Information AboutAmicus |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT AMICUS | |
| trade unions of the united kingdom | |
| trade unions of the republic of ireland | |
| engineering trade unions | |
| 2001 establishments | |
For the legal term, see Amicus Curiae . For the film company, see Amicus Productions . Amicus is the United Kingdom 's second-largest Trade Union , and the largest private sector union, formed by the merger of several unions including MSF ( Manufacturing Science And Finance ) and the AEEU ( Amalgamated Engineering And Electrical Union ) agreed in 2001 . Amicus also organises in both parts of Ireland and is affiliated to the UK Trades Union Congress and the Irish Congress Of Trade Unions . INDUSTRY REPRESENTATION Amicus organises Worker s in almost every Industry , predominantly in the private sector. At the 2005 TUC Congress it was reported that Amicus had 1,200,000 members of whom 266,986 were female and 933,014 male. FOUNDATION When the merger to form Amicus was agreed, the General Secretary of MSF was Roger Lyons , and Sir Ken Jackson led the AEEU. When the merger came into force they both became Joint General Secretaries of Amicus. Jackson was forced to hold an election, and was replaced by Derek Simpson . In May 2004 , Simpson became General Secretary in his own right following the departure of Lyons. 'Amicus' was chosen for the name of this new union for its Latin meaning: ''friend, comrade'' (m). FURTHER MERGERS In late 2004 two other major unions joined Amicus - UNIFI (the union for the finance industry) and GPMU (the Graphical, Paper and Media Union). Currently, discussions are ongoing with the Transport And General Workers Union and the GMB with a view to merging. The resultant super-union would become the largest trade union in Britain and Ireland by a very large margin. Amicus is affiliated to the Labour Party . The Amicus Parliamentary Group includes about 120 MPs . ORGANISATION The supreme decision-making body of Amicus is its Policy Conference which convenes every two years. At other times, the National Executive Committee, which meets every two months, is responsible for governance of the union. However, the General Secretary is empowered to make executive decisions in the periods between meetings of the NEC. Amicus has a corporate office at 35 King Street in London's Covent Garden , and its main administrative centre is at Bromley in south-east London. The union runs two colleges, at Esher in Surrey and at Wortley Hall near Sheffield . There are numerous other premises across the British Isles to support activity in each of the union's 12 regions. Sectors Amicus is primarily a sector-based union. The industrial sectors are responsible for electing the majority of National Executive Committee members, and have the right to submit the majority of motions to the Policy and Rules Conferences. The remainder of NEC positions are regional and women's seats. Regions Amicus has 12 regions - Scotland , Wales , and the island of Ireland together with nine English regions corresponding to the British government's Regional Development Agencies . Each region has a Regional Council which meets every two months and is composed of about 35 delegates, elected by regional Sector, Women's, Equalities and Branch Conferences. An Amicus region typically contains several hundred branches, each of which represent a smaller group of members, running local campaigns on their behalf and providing a means for members to socialise with one another and increase their involvement in Amicus and the wider union movement. Nationally, there are about 1900 branches. Branches are typically organised on a workplace, geographical or sectoral basis, and vary in size from a few dozen to several thousand members. One reason for the wide variation in branch size and type is that, during the numerous union mergers which culminated in the formation of Amicus, branches were often not forced to merge. For this reason many branches are still based on the structures that existed in long-disappeared unions such as TASS . Some branches are inactive, for example because the workplace they represented no longer exists. As of 2005 , Amicus is currently contemplating a wholesale reorganisation of branches, primarily intended to close inactive branches or merge them with neighbouring ones which are more active. Not surprisingly this reorganisation is of some concern to branch activists, and many neighbouring branches have voluntarily merged to pre-empt any action from the centre. Other branches, for example those in the voluntary sector, are by their nature small, and have made representations to the NEC and the General Secretary in which they point out that a small branch is not necessarily an inactive one. Elections and local control The sectoral nature of Amicus contrasts with MSF where branches and regions held the majority of control and where branches were entitled to directly elect delegates to national policy and rules conferences. In Amicus, all conference delegates must be elected by a National Sector, Women's or Equalities Conference or a Regional Branch Conference. In general, committees of the union from branch level upwards must be composed of lay members elected by the group of members they represent, as per MSF custom and practice. A notable exception is for the secretary of a regional or national committee, who is usually a Full-Time Officer employed by the union. However, within the AEEU, branches were often chaired by Officers. Conferences and committees As a general rule any candidate for a position on a committee of the union must also be a workplace representative, in order to retain the connection with workplaces. However retired members may hold branch positions; until a rule change in 2005, retired members wishing to hold a position other than Branch Secretary needed the NEC's consent. An further exception is made for the equalities committees where a committee member is expected to be in employment but need not be a representative. Amicus conferences are organised on a two-yearly cycle with national Policy Conferences taking place in odd-numbered years, and sectoral, national equality and regional branch conferences being held in the intervening years. This differs with MSF and AEEU arrangements where national conferences took place on an annual basis. Similarly, Regional Councils meet every two months as opposed to monthly under MSF. A rule change in 2005 provided for the establishment of Area Committees which will consist of workplace representatives from a given geographical area, which will be smaller than the existing Regions. These will resemble the AEEU's District Committees. Plans are under way to set up these committees during 2006. The first and only Rules Conference of Amicus took place in 2005. The next Rules Conference is planned to take place in 2009. However, if a merger with another large union results in a new rule book, that conference is unlikely to take place as scheduled. EXTERNAL LINKS
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