2001: First Meetings of Consultative Committees

The original three equalities committees – Women, BEM and LGBT – held their first meetings in early 2001.

One member from each of ASLEF’s districts was elected to the committee following the rule change at AAD the previous year.

Women’s Consultative Committee

The original committee members were:

• D1 Stephanie Mackay (Waterloo International)
• D2 Linda Ferguson (Glasgow)
• D3 Elizabeth Moran (Kirkdale) 
• D4 Stephanie Timlin (Tyne & Wear) Resigned November 2001 due to a lack of facilities to carry out the role, replaced by Pauline Cawood (Leeds) 
• D5 Tracy Carpenter (Bishop’s Stortford)
• D7 Irene Beattie (St Blazey) 
• D8 Marion Butcher (West Brompton) 

The first meeting was held at ASLEF’s head office in Arkwright Road on 12 March 2001 with the general secretary in attendance. Stephanie Timlin (D4) was elected as chair and Stephanie Mackay (D1) elected as secretary.

The committee agreed to: 

• Produce a newsletter 3 times a year following WCC meetings 
• Send a delegate to the ETF Women’s Conference in Zagreb 16 May and ETF Women Transporting the World Conference in Zagreb, 17 – 18 May
• Distribute a questionnaire to all women members seeking advice on progressing women’s issues and to assess the demand for women’s meetings in districts
• Distribute a briefing paper to the company council secretaries on women and managing for attendance procedures

Race Equality Consultative Committee

The original committee members were:

• D1 Ronald Gordon-Hill (Hither Green)
• D2 Paul Patmore (Edinburgh No.2) (joined July 2002)
• D3 Tony Phillips (Manchester Metro Link) (joined July 2002)
• D4 Surgeet Puee (Leeds) 
• D5 Floyd Doyle (Cambridge) (Floyd remains a member of the committee)
• D6 Tony Venson (Rugby)   
• D7 Leonardo Williams (Newport) 
• D8  Mervyn Lawrence (Morden)

The BEM committee’s first meeting was held on 3 September 2001 with the general secretary and president in attendance. Mervyn Lawrence (D8) was elected chair and Tony Venson (D6) elected as secretary.

The committee agreed to: 

• Send out a questionnaire to BEM members on issues of importance to them 
• Produce a newsletter to be sent to members, updating them on the work of the committee 
• Carry out the ethnicity monitoring exercise again in 2002 as many branches had not responded

Sexual Equality Consultative Committee

• D1 Zoi Kakouris (Brighton) (joined July 2002)
• D2 David Jamieson (Edinburgh No.2) (joined July 2002)
• D3 Anita Clarke (Manchester Piccadilly No.1)
• D4 Susan Greenwell  (Gateshead & Newcastle) (Susan remains a member of the committee)
• D5 Jim Peters (Kings Cross) (joined July 2002)
• D6 Ross Jones (Euston) 
• D7 Neil Adams (Tyseley) 
• D8 Dave Bacon (LU Managers) 

The LGBT committee first met on 4th September 2001, with the general secretary present. Neil Adams was elected as chair and Dave Bacon as secretary.

The committee agreed to: 

• Produce a newsletter for members to keep them updated on the work of the committee
• Provide a briefing on Protocol 12 for the EC and District Councils and to write to the government urging them to ratify the protocol
• Set up a confidential database of members at head office
• Establish a position with ongoing work on pensions and travel concessions for same sex partners