Islington UNISON 'A' Branch DELEGATES attending the first local government conference of UNISON on March 4 could be forgiven for feeling like extras on a film set.
National paid officials clearly saw the conference more as a cross between an exercise in crowd control and a sound check rather than a policy making meeting.
This was the first significant national conference in UNISON since the merger of NALGO, NUPE and COHSE. To ex-NALGO delegates the differences quickly became apparent.
There were far fewer paper sellers outside the doors reflecting the reduction in numbers of delegates from left organisations. Inside there was much more rigid control, no stalls from political groups, and no leafletting allowed.
Even requests for printing or distribution had to be approved by the standing orders committee under the "guidance" of the ubiquitous Roger Poole, whom many of us had last seen on our television screens selling out the ambulance workers a few years ago.
It wasn't long before cracks began to appear in the veneer of efficiency. Towards the end of the first day the management of proceedings degenerated into farce as it became apparent that the voting figures allocated to branches bore no relationshipto real membership.
Delegates poured up to the rostrum to protest at wrong figures, as much as 2,000 votes out in one branch, and the conference had to be adjourned in the middle of the first card vote.
The next day officials Just Out!
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The key debate over cuts and the pay freeze took place on the second day. Service Group Executive (SGE) succeeded in defeating any and all proposals for specific national strike action over cuts, privatisation or the pay freeze.
Balloons
On the devastation of local government by cuts and Compulsory Competitive Tendering, all the SGE had to offer was the usual balloon-waving campaigning.
While they made much of their support for a Day of Actiòn they resolutely opposed and defeated a proposal for a national strike on this day (whenever it is, they couldn't give a date).
They said this would be illegal and, as Morning Star supporter Judy Cotter said for the SGE, "a kamikaze action that would destroy our union."
If the executive were bereft of ideas the challenge from the left was not particularly sharp either. Speeches were not well made and showed some confusion.
There were some promising signs amongst the gloom. Although the bureaucracy won all the crucial votes their margin of victory was small. The proposal for a national one day strike got 47% of the vote on a card vote.
On the final day the Executive lost a number of votes over lesser issues and the left showed some organisation, successfully moving the agenda along to reach motions that had been put at the end of the agenda by the standing orders committee in the hope that they would not be reached.
One of these motions which Jobs and services under threat - but UNIISON chiefs are scared of strikes was carried calls on the NEC and political fund conference to consider removing sponsorship from UNISON sponsored Labour MPs (ie David Blunkett) who did not vote for the age of consent to be lowered to 16 for gay men.
Organise
The crucial issue for the left is still the need for organisation. A fringe meeting called under the heading 'Building a Fightback' was sponsored by 25 branches and showed a militant spirit that was absent from the conference itself.
The organisers (SWP) have promised a recall meeting for sponsoring branches but it is not clear whether they can be persuaded of the need for an ongoing, democratic structure as opposed to a series of ad hoc meetings called by them.
The other strand of organisation is through a number of regional caucuses that have formed, most notably the North East Broad Left and the London CFDU.
The London CFDU, is supporting an initiative to co-ordinate the regional caucuses at a national level.
Both of these initiatives are welcome and preferably can be drawn together to form one national left organisation.
For this to happen trust needs to be built and and past antagonisms overcome.
This can only be done on the basis of democratic structures.