East Midlands Proud Newsletter no. 11

15 March 2004

The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 are in place, and now need to be made to work. If you consider that the Sex Discrimination Act came into force in 1975, and women still suffer discrimination, then you will realise that we have our work cut out. Keep up the pressure; this is only the beginning!

Steering Committee Meeting

The Steering Committee met after a long break on 15 January 04. There were a large number of briefings and reports to work through, so this was an extraordinarily long meeting. Among the items discussed were a new budget bid for the PROUD group, recognising that the bulk of the groups’ costs are travel and rail fares, which have risen recently, so we are looking to increase our claim too. We had also put in a bid as a union to the Department of Trade and Industry for funding to do work on promoting the new sexual orientation regulations, but we were not successful. The TUC, however, have received money to fund a campaign team to promote the regulations, and have begun by producing posters, which can be obtained from the TUC but have to be paid for – 3p each for size A4 and 5p each for size A3. I have some of these, so if there isn’t one up in your branch then let me know. The TUC will also be organising seminars and briefings on the Sexual Orientation Regulations.

The Steering Committee agreed to approach the EU for potential funds for our own work in PCS. One thing we discussed was to produce our own poster to highlight the regulations. Training officer, Jeff Grist has produced a Power Point presentation on the regulations designed to be shown to Branch Committee members as part of a training package. We need to develop more ideas for best practice on how to get this information widely known, and as a start we have formed a campaign committee, which I am a member of, so please direct any ideas you may have to me to take forward.

The Steering Committee also discussed possible campaigns in support of Civil Partnership, as proposals have been made for legislation to be introduced in this session of Parliament. We may need to gear ourselves up for a possible hostile and homophobic response to any such legislation.

Demonstration

The Government has now agreed that the Judicial Review of the Sexual Orientation Regulations will be heard in the High Court, The Strand, London on the 17th, 18th and 19th March 2004. PCS PROUD is intending to have a presence outside the court on the 17th at 9.00am to focus attention on the issue as the case is drawing a lot of media attention, and this will be an ideal opportunity for publicity for the group and for the union. Members are encouraged to attend so that we can make a big impact. This will mean for those members that do want to come along having to use leave, unfortunately.

Local Work

I have done a fair bit recently with the Land Registry Group in my capacity as a member of the Equal Opportunities Advisory Committee, by writing an article for the Group magazine and for the Group website about PROUD. I also attended a meeting recently with the Head of Equality and Diversity at Land Registry Head Office to discuss proposals for staff training on the new sexuality regulations. This went well, and we have agreed a number of action points, although these may take some time to implement as Land Registry priorities these days are very much targeted at productivity. But all government departments should be looking at staff training in the new regulations, and we should also be looking at ‘best practice’. For those of you who are active on your branch, can you be thinking about motions to put to your Branch AGM or Group Conference? Highlighting the new employment law on Sexual Orientation and committing your Branch or Group to publicise it to members through statements or articles, and pushing management to give diversity training for all staff would be a good one.

I have written out to PCS Branches in the East Midlands with copies of the PROUD poster and the new TUC poster, which publicises the sexual orientation regulations. I still have some of these posters (which we had to buy), so if your branch doesn’t have one up on its’ union notice board, then let me know and I’ll remedy the situation.

I have also written a short introduction about the PROUD group for the new Midlands Regional Newsletter, now that we have Regional Committees re-established, these will provide an important outlet for promoting the work of PROUD and both Owen Brown (West Midlands Rep.) and myself intend to be regular contributors to the magazine.

East Midlands Meeting

We had a meeting on Saturday lunchtime February 7th at the ‘Rainbow and Dove’, Northampton Square, Leicester. I had only advertised this to members with email, as the short notice didn’t allow me to produce a newsletter in time. It was nice to see West Midlands’ rep. Owen Brown and a couple of buddies come along! Members were keen to keep the meetings regular, and as such the suggestion has been made to hold them on the first Saturday of each month and that we alternate between Leicester and Nottingham, since this is where the majority of members are based. Hopefully, this will mean people can make a note in their diaries and make it easier for them to come along. To keep things simple, we’ll meet at the same venue in each locality, but can move on later. So the next few dates are:

First Saturday in each month for 1.00pm lunch

· 6 March 'Coco Lounge' George Street, Nottingham
· 3 April 'Rainbow and Dove' Northampton Square, Leicester
· 1 May - this is May Day, and I have been asked to set up a PROUD stall at Mansfield Trades Council – We may have our meeting here for a change, so watch this space
· 5 June 'Rainbow and Dove', Leicester
· 3 July ‘Coco Lounge’, Nottingham

Both venues do good food and are either gay or gay friendly. If members from other areas would like a meeting near to them, then please let me know and we’ll fix something up.

Stage 1 Training

For those of you who have not yet attended the PROUD stage 1 training course, or if it’s been a while and you need a refresher, the next one is 2-4 April in Eastbourne. I did circulate application forms by email recently – these can also be downloaded from the PCS PROUD web site, and no doubt will appear in the next edition of the magazine due out soon. Closing date is 19 March.

Change of Address

Would members please notify me if they change address or leave PCS so I can update our records? It would also be useful, as I have said before, if you would let me know your email addresses, as this makes contact and distribution of materials far easier and it’s free!

That’s all from me for now!

Jude Jackson