Delegates gather for conference

BECTU Conference attendees arrive at Eastbourne

Hundreds of BECTU reps have arrived in Eastbourne for the union's 2001 conference.

Annual conference is the union's supreme decision-making body, and will set policy for the coming year.

The National Executive Committee, responsible for day-to-day running of the union between conferences, will be reporting a budget surplus of £0.24m at the end of 2000, and stable membership, despite hundreds of job losses among permanently employed workers in broadcasting and film laboratories.

Among the key decisions to be made at this year's conference are changes to the formula for payment of membership subscriptions. The NEC will ask conference to accept changes that increase freelance subscriptions for the first time in four years, and put a new cap of £400 per year on dues from higher-paid members.

Conference will also decide on plans to move the union's Head Office to South London, enabling BECTU to rent out its current Wardour Street HQ at a profit.

The NEC will also be presenting a rule change which will ensure that the President is elected from the membership as a whole by postal ballot.

Winter Gardens Eastbourne - Conference 2001 venue

Last month the union lost a legal case, after a member complained to the government's Union Certification Officer that the current practice of selecting the President from among members of the NEC did not comply with UK labour laws.

Several propositions from branches are due to be debated, including a call for BECTU to disaffiliate from the Labour Party, which is being resisted by the NEC, and a demand for the union's website to be upgraded.

Guests attending the event include Stephen Cavalier from Thompson's Solicitors, who will be outlining a new package of legal services that the company will be offering to BECTU members.

Roger Croxton of pension advisers Berkeley Burke, will be explaining BECTU's stakeholder pension scheme, the first UK union pension scheme aimed specifically at freelancers.

In another presentation, Ilka Wakely from the website skillsformedia.com will explain how its new online career guidance service for film and TV workers will look when it is launched in June.

The outcome of any votes taken at the Conference will be published live on this website throughout the one-day meeting on Saturday May 12.