Public Services Section
The 2006 GMB Congress voted to move to three Industrial Sections:
- Commercial Services
- Manufacturing
- Public Services
The three sections are headed by a national secretary with a number of national officers working from Wimbledon. Within each region each section is headed by a senior organiser who is responsible to the regional secretary and leads a team of GMB officers, membership development officers, organisation officers and support staff.
Public Services Section
Headed by Neil Derrick
The Public Services section is for members of the union who are employed in local authorities, schools, the NHS, further and higher education, passenger transport and voluntary organisations. There are almost 330,000 members in the Public Services section which is 47% of the unions membership.
In Yorkshire and North Derbyshire, GMB is a major presence in every local authority area. In the major councils such as Sheffield and Leeds we represent thousands of workers in the whole range of council roles. In Leeds City Council GMB is the largest union representing over 7,500 members.
In the NHS, GMB prides itself on having local organisers in touch and involved with health service membership in Trusts across the region. We represent all grades of staff from nurses to admin, ambulance personnel, technical staff, cleaning, catering and many others. Our reps are leading the way in providing advice and support on the implementation of Agenda for Change.
The creation of the new National Negotiating Body for school support staff, which will come into existence in September 2008, is a result of years of campaigning by GMB members and their union. The new body will create new nationally bargained terms and conditions for all school based support staff for the first time ever. In Yorkshire we are building our network of school based members, reps and contacts to ensure that any proposed terms are subject to the widest possible consultation and a secret ballot before they are implemented. It is envisaged that the new terms, if endorsed, will come into effect in September 2009.
Each Section holds conferences to give active members of the Union in related industries opportunities to discuss issues of common interest. Even if members can’t attend the conferences personally, they can send motions on any issue affecting their industry through their branch.
If a particular industry has national negotiations, the conferences are the opportunity to influence the bargaining agenda that GMB’s National Officials raise with the employers.