NATIONAL YOUNG WORKERS EDUCATION EVENT 2017

Radisson Blu Hotel, Liverpool

13th October – 15th October

REPORT

JAKE FEAR - CHAIR’S INTRODUCTION

This year’s education event was held in Liverpool and for the first time the delegation was at full

capacity - which is excellent. We started out the event with my opening remarks and National

President, Jane Loftus and Senior Deputy General Secretary; Tony Kearns welcomed delegates and

spoke candidly about the union and the role of the younger members within it. The ice breaker

session – the now tradition bingo activity - worked really well this year and everybody got involved.

The workshops on the Saturday morning gave delegates the chance to thoroughly get involved and

interact with the hosts and each other; there was some really good feedback from all the sessions.

Dave Ward’s keynote speech was greatly received by the delegates and I think we need to allocate

more time for this at next year’s event.

The mock conference on the Sunday is always a great finale to an amazing weekend and gave a lot of

the new delegates a chance to debate, discuss and speak in public for the first time in a warm and

friendly environment. There were lots of good debates and hopefully some of the motions will make

it onto the Agenda pad of next year’s Young Workers Conference in January.

This year’s event was one of the best and I thoroughly enjoyed chairing it, the committee stepped up

to the task and really helped out and hopefully this event continues for many years.

Jake Fear

Chair, National Young Workers Committee

SUMMARY OF THE WEEKEND

With the Mersey being the perfect backdrop, 78 people descended on Liverpool to come together

for the National Young Workers Education Event. It was a full house and for the first time the

delegation was split 50/50 between the two constituencies (Postal and Telecoms & Financial

Services). And the increase in women at the event was extremely welcome.

The weekend started with the North West Regional Young Workers Committee taking part in a

HOPEWalk to raise awareness of Papyrus UK – the charity the young workers section is supporting as

part of its Charity Promise. Their walk took them around the centre of Liverpool in glorious sunshine

sporting their Papyrus tees and handing out flyers.

The weekend proper started that Friday evening and a warm welcome was given by National

President, Jane Loftus and Tony Kearns, Senior Deputy General Secretary who spoke about the need

for young people to get more involved in the union. His “state of union” speech was, as ever,

grounding, and brought home the stark reality of declining membership. But the future is brighter

with those in the room needing to get more involved, to ingratiate themselves within the union

structures and move it forward to get to a stronger and relevant place.

The Saturday is always an extremely busy day with keynote speakers and workshops. The essence of

the weekend is always to help young members to grow in confidence, encourage them to get

involved, to speak up and speak out.

Krystal Finan, Joint Secretary of Kingston & Surbiton CLP and a student at Kingston University, lead a

discussion on mental health wellbeing and in particular the Labour Party’s campaign. The delegation

agreed that more needed to be done to open up a wider debate and pressure was needed to ensure

access to mental health services easier for all. A delegate stated in their feedback: “Good to see that

mental health is being recognised and more help is being made available”.

The workshops were hosted by Papyrus UK, Cuba Solidarity Campaign, Andrew Towers (Head of

Political Strategy) and the Ron Todd Foundation. The Ron Todd Foundation workshop found

themselves putting their words into action with a trip onto the streets to source supplies such as

food and drink from surrounding businesses to hand out to the homeless.

Dave Ward, General Secretary, used his time to speak openly to the delegates about the redesign

project and their role within it. Like Tony, Dave urged the younger members to take part in the

debate to shape the union for the future and ensure that the union is fit for purpose and tailored to

meet the real demands of members both industrially and in the wider world such as the New Deal

for Workers campaign. Quotes from feedback included: “very passionate and informative”;

“Relaxed approach with lots of information - great to have him here supporting the young workers”.

The very popular roundtable discussions were hosted by Terry Pullinger, Deputy General Secretary

(Postal) and Andy Kerr, Deputy General Secretary (T&FS). This is an opportunity for delegates to

hear straight from the heads of each industrial department what the current issues affecting their

respective areas are and an opportunity for the delegates to ask direct questions. Industrially a lot is

going on and the discussions focussed on the Royal Mail dispute and campaigns such as the Close

the Gap campaign and pensions in BT.

The culmination of the weekend was always going to be the Mock Conference on the Sunday

morning. Always a lively session now that delegates were relaxed and more confident and better

equipped to be able to stand up and debate. Motions carried included working with BT to allow

members time-off calls to deal with issues that maybe affecting their mental health; an all-out strike

within Royal Mail following the mediation period; again a motion on the death benefit drew plenty

of debate and the motion to scrap it was eventually rejected.

Special thanks to the North West Young Workers Committee for supporting the event and organising

an amazing social event on the Saturday night which resulted in £160.00 being raised for Papyrus

UK.

Beth Elstob, Tyne & Wear Clerical Young Worker Rep, showed an emotional film about her recent

convoy trip on behalf of the CWUHA (the CWU Humanitarian Aid charity that raises funds and

essential practical assistance to overseas organisations in Moldova and Romania). The film

generated lots of questions and some delegates were keen to get more involved.

Jake Fear, Chair of the National Young Workers Committee said: “I found the whole weekend

inspiring and it was amazing to see so many of the delegates getting involved, speaking up and in

some cases standing their ground; you could see they felt comfortable enough in the environment

to do so – a truly great weekend”.

SUMMARY STATS

Over the course of the two days 78 people attended the event in varying different capacities. There

were a total of 57 young delegates which broke down into 28 from the postal constituency and 29

from the T&FS constituency. There was a substantial rise in the number of women who attended

which this year totalled 24. 38 branches were represented.

WORKSHOPS

PAPYRUS

Hosted by: Ged Flynn & Sarah Blackie

RON TODD FOUNDATION

Hosted by Bianca Todd

This workshop gave a snap shot of the accredited training that the Ron Todd Foundation offers in

partnership with Ruskin College. The workshop provided the CWU young workers with an

opportunity to explore the issues surrounding living in poverty gain a glimpse of what street

solidarity looks like and then provided an opportunity to connect theory with real world action.

CUBA SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN

Hosted by Ollie Hopkins

Intro of true or false facts on Cuba / a brief history of Cuba pre and post Revolution / one group

on 'Why should we care about Cuba?’ and another on ’What does international solidarity look like?'

/ work of CSC / US-Cuba relations / US Blockade info / Motions on Cuba.

GETTING ACTIVE IN POLITICS

Hosted by Andrew Towers

This session covered the current political situation in the UK, the CWU’s political work, why we do this and some of our key campaigns like a New Deal for Workers. The workshop also covered the Labour Party and Momentum and how young workers can get active in politics through the CWU.

PARTICIPANTS

Delegates

Name Branch

Abigail Yarwood Greater Mersey and SW Lancs Amal

Andrew Mercer Bootle Financial Services

Anita Kennedy Croydon & Sutton Amal

Ayan Ali South Midlands Postal

Beth Elstob Tyne & Wear Clerical

Beth Slater Kingston Area

Bryan Bell Scotland No 1

Carley May Lincolnshire & South Yorks

Connor McCann Meridian

Daniel Lewis Bootle Financial Services

Daniel Wrigley Bootle Financial Services

Deepak Rathod South Midlands Postal

Erin Brett Mersey

Gary Hamill N. Ireland Combined

Greg Barnes-Barrington Manchester Combined

Holly Bate Gloucestershire Amal

Jack England Great Western

Jade Horan Bootle Financial Services

Jaime Monsma Midland No 1

Jay Bhundia South West Middlesex Amal

Joanna Coombes Somerset, Devon & Cornwall

Joanna Dinsdale North East

John Gatrell Somerset, Devon & Cornwall

John McGinnis Edinburgh, Dundee & Borders

Jordan Hartley Kent Invicta

Joseph Riach Leeds No 1 Amal

Katy Pawlowski Midlands No 7

Kayleigh England North East

Kieran Burns Warrington Mail Centre

Lawrence Khoo Somerset, Devon & Cornwall

Leah Fay Cruikshank Greater Mersey and SW lancs Amal

Liam Reed South East Central

Louise Bradley South Yorkshire & District Amal

Mathew Garrard Colchester & District

Matt McMaster N. Ireland Combined

Nick Moore Western Counties

Ryan McAuley Scotland No 1

Scott Barter South East No 5

Sean Coyle Northern Ireland Combined

Stephanie Johnson Midlands No 7

Tanya Barrass Tyne & Wear Clerical

Umair Khan South West Middlesex Amal

Vincent Lee North West Lancs and Cumbria

William Hunt Gloucestershire Amal

Zoheb Sidik Leicestershire

National Young Workers Committee

Jake Fear, Chair South Wales

Elli Long Greater Mersey & South West Lancs

Colm McAuley Northern Ireland Combined

Becca Hufton Kent Invicta

Jamie George CCTV

Fiona Curtis Northern Ireland Telecom

Gina Ford Portsmouth, IOW & West Sussex

Laura Snell Eastern No 4

Daniel Coles East Midlands

Rebecca Watt Scotland No 1

Steve Jones NEC

Tracey Fussey NEC

Jo Thair PA

Workshop Hosts

Ollie Hopkins Cuba Solidarity Campaign

Ged Flynn Papyrus UK

Bianca Todd Ron Todd Foundation

Andrew Towers Political

Industrial Roundtable Discussions

Terry Pullinger, DGS (P)

Andy Kerr, DGS (T&FS)

Keynote Speakers

Jane Loftus, President Friday Welcome

Tony Kearns, SDGS Friday Night

Krystal Finan, Labour Campaign for Mental Health Saturday Morning

Dave Ward, GS Saturday lunchtime

Beth Elstob, CWUHA Convoy Sunday Morning

Other Attendees

Paddy Magill, GC SOC Presenting Conference Procedures Section

Simon Sapper, Guest (Saturday only)

Charlie Pullinger, Communications

April O'Neill, Communications

Sharron Willis - Research/Library (Table)

Jack Dodd - Unionline (Table)

Katherine Godrich - Unionline (Table)

FEEDBACK

At the end of the weekend delegates were asked to complete a feedback form. The majority of the

feedback gave a rating or Excellent or good, but further comments given can be broken down as

follows:

Keynote Speech – Tony Kearns, Senior Deputy General Secretary

“Excellent”

“Really enjoyed hearing Tony”

“Very inspiring and motivating”

“Never a dull moment with Tony Kearns”

“Well spoken”

“Very good speech from Tony”

“Nice relaxed vibe. Not intimidating at all”

“Tony Kearns gave a great speech. Put out some great points. Feel more enthusiastic about the

union CWU”

Icebreaker Session

“This was fun” “Met good people” “Good to interact with different people from different parts of the country from different branches” “Brought me out of my comfort zone and got me to engage with people” “Not my cup of tea, but it’s still a great exercise for new people” “Really fun” “Very fun to do” “Forced to embrace social awkwardness. I was wearing blue socks which enabled me to talk to everyone!” “Always a good way to network” “Was great fun. Got to know people. Helped communicating enormously”

Keynote Speaker – Krystal Finan, Labour Campaign for Mental Health

“Very motivational lady”

“Good information for supporting mental health”

“Good to see that mental health is being recognised and more help is being made available”

“Very informative”

“Motivational”

“Good way to get conversation going”

“She spoke from the heart. Really good”

“She gave amazing speech”

GROUP WORKSHOPS

Cuba Solidarity Campaign

“Inspired me to get involved”

“Good session – didn’t know about it so was a good learn”

“Amazing subject and campaign. Will look to get more involved”

Really good overview of what has happened and how the Cuba Solidarity Campaign helps”

“The best workshop I have attended. Really interested”

Ron Todd Foundation

“Excellent”

“A very practical workshop. Amazing experience going out onto the streets of Liverpool to supply

food and drink to those who need it”

“A humbling experience. Definitely opened my eyes”

Papyrus UK

“Excellent”

“Ged and Sarah were very warm and open. It was an informative session. I am pleased that we are

affiliated to them”

Getting Active in Politics

“Great information, great resources”

“Was interesting to hear about some of the ways you can approach people and how easy it is to get

involved”

“Exchanged emails with Andrew to get involved”

“A lot of good information”

“Had so much to learn about politics. Andrew gave great advice on how to become an MP. Keen to

learn more”

Keynote Speech – Dave Ward, General Secretary

“Excellent”

“Very passionate and informative”

“Always great to see HQ make appearances at these events - gives new and more experienced

members validation and recognition.”

“Lots of good information from Dave”

“Relaxed approach with lots of information. Great to have him here supporting the young workers”

“As always pleasure to hear Dave. He gave us, the young workers, the confidence and push to go

further”

Plenary Session – Conference Procedures and Motions

“Got to speak to even more people and build friendships”

“Got people talking”

“There was a lot to take in and it was quite confusing”

“All the information we needed. But – it was impossible to make it sexy or exciting. Very useful

though”

“Paddy did well in explaining the complicated procedures”

“Great discussion about writing motions. Gives confidence to talk at the mock conference”

INDUSTRIAL ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS

Postal – Terry Pullinger, DGS(P)

“Terry is always rock solid”

“Loved hearing from Terry Pullinger”

“It’s great to see HQ, in this case Terry Pullinger, at these events especially after an important time

for postal. Wish we had more time.”

“Lots of great information from Terry”

“Good update. Nice to be involved in the dispute conversation. Great Q&A session”

“One of the best parts of the weekend”

“Very useful updates on the industrial dispute”

“Always a highlight. Terry did well to explain the current situation”

T&FS – Andy Kerr, DGS(T&FS)

“It was amazing to get Andy to answer our questions”

“Lots of good questions”

“Only really BT and Santander discussed”

“Always good to hear from Andy Kerr about current situation with the companies”

SATURDAY NIGHT SOCIAL

“Amazing people, food and lovely table setting”

“That was a hell of a lot of bingo!”

“Engaged everyone”

“We did a fantastic job!”

“Awesome evening”

“Great choice to speed up the bingo – kept it fun and fresh! Great to have us all together for one

night”

“Bingo dragged on far too long. Would have been good to do something to do with Liverpool”

“Very nice evening”

KEYNOTE SPEAKER – BETH ELSTOB, CWUHA CONVOY EXPERIENCE

“Really moving, would like to get more involved”

“Great presentation, could have used two songs rather than one on a loop”

“Inspired me to get involved, but first I have got to learn to drive!”

“It’s great to see these presentations as it helps the delegates see the difference aspects of the

CWU”

“Good video”

“Fantastic effort”

“She is an angel. My respect to her for her good work”

“Really inspiring, amazing to see what the CWU takes part in”

“Good experience”

WORKSHOP REPORT BACKS

“Great to see what everyone worked on”

“Good to see new delegates take the chance to share their experiences”

“Good insight”

“Good report-backs”

“Great to hear from the other workshops”

“Very good feedback from everyone”

“Really good”

MOCK CONFERENCE

“A laugh”

“It’s brilliant to see how conference works”

“Fun, engaging and practical. Great contributions and some brilliant honesty. Get the equality

motion submitted to General Conference”

“Very good conference; lots of talking and laughs”

“Very useful for newbies, etc. Enjoyed it”

“Brilliant to have a light hearted conference to give new young workers a chance to debate and learn

about conference”

“A great opportunity to gain valuable experience to learn about motions and conference and the

ability to speak”

THE WEEKEND AS A WHOLE

“I really enjoyed the weekend event. It was knowledgeable and fun. It was lovely to get together with other young workers. Thank you for inviting me and I would do it again. The effort put in by all was fantastic.”

“Excellent – chill as hell” “Very informative and inspiring” “I have no idea how to explain just how vital this event is for young workers" “Very well organised as always”

“It’s been a great experience – can’t wait for next time”

“Enjoyable weekend organised”

“Thanks everyone” Liverpool was brilliant”

“We should utilise the cities we stay in more, we make bids based on what a city can offer, but never use it”

“Great event”

“Brilliant weekend again. Massive thank you to everyone who make the event happen”

“I think we didn’t do enough of anything to do with Liverpool. With so much history to the city such as Hillsborough, the slave trade and a huge amount of trade union history. It was a shame we didn’t have anything on it. We didn’t get to experience the city (apart from after social). Obviously trains were bad, but nothing we could do about that. Overall a good weekend. I took a new delegate and she loved it and is now well on board”

“Fantastic experience for my last education event. Liverpool has been a great city and the event itself has been an excellent experience. Learned so much”