as likely to be women and under 30 years old than full time members. So, this data
tells us that the industry and the workplace is changing and that we need to maintain
our relevance to all our members and potential members.
Billy Hayes
General Secretary
Linda Roy
Equality Officer
Of course raw data is not the only measure and we have consulted widely, sitting down
and conducting detailed discussions with 20 of our Branches, with our equality advisory
committees, with our Industrial and National Executive Committees. It is fair to say that
nothing has been ‘off limits’ in these meetings and we have really questioned, how we
do our business at all levels in the CWU and what sort of organisation we are. The fact
that this matter has been at times difficult and divisive is a measure of how important
it is to our future.
We have invited all Branches to take part in this discussion, and with few exceptions Branches
have told us that it is really difficult to get new people, including those from under-represented
groups involved in CWU activism. There are lots of different theories as to why this might
be. There is also some really good practice which is delivering at Branch, Regional and
Constituency levels. There are, it has to be said some real concerns about the potential impact
of proportionality on our democratic structures and principles. It’s important that we state
very clearly from the outset that proportionality is not going to undermine the rights of our
members to elect their chosen representatives. Nor is it going to undermine the employment
rights of any employee of the CWU, appointed or elected. It is about making sure that every
CWU member is confident that the union represents them, and their concerns.
However you look at it we have to first accept that right now in 2014 we are simply not
proportionate at all levels of union activity. Some areas are better than others, but we still
have a long way to go. There are different views as to how we get there and this report and
the recommendation contained within it are a first step at trying to build consensus around
some broad and some very specific areas of work. We do not have the monopoly on ideas,
and we will welcome the input of our grass roots activists at our Branch Forum in a few weeks
and at General Conference.
Trish Lavelle
Head of Education
and Training
What is certain is that proportionality delivers a fairer union for all members. Proportionality
is both a guarantee of equality, and our future, in a changing workplace. That is why we
urge you to get involved in this debate, involve under-represented groups in your branch,
and support the Branch Forum.
4 Strength, Relevance and Equality through Proportionality
What we mean by proportionality
Under the rules of the union the definition of proportionality is covered by the following rules:
Rule 2.1.5
To promote and encourage proportionality and fair representation of all members, in industry, the union
and society in general.
Rule 2.1.6
To actively identify any cause or barrier that prevents the union being fully representative of its members.
This shall include positive action in favour of women and race minorities until such time as the union is
satisfied that its structure reflects and supports the gender and racial balance of the members it represents.
Rule 2.1.5 directs us to employ proportionality in the representation of “members”. Generally, we aim for 100%
membership in industries where we organise. But for the purposes of this examination our current data for
proportionality has to be based on membership, not potential membership.
In Rule 2.1.6 proportionality is linked to the issue of “gender and racial balance”. Our aim must then be to ensure the
representative structure – officials, committees and delegations – are proportionate to this balance.
The rule assumes that the “cause or barrier” that prevents the union being fully representative can be addressed by
the active work of the union. Thus, by implication, it rejects the idea that women or black members are less interested,
or less capable, of taking up a representative position.
Data on representation suggests that there are obstacles to women and black members. Whether these are consciously
placed or otherwise is not crucial, what is crucial for us is to address the problems.
Proportionality is one measure of how equal and how relevant we are as an organisation. Do we look like the workforce
we aim to represent? For instance, if more women are coming into employment in the workplace and we are not seeing
an increase in women members and activists that indicates a potential problem and if around a third of our members
are working part-time but we have very small numbers of part-time reps that may be a cause for concern. It’s also about
making sure that we are utilising all the talents of our members and not unwittingly or deliberately excluding any group
from taking part.
Proportionality is not a narrow debate about reserved seats on the NEC although its absence certainly may necessitate
some types of positive action. Nor is it an attack on the majority demographic of our union.
For the purposes of this initiative and at this stage we are concentrating specifically on the issues of gender, race and age
as there is compelling evidence that we need to do more to advance women, young and BAME members in many areas
of union activity and representation where they are currently either significantly under-represented or totally absent. We
are not ignoring the issues of disability and LGBT by any means, but recognise that there are complex issues particularly
around data and monitoring of levels of representation and membership. In short, there is a lack of reliable evidence of
under-representation in these groups. More work definitely needs to be prioritised to address this and to ensure that
these groups are included and involved in the process.
The CWU is a very democratic organisation and when we consider proportionality we must also consider how we can
achieve an acceptable balance between remaining a strongly membership led union and becoming more inclusive and
accessible. These two factors are not mutually exclusive but the concept of members voting for the person that they
wish to represent them is a fundamental value of the CWU that should be upheld. All of which has to call into question
the alarming decline in voter participation at union elections and how we can widen participation in elections through
better use of technology and the introduction of some form of e-voting.
Strength, Relevance and Equality through Proportionality 5
Where we are now?
The NEC is made up of 19 members of whom one is from a BAME background and five are women. Of the twelve full
time Officers who work to the NEC two (16.6%) are women and 9 are men and currently there is one vacancy.
The PEC is made up of 17 members of whom three are women and one is from an ethnic minority. Of the five Officers
who work to the PEC, there are no women Officers at all.
The TFSE is made up of 16 members of whom seven are women. There are no BAME TFSE members. Of the 8 Officers
who work to the TFSE one (12.5%) is a woman.
Union membership – 186,836 members excluding retired members of whom:
●36,393
of our members are women. At around 19.5% of our membership we should in theory be seeing women
holding one in five activist roles. Yet we have less than 12% (16) women Branch Secretaries, only 12.5% (3) women
occupy National Officer roles, there are no women Regional Secretaries and no Divisional reps. The only areas where
we have thus far achieved proportionality is at NEC Level where we have 26.5% women and the TFSE where we have
44%. The PEC has moved a long way towards this target at 17.5% and this figure is in line currently with employment
trends in Royal Mail. The really troubling factor is the lack of women in the roles that are traditionally seen as the
progression route into the Industrial and National Executives and therefore into leadership roles in the union.
●There
has been significant discussion of the shift in membership towards people on various part-time employment
contracts, who now form 23% of our non-retired membership, with the current figure standing at 44,605. Our research
demonstrates that this is a not a blip but a definite trend. It has implications for the way we organise, our structures
and agreements and most definitely on our potential income in the coming years. In terms of proportionality, our
part-time workers are twice as likely to be women, and under 30. Crucially we will also be looking at whether these
part-time workers are more or less likely to be active in the union. There is a clear and urgent need for more work
to be done in relation to this growing group of members. And we will therefore be recommending a cross union
working group be established to assess the impact that these workers may have on the union, how we can
accommodate better their needs, and whether there are legal or financial implications that we need to respond to.
●Proportionality
data on women members is very accurate and there are some interesting regional variations.
Women account for:
➤ 22.5% of members in London
➤ 9.8% in Wales and the Marches
➤ 25.3% in the South East
➤ 15.2% in the Eastern Region
➤ 16.75 in the South West
➤ 20.4% in the Midlands
➤ 11.54 in the North West
➤ 14.25 in the North East
➤ 10% in Scotland
➤ 10.3% in Northern Ireland
We will now be identifying whether we have Regional Proportionality so for instance in our London Region we would
expect to see women occupying at least one in five of our activist roles and in the South East Region, one in four.
According to the ONS (Office of National Statistics) in 2013, 46% of the workforce in the UK were women,
so some of the employment patterns that we have identified seem somewhat out of step:
●Our
records for November show that of the 90,864 members who have provided ethnicity information we have
14.79% BAME members. However, this is greatly skewed by non-reporting of ethnicity. More must be done to
encourage people to report their ethnic background.
6 Strength, Relevance and Equality through Proportionality
●There
are massive differences in BAME representation by Region and it is worth drawing out some of these by way
of example:
➤ The London Region has 30,781 members of which 4916 or 15.9% are listed as BAME
➤ The Midlands has 23,814 members of which 2602 or 10.9% are listed as BAME
➤ Wales and the Marches has 10,463 members of which 173 or 1.65% are listed as BAME
➤ Northern Ireland has 4323 members of which 54 or 1.25% are listed as BAME
➤ According to the ONS in 2012 14% of the population were from a BAME background
It is clear that even with the incomplete data we have on ethnicity we are not proportionate in terms of our structures
yet. The reality could be far worse, as we could be looking at up to a 50% rate of under-reporting on Race. When we
take this incomplete data and combine it with the data available from the ONS on general societal trends in terms
of race and ethnicity and indeed gender it is possible to better establish how we are doing.
●We
continue to struggle with collecting any meaningful data on LGBT and Disability. This is extremely problematic
when it comes to making even an approximate measure of proportionality for these members. We are years behind
compared to race, gender and age and as far as we know there could be absolute proportionality across all our
structures or nil proportionality. There is a very urgent need to address this issue through a major monitoring
initiative in these areas.
Please note: Data correct as of 19 November 2013 – Excludes Retired members.
Strength, Relevance and Equality through Proportionality 7
CWU as an employer
There are a total of 171 CWU staff excluding National Officers, of whom 69% are women and 20% are BAME.
However, Grade 2 employees who are the highest paid staff are 83% male with no BAME in this grade at all. There is
a slight improvement in Grade 3 where 70% of these roles are occupied by males and 20% by BAME employees.
Conversely at the lower end of the pay scale we see women much better represented with 67% of ancillary roles
at HQ undertaken by women.
There are 23 National Officers, of whom 3 are women. There are no BAME National Officers.
Industrial landscape
We are working towards solutions for proportionality that match what we believe the workforce in our industry will look
like in the next 5 to 10 years. Mapping the Future was produced in 2011 and the labour market trends identified clearly
demonstrated that the industry is progressively recruiting more women. This is a definite trend across the transport and
communications sector which employed 25% women in 2011 (ONS). Our work over the last 12 months has revealed that
part-time workers account for a significant number of our members and earlier this year, this figure accounted for almost
a third of our members, which was also mirrored in some branches we visited. The ILO identified the Global situation in
2009 in terms of employment in the postal sector revealing that a third of the Global Postal workforce are women and
20% of the workforce work part-time.
Employer data
We have received current data from a number of the employers that we work with. This will be available seperately
to delegates. These are whole company statistics and would include all employees and not just CWU grades unless
otherwise specified. There are no regional breakdowns on this data so they cover the whole of the UK unless
otherwise specified.
Some of the headline figures are as follows:
●Within
Royal Mail 15% of the total number of employees are women. It would be helpful to work with employers
to identify any occupational or regional trends within this.
●Within
POL, total CWU membership is 5,146, 61% of whom are women and 45% are part-time workers. Only 6.2%
of our POL members are from a BAME background. We do not have employer data from POL as yet with which to
compare our membership data.
●Within
●In
BT 21.34% of the total number of employees are women.
terms of race 71% in Royal Mail and 89.3% in BT are recorded as ‘white’.
●For
all the employers who responded, the highest proportion of employees were in the 45 to 49
or 50 to 54 years age groups.
●Only
BT monitor for disability and they have identified that 4.92% of the total workforce have a disability.
8 Strength, Relevance and Equality through Proportionality
Broad aims and objectives
The following aims and objectives have been drawn up to guide our work and help us develop some
specific measures of success:
●Remove
or limit structural or cultural barriers to involvement in union activity by under-represented groups
●Introduce
improved systematic data capture and monitoring of participation and progress at all levels in the union
●Provide
active support, encouragement and development for new activists particularly those from underrepresented groups
●Undertake
a major initiative to better capture data on disability and LGBT members and activists in the union
and from this build a proportionality strategy for these groups
●Introduce
positive action where appropriate to give under-represented groups better access to key policy
and decision making bodies
●Set
out a clearer and better understood role for the advisory committees in the union
●Set
out a clearer and better understood role for Branch and Regional Equality roles
●Where
possible formally link our local, Regional and National equality structures to organising and industrial campaigns
●Campaign
for fairer recruitment policies within our industries to ensure better proportionality in the wider workforce
where there exists significant gender segregation
●Improve
●Provide
proportionality in internal and external conference delegations
regular reports on progress against aims and objectives
●Increase
participation in elections through some form of e-voting option
Strength, Relevance and Equality through Proportionality 9
Where we want to be
The Six Year and 10 Year Plan for Proportionality:
The following targets are based on realistic assumptions about our membership, the shape of the industry and what
we can achieve through making our structures more inclusive and accessible. They are not easy targets by any means,
hence we have opted for a period of six or 10 years to achieve our goals. This would allow for three electoral cycles or
two Officer Election cycles to take place to maximise the impact of any changes we agree to introduce.
Although the targets are long term, this should not in any way be read as the NEC seeking to delay decisive action on
proportionality. To be clear, some of this work has already commenced, we expect various programmes of work to be
initiated very quickly and others following either an NEC or conference decision.
By the end of 2019 we aim to have achieved the following:
●20%
of Regional and NEC positions to be occupied by BAME
●30%
of Regional and NEC positions to be occupied by women
●30%
Branch Principle Officer positions to be occupied by women*
●20%
Branch Principle Officer positions to be occupied by BAME*
●Progression
of equality roles into mainstream roles in the CWU at all levels to be systematically encouraged, supported
and monitored
●More
systematic joint working across industrial departments and equality strands to help to ‘mainstream’ equality work
and support industrial and organising objectives
●To
have doubled the number of minority delegates attending Equality Conferences
By the end of 2023 we aim to have achieved the following:
●10
% of National Officer positions to be occupied by BAME (on current figures this would be 2 BAME Officers)
●25%
or 5 of National Officer Positions to be occupied by Women
*Branch Secretary, Branch Chair, Branch Vice-Chair
To put these targets in context, UNI now stipulate that all delegations have 40% women, the German Government have
recently announced that they will be expecting Company boards to have at least 40% women – women make up over
46% UK workforce and over 50% of trade union members.
These themes are not by any means exhaustive. Some are business as usual, some require NEC policy and others require
a Conference policy or rule change. There are also some questions included where further discussion may be needed.
10 Strength, Relevance and Equality through Proportionality
Themes for Discussion
1. Data, Information and Monitoring
a) To improve the accuracy of our Membership and activist data there will be consistent and regular
collection of data on activists and membership at Branch, Regional and National level. (Existing policy)
b) The NEC will introduce a Branch Census of members and activists in January 2015 which will be updated every two
years and provided to the NEC – Conference Policy (New policy/Conference decision)
c) We will measure participation through monitoring attendance at Regional Committees and Regional
Industrial/Divisional meetings for gender, age, BAME, LGBT and disability balance (New policy)
d) We will track the progression of delegates to Equality Conferences to assess whether their participation increases into
mainstream union activity (New policy)
e) T here will be regular reports on Proportionality activity provided for the NEC, Conference and Branches
(Existing policy)
f) W
e will introduce more systematic equality proofing of literature and web based CWU Communications and images
for gender, race, age and disability (Existing policy)
g) C
an we identify what proportion of young members, women, BAME, LGBT and disability members are participating
in union elections as candidates and as voters? (New policy)
h) W
e will undertake a formal major review and monitoring exercise for disabled and LGBT members by the end of 2014
to identify where these members are, what the union means to them and where our disability and LGBT activists and
potential activists are, which will include the Communications and Equality Departments, the LGBTAC and the DAC.
(New policy)
i) W
e will create Focus groups of women, BAME, Youth, Disabled and LGBT members for the purposes of undertaking
attitude surveys towards the union and towards becoming a CWU activist. This may be undertaken via telephone
and online polling. (New policy)
j) We will undertake a complete review of the representation of part-time workers in membership. (New policy)
2. National Structures and Roles
a) National Equality Structures (i.e. four Equality Advisory Committees, the NEC Equal Ops sub-committee and the roles
of the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of each Equality Advisory Committee) should be reviewed. The aim of the review will be
to look at ways of improving direct contact and interaction between the NEC and the Equality Advisory Committees.
The review will be concluded in sufficient time to allow for rule amendments to be submitted to Conference 2015
should changes be necessary. (New policy)
b) B uilding on existing good practice, the various Advisory Committees will be given more defined roles and
responsibilities and clear objectives as regards new activist development. (New policy)
c) Improved monitoring of CWU staff diversity to be reported annually to the NEC. (Existing policy)
d) There will be a review of all employment practices for CWU and GMB represented grades who work for the CWU,
in line with our commitment to the harmonisation of terms and conditions. (New policy)
e) A report will be drawn up concerning the practice of senior lay members retaining senior roles in the Branch or other
below NEC structures – should there be limits on dual roles which may block progression for others? (New policy)
Strength, Relevance and Equality through Proportionality 11
f) From 2016 onwards we will be provide an option for e-elections and online voting to improve participation
in elections at all levels wherever possible. (New policy/Conference decision)
g) A new form of Standing Orders Committee will be introduced for the Equality Conferences. This will be based
on the assignment of one member of the General Conference Standing Orders Committee, and two additional
members elected by and from delegates to the Equality Conference, at the end of each conference. (Rule Change)
3. Regional and other below National Structures
a) One of the three senior Regional Officers should be a woman. (Rule Change)
b) A
ttendance at Regional Committees should be monitored and reported for proportionality.
(New policy)
c) Branches to encourage, support and fund specialist training for equality, BAME, Youth and Women Reps. (New policy/
Conference decision)
d) Attendance at Regional Committees should be monitored for proportionality. (New policy)
e) T he NEC will review the effectiveness of Regional Sub-Committees. This will include more closely defining the roles
and responsibilities for Regional Equality/Women’s/Youth Committees and their Officers.
(New policy)
f) A
n online template will be introduced to allow monitoring of regional/divisional level industrial bodies to ensure that
they are representative of under-represented groups. Encouragement will be given to the relevant Regional/Branch
Equality Officers to attend Ex-Officio if necessary to improve balance. (New policy)
4. Branches
a) As part of every Branch Financial Plan a proportion of Branch funds must be allocated to ensure branch
representation at Equality Conferences and events. This will prioritise the development of new activists from
under-represented groups and improving their proportionality. (Rule change)
b) All CWU Conference contingents (defined as the total number of members in paid attendance from the Branch)
should be representative of the Branch Membership. As a minimum should always have one woman and one under
30 delegate. (New policy/Conference decision)
c) Ensure constitution allows for the creation of sub-committees to ensure the equality strands are represented
in Branch activity and policy making. (New policy)
d) Should portable or retired members continue to hold senior roles in their Branches? Should there be restrictions on
those who no longer work in the industry holding positions which may ‘block’ progression? (New policy)
e) Branches should avoid over reliance on a small number of reps taking on multiple key roles in the Branch.
Possible rule change to limit individuals occupying too many roles? (Rule change)
f) There should be defined roles and responsibilities for Branch Youth, Women’s and Equality Officers with clear lines
of accountability and reporting. The Branch Women’s Officer should become a defined Branch Officer position
within the Branch Constitution. (Rule Change)
g) Branches should be encouraged to create positions/committees to cover equality strands and part timers.
(New policy)
12 Strength, Relevance and Equality through Proportionality
5. Training, Development, Mentoring, Access and Culture
a) Mandatory training will be provided for all Branch Secretaries in gathering and using membership data.
(New policy/Conference decision)
b) N
ational Mentoring programme and guide to be developed which brings together existing industrial and central
services best practice. (New policy)
c) Guidelines for fully accessible meetings and venues to be issued to Branches including clear guidance on alcohol
at meetings and the use of licensed premises for CWU meetings. (New policy)
d) Branches should develop a Branch Communications plan covering social media email; and a web presence; as well as
traditional paper based communications. Conference Policy. (New policy/Conference decision)
e) The Education and Training Department to update and redesign the mandatory one day equality and diversity course
and to produce a register of all Representatives who have undertaken this to be sent to Branches so that they can
arrange training for those who still require it, which should be completed by the end of 2014. (Existing policy)
Strength, Relevance and Equality through Proportionality 13
Branch Forum
A Branch forum will be held in London on 28 January 2014 as advised in LTB 859/13 and LTB 017/14.
The aim of the Forum will be:
●To
engage Branches in the debate around proportionality
●To
assess Branch attitudes towards the themes and the recommendations contained within them
●To
build consensus around key recommendations
●To
inform the NECs approach to any potential rule and policy proposals relating to proportionality for General
Conference 2014 and beyond.
As well as Branch delegations the forum will be attended by the NEC, Officers to the NEC, PEC and T&FSE Members,
Regional Secretaries and Chairs of all the Advisory Committee who will attend as of right.
General Conference 2014
The NEC has scheduled a special meeting following the forum to submit any necessary policy or rule changes in time
for General Conference 2014.
14 Strength, Relevance and Equality through Proportionality
Notes
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04279 Printed and published by the Communication Workers Union 2014

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