Friday 17 December 2010

Equal Pay Claim can be heard in civil courts

I am indebted to Daniel barnett employment law barrister for supplying the following.
Equal Pay Claims in the Civil Courts

Judgment was given this morning in the High Court case of Abdulla v Birmingham City Council, in which 174 former employees of the Council assert that the failure to give them pay equal to various predominantly male groups of staff comprised a breach of their contracts of employment.
 The defendant had applied to strike out the claims, on the basis that the civil courts do not have or should not exercise jurisdiction in cases involving equal pay and the equality clause - particularly where the 6 month time limit for bringing claims in Employment Tribunal had expired.
 Colin Edelman QC, sitting as a Deputy Judge of the Queen's Bench Division, dismissed the application. He held that the High Court did have jurisdiction and declined to exercise any discretion to strike out claims which had been brought outside the 6 month time limit for Tribunal claims but within the 6 year limitation period for breach of contract claims.
  The council was refused permission to appeal, but is entitled to renew its application to the Court of Appeal.
 The judgment will be available shortly at http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2010/

Thursday 16 December 2010

Employment Law Update - Discrimination after the Equality Act

I am indebted to Simpson & Millar for the following. To download right click on the image and save



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Tuesday 14 December 2010

CWU Retired Members Conference 2011.

LTB 1091/10 - CWU Retired Members Conference - Thursday 3rd February 2011

No : 1091/10 Ref: RMConf/11/an Date: 7th December 2010
TO: ALL BRANCHES
Dear Colleagues,
CWU Retired Members Conference – Thursday 3rd February 2011
The CWU Retired Members Conference will be held on Thursday 3rd February 2011 at CWU Headquarters, 150 the Broadway, Wimbledon, London, SW19 1RX.
A) Delegates
Only Branches with Retired members Sections are entitled to send Delegates.
Branch delegate entitlement to this Conference as agreed by the NEC is as follows:
Number of Retired Members Delegate
entitlement
1-249 1
250-499 2
500 and above 3
Retired Members Regional Committee Secretaries shall attend the Retired Members conference with the right to speak and move motions on behalf of their Retired Members Regional Committee but not to vote. Funding for Retired Members Regional Committee Secretaries to attend Retired Members Conference shall be from General Fund. All funding for branch delegates shall be in line with Rule 11.6.1 (a).
Observers are also welcome to attend. It would be helpful, for administrative purposes, for details of observers to be entered on the form. Admission to the Conference for observers is by production of their membership card.
In order that we can cater for any delegate with special needs such as seating, etc., it is important that you advise us in writing of the name of the delegate(s) and the particular requirement by return but no later than Tuesday 4th January 2011.
As space is limited branches must advise of delegates and observers by Thursday 6th January 2011 using the appropriate form.
b) Motions
Each Branch is entitled to submit one motion for consideration to be included on the agenda of the Conference. Motions should be submitted electronically to conferences@cwu.org using the attached template. Confirmation of receipt of motion will be sent to branches within 72 hours. Should confirmation not be received within this time branches are asked to contact Angela Niven on 020 8971 7256 Branches who do not have this facility may request paper motion forms by contacting the Angela Niven on 020 8971 7256.
Each Retired Members Regional Committee is entitled to submit one Motion to the Retired Members Conference.
The Retired Members Advisory Committee are entitled to submit up to three motions to the Conference, standing in their name.
Motion forms must be returned by Thursday 6th January 2011, if by post by first post or 12 noon if submitted electronically. All sections of the form must be completed.
If Motions are being sent electronically they will only be accepted to the above email address.
As with previous Conferences, the agenda will be structured in such a way as to maximise debate and participation by delegates. There will be 2 sections to the agenda, one for motions which are eligible for consideration for submission to General Conference, and one for motions that in the view of the Standing Orders Committee would not be admissible to the General Conference agenda.
Branches will be aware that the Retired Members’ Conference has the entitlement under the rules of the union to submit 2 motions to stand in the name of the conference to General Conference. It is therefore important that if branches wish their motions to be in this category, they must contain policy that is capable of being discharged by the NEC, as opposed to either of the Industrial Executives.
The 2 motions for submission to the General Conference agenda will be decided from amongst those motions adopted at the Conference. A ballot to select the 2 motions will be held at the Conference.
c) Election of Delegates to General Conference
As you will know, the Retired Members’ Conference will select two delegates to represent the Retired Members to attend General Conference 2011.
The Standing Orders for the Retired Members’ Conference will advise a ballot to select these two delegates will be conducted during Conference itself.
Additionally, individuals must be willing to accept nomination, and must have the nomination of their own branch and/or the Retired Members’ Advisory Committee, to be eligible.
The exception to this are members of the Retired Members’ Advisory Committee themselves who may be proposed for these positions but need to have the nomination of the Retired Members’ Advisory Committee and/or any Regional Committee.
Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to Angela Niven either by post to head office or by email to Conferences@cwu.org
Yours sincerely,

A P Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary

CWU Womens Conference - Delegates, Visitors and Motions.

TO: ALL BRANCHES

Dear Colleagues,
CWU Women’s Conference 2011 - Saturday 5th February 2011
As you will be aware, the CWU Womens Conference will be held on Saturday 5th February 2011 at Edinburgh Training Centre, 16 St Mary’s Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SU.
Delegates
Branches are entitled to send two delegates to the Conference. The details of delegates should be included on the appropriate form that is attached to this LTB. The completed form should be returned to Head Office no later than Thursday 6th January 2011.
Observers are also welcome to attend. It would be helpful, for administrative purposes, for details of observers to be entered on the form. Admission to the Conference for observers is by production of their membership card.
In order that we can cater for any delegate with special needs such as seating, it is important that you advise us in writing of the name of the delegate(s) and the particular requirement by return but no later than Tuesday 4th January 2011.
Crèche facilities will be available to delegates during the Conference and Branches should advise the Equal Opportunities Department in writing, by return, but no later than Tuesday 4th January 2011 if they require the use of this facility. Please ensure that the names and ages of the children, together with an appropriate address for sending the crèche form to for completion are included in this advice. It will not be possible to provide on the spot facilities to those delegates who have not informed us in advance.
Motions
Each Branch is entitled to submit 1 motion for consideration to be included on the agenda of the Conference. Motions should be submitted electronically to conferences@cwu.org using the template attached. Branches who do not have this facility may request paper motion forms by contacting Angela Niven on 020 8971 7256.
Motion forms must be returned by Thursday 6th January 2011, if by post by first post or 12 noon if submitted electronically. All sections of the form must be completed. If submitted electronically only motions emailed to the above email address will be accepted.
As with previous Equality Conferences, the agenda will be structured in such a way as to maximise debate and participation by delegates. There will be 2 sections to the agenda, one for motions which are eligible for consideration for submission to General Conference, and one for motions that in the view of the Standing Orders Committee would not be admissible to the General Conference agenda.
Branches will be aware that the Women’s Conference has the entitlement under the rules of the union to submit 2 motions to stand in the name of the conference to General Conference. It is therefore important that if branches wish their motions to be in this category, they must contain policy that is capable of being discharged by the NEC, as opposed to either of the Industrial Executives.
As with previous Equality Conferences, the 2 motions for submission to the General Conference agenda will be decided from amongst those motions adopted at the Conference. A ballot to select the 2 motions will be held at the Conference.
Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to Angela Niven either by post to head office or by email to conferences@cwu.org

DAC & WAC Ballot results

Date: 13 Dec 2010, 02:28:06 PM
Subject: Advisory Committees 2011 - Ballot Results
To: The Branch Secretary

Dear Colleague
Advisory Committees 2011 – Ballot Results

Further to LTB 1034/10 please find below the results of the ballots for the above Advisory Committee’s
WOMEN’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Postal Constituency
7 Lay members
Marie Butler, Bristol & District Amal 28,682
Katie Dunning, West London Postal 42,045 (Elected)
Sinead Fitzpatrick, Northern Ireland Combined 25,253
Jackie Gatward, Shropshire & Mid Wales 62,494 (Elected)
Amanda Hill, Eastern No 5 36,858
Kate Hudson, Northamptonshire Amal 52,579 (Elected)
Elaine Johnstone, Worcester & Hereford Amal 21,126
Kathryn Kelly, Newcastle Amal 38,309
Vera Kelsey, Wolverhampton & Dist Amal 73,259 (Elected)
Annemarie McCall, North Lancs & Cumbria 40,421 Elected)
Helen Ogilvie, Scotland No 2 55,154 (Elected)
Vicki Turner, Leeds No 1 39,431 (Elected)
Number of ballot papers issued 86
Number of ballot papers returned 62
Spoiled ballot papers 0
WOMEN’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Engineering Constituency
3 Lay members
Karen Bosson, Manchester Combined 20,001 (Elected)
Patricia Clouder, South London Surrey & Nth Hampshire 5,757
Charlotte Hawkins, Greater London Combined 9,902
Vivien Holding, Northern Ireland Engineering 15,355 (Elected)
Jean Sharrocks, North East Branch 15,812 (Elected)
Number of ballot papers issued 43
Number of ballot papers returned 27
Spoiled ballot papers 0

DISABILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Postal Constituency
7 Lay members
Brian Booth, Coventry Area 58,536 (Elected)
Gary Clarke, Scotland No 2 56,277 (Elected)
Peter Flook, Bristol & District 34,344
Stevie Gribben, Northern Ireland West 28,667
Richard Hirtsch, Leeds No 1 40,109 (Elected)
Annemarie McCall, North Lancs & Cumbria 50,354 (Elected)
Sajid Shaikh, Birmingham District Amal 58,510 (Elected)
Tony Sneddon, Scotland No 5 72,240 (Elected)
Ted Stead, Oldham & Rochdale Amal 81,128 (Elected)
Number of ballot papers issued 86
Number of ballot papers returned 62
Spoiled ballot papers 0

Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s Department on telephone number 0208 971 7237 or email address sdgs@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely,

Tony Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary

Wednesday 8 December 2010

CWU Women's Conference - Be there.

The CWU Womens Conference will take place in Edinburgh on Saturday 5th February 2011 at Edinburgh Training Centre, 16 St Mary’s Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SU. Please come along and make your voice heard in the CWU. All enquiries to my Department.

Monday 6 December 2010