IncreaseD Ne Deny Pay cannot be separated from cuts Islington UNISON 'A' branch HIGH ON the agenda of the first ever conference of UNISON, Britain's biggest union formed from the merger of NUPE, NALGO and COHSE, will be how to oppose the government's public sector pay freeze.
But the union leadership will put to the conference, which meets in Bournemouth from May 15-18, a toothless campaign lacking any definite com. mitment to action The leadership will face a series of opposition motions, but the most militant of these, calling for immediate ballots and an all-out strike will almost certainly be lost.
While the NEC hopes to composite all other motions into a single resolution on their own do-nothing policy, it is important that a third position - that of starting the campaign with a one-day strike - is debated separately, since this has a real chance of being carried.
A one-day strike will not end the wage freeze, but would act HOME NEWS as a rallying and mobilising point fo the whole public sector.
Pay cannot be separated as an issue from cuts in local government and other services. There is a real danger of the union conference leaders accepting pay deals which appear to bust the government's pay freeze, but which are in reality underfunded. This would leave local branches open to a situation where employers traded increased pay for jobs, with no prospect of any national action to back up a fightback on the jobs issue. Thus any pay campaign must include a fight for more funding to the public sector. A key executive argument against strike action is that it would be illegal. The recent ruling that a proposed NATHE strike was unlawful, because the union couldn't identify precisely the names and addresses of all its members within an accuracy of 10, makes it virtually impossible for a union claiming 1.4 million members ever to Key debate Far from being a reason not to have a strike, such outrageous court judgements can only be challenged by overturning them in practice. The issue of the anti union laws seems therefore certain to emerge as a Apart from pay, the two issues with most motions on the agenda are anti-facism/racism and the union's national rules. UNISON's compositing committee has tried to reduce the debate on anti-racism to the question of affiliation to the UNISON Conference Fringe Meeting for all left delegates For national action against Tory attacks!
For democracy in UNISON! CHAIR: Liz Short (Hackney Unison). SPEAKERS include Roger Bannister (Unison NEC)
and a speaker from GUY'S HOSPITAL SUNDAY MAY 15, 7.30pm MARSHAM COURT HOTEL, Bournemouth Organised by the London Campaign for a Fighting and Democratic Unison. To contact CFDU write to:
Islington UNISON A Branch, 1a Cannonbury St., London N1 2TA Anti-Nazi League. But there remains a separate group of resolutions about immigration controls, including an amendment calling on UNISON to join the campaign against the Campsfield detention centre.
Opposing racism cannot be reduced to fighting fascism on the streets. The issue of fighting state racism must also be given prominence by the labour movement, and the immigration controls debate gives an opportunity to highlight this question.
Rule changes
Rule changes - generally a signal for the conference hall to empty in favour of shopping expeditions - are central to this year's conference, with 108 motions tabled.
This is the first conference of the merged union and there has never been a serious opportunity to debate out these issues.
Unfortunately, what is likely to let the leadership off the hook on many issues is the disorganisation of the left.
While this may be to some extent unavoidable in a newly merged union, it is compounded by crass sectarianism.
The SWP have called a meeting to organise against the pay freeze, but have regrettably called it for after the pay debate on the conference floor; moreover it clashes directly with the meeting called by the London Campaign for a Fighting Democratic UNISON, which aims to co-ordinate left activists and regional caucuses around the themes of fighting for national action and democracy in the union.
Attempts to bring these two meetings together have foun dered on the SWP's insistence on a rally-type meeting dealing only with pay. Activists seriously interested in building a democratic left in UNISON should attend the meeting called by the London CDFU and other regional caucuses.