I have always attended the finance department fringes if attending Congress as a delegate but this article reflects on the debate on Congress floor, dealing with rep expenses, subscriptions and the annual accounts.
This year the income and expenditure statement shows a small surplus, but I was pointed to the growth in net assets, in particular cash balances. I need to read the report more thoroughly.
The debate consisted of a series of motions, including two “Emergency Motions”, both of which were on rep. expenses. The ordinary motions were on access to digital tools (M43), the funding of GMB presence at the Tolpuddle festival (M44) and on legal support and roles M45. These are on pp49-50 of the Final Agenda. The motions on expenses, EM10 & EM11 were not available to me at the time of writing, despite being nearly three months after the event. They were both about increasing the rates of subsistence and pay for reps.
The debate on the financial proposals and Gary Smith’s introduction to the accounts is also on video.
On the state of the Union’s finances, the real operating surplus was £401k, which represents a slight drop in value on £74½ m turnover, itself up by £5m.
The cash held figure is up by £4.1m, with total net assets up to £133m by £17m. It is these numbers rather than the operating surplus which allow the leadership to claim such a rude health. This positive report is caused by ending the special pension fund payments of £10m p.a. They also claim that the fund is now very healthy, so I hope for a reduction in employer contributions next year. On the positive side, the Union has been earning through the resolution of legally managed equal pay disputes, but they may also need to reserve against a Unionline fraud which Is being investigated by the police.
The CEC recommend a member’s subscription freeze.
During the debate, one of the speakers called for the restoration of the branch remittance to 10%. Branch expense is up, but down from 2021 when it was £6½m. It would seem that the cut in branch remittance has not saved what they expected.
After the Congress ended, I was pointed at the Union’s AR21, which showed that the GS salary has increased, from £166k to £176k. CEC honouraria expense, excluding the President and Vice President, has fallen, 19 of 55 ordinary executive members of the GMB CEC were paid a sum total of £144k ranging from £1,000 to £16K. I must remember to look at the AR21, if available, before Congress next year. Only the AR21 reports on the leadership costs.