Islington UNISON UNISON's vote to uphold of the 'old' Clause 4 was welcome in a situation when most union leaders are falling in behind Blair's New Labour.
Rodney Bickerstaffe, UNISON's current associate general secretary and frontrunner for the top job when Alan Jinkinson retires, made a passionate speech at Labour's special conference against the notion of 'rigours of competition' extolled in Blair's new Clause 4.
Since then he has defended representative democracy against the attacks made on the union for not balloting its members on the new Clause, and declared his support for the far-reaching left policies endorsed by the union's Affiliated Political Fund conference in May.
On the level of policies, UNISON now is well to the left of Blair, through its commitment to the welfare state, public services and renationalisation, opposition to all forms of competitive tendering, support for a minimum wage of f4.15 rising to two thirds of average male earnings, and the repeal of the ant-union laws.
Bickerstaffe supports these policies, and deserves our support in the political fight to commit a Labour hours. government to implement such policies immediately it is elected. He also backs UNISON's opposition to any weakening of the unions' link to or voice in the Labour Party. TONY BLAIR got a helping hand in his offensive against union. democracy when the Communication Workers Union balloted its membership over the new Clause Four.
The CWU has played a central role in winning other trade unions to his all-new Labour Party. The leadership will now be in the forefront of those trying to limit the commitments of the next Labour government.
But there are already signs that the Blairites will not have everything their own way. In the run up a number of regions However, this is only part of the picture. The union has sound policies but an appalling track record in action.
UNISON members who work in health, local government, education and the utilities, have been devastated by the "rigours' of competition, If they still have a job, many of them will have seen their pay and conditions savaged avoided. Bickerstaffe, has failed to organise any national campaign against these attacks.
At best branches have been left to fight on their own. But as every new piece of anti-union legislation is adout their attack. hered to by UNISON, naUNISON's 'new realist tional action to defend strategy members and defeat Governpaigns and lobbying, mild ment attacks has been support to branches, avoiding national industrial action and compliance with the anti-union legislation is a total failure. ' The crisis of the unions strategy is compounded by its financial crisis, the totally inefficient national membership register computer and the lack of any progress at a local level towards a full merger of branches. The failure of the union's strategy is most obviously in the health sector. Thousands of jobs have been axed and hospitals have closed, in most cases without active union opposition. Moves to impose the insulting 1% national pay offer, topped up to 3% through local pay bargaining with vicious Trust bosses now threatens a fresh onslaught on members' tions. But as anger has grown, the union has now been overtaken in militancy and public profile by the traditionally right wing Royal Colleges of Nursing and Midwives. With Even the old "days of acmorale at rock-bottom in with balloons and health branches, unless UNIfunny hats have disappeared.
SON gets its act together Now branches are made to quickly it could begin losing jump through innumerable nursing members to these ribureaucratic hoops and wait val organisations. weeks before holding a lawYet the only response so ful and official ballot by far has been a successful which time the dispute is lost, lunch-time protest in March, as the employers have carried which is now being followed out on the telecom side was probably due to disillusion at the hours of attendance agree- conference will be sub-conment made last year. And the tracting, hours of attendance failure of the three hard left and performance related pay. candidates had a lot to do with In the Post Office, "coma vicious smear sheet that was mercial freedom" has become distributed in the union. the key phrase of the leadership. It envisages a partnerBiarite project ship between the private sector and the Post Office The CWU leadership clearly already has in place a Blairite competing for the postal services throughout Europe. project for the Post Office and This would mean job losses This will for postal workers in other come up against a memberEuropean countries, for the ship at general conference benefit of the British Post Ofwho will challenge the leaderfice. ship over Clause Four and the In British Telecom the siturights of delegates to make Nation is even worse. There is their own decisions within un• HO CHANGE CHARGES DEMONSTRATE UNISO UNISON
DUDL
NURSE