Media and Union leaders launch assault on activists
TONY Blair's advice to the TUC to "modernise their structures like the Labour
Party has" did not go unheeded.
Within months UNISON's leadership has launched an attack on union democracy and has
found support that well known friend of the trade unions - Rupert Murdoch.
Rodney Bickerstaffe sent a circular to UNISON Branches urging them not to support the
lobby of Labour Party conference which was called to demand that the Labour Party defend
welfare services in accordance to UNISON policy.
Whilst this probably helped build support for the 8,000 strong lobby it is clearly a
move to stop branches for campaigning for existing UNISON policy.
At the same time the UNISON leadership has attempted to target branches affiliated to
the Campaign for a Fighting and Democratic UNISON (CFDU).
Numerous CFDU affiliated branches have had their accounts scrutinised in an attempt to
show financial irregularities, and not a shred of evidence has come to light. Despite this
the UNISON leadership are pursuing their witch-hunt.
Full time regional officials in Leeds have taken away the branch's computer simply
because the branch is affiliated to the CFDU. Incredibly a report into the incident has
concluded that disciplinary action could be taken not against the full time officials but
against three members of the branch who support the CFDU.
At UNISON's last National Executive Committee Rodney Bickerstaffe announced that there
was to be an investigation into the CFDU because it produced material on the Local
Government "single status deal".
Account Frozen
The Lewisham UNISON the branch bank accounts have been frozen because of unspecified
"financial irregularities". Because no specific charges have been made, members
of the branch have been unable to defend themselves against the vague accusations.
Many of them believe however, that underlying the charges are concern over the branch's
record in defending jobs and services, it's support for the lobby of Labour Party
conference and the fact that it has a considerable strike fund.
This last aspect would cause most concern for the bureaucracy since it allows the
branch more autonomy from the national leadership in taking industrial action.
"Insider"
On the October 26, Rupert Murdoch's Sunday Times published a front page article
quoting "insider" which accused "Hard-left militant extremists" of
infiltrating UNISON and "illegally syphoning off hundreds of thousands of pounds in a
plot to hijack it for their own purposes".
The article goes on to accuse the Nottingham branch of setting up a bogus racist group
in order to justify funding for their anti-racist campaigns!
It is difficult to see which is more bizarre - the idea that Nottingham branch would
need invent racism to try and justify anti-racist campaigns or the idea that Nottingham
council is going to fund anti-racist projects whilst making cuts in every other area.
It is clear that the "insider" quoted in the Sunday Times is a
regional official who is preparing the way for a with-hunt of activists throughout the
union.
The NEC meeting on December 10 will discuss the Leeds branch. This is not just an
attack on the CFDU but an attack on any branch's right to campaign to change UNISON
policy.
The article in the Sunday Times pointed to the funds allocated to branches, with
the implication that the UNISON leadership are aiming to bring branch funding more and
more under centralised control.
Equally as worrying is the fact that many of the current witch-hunts are against
activists who are guilty of demanding that the union leadership carry out UNISON policy.
If there is an unaccountable clique using UNISON funds for their own purposes it is the
full time officials.
Minimum Wage
They decided to pull out support from the Hillingdon strike after conference had
instructed them to continue support until all the strikers had their jobs back. They
decided not to fight for the minimum wage or for renationalisation at either the TUC or
Labour Party conference.
The reason that the CFDU has been singled out by the bureaucracy is that it has been at
the forefront of campaigns against low wages, casualisation and privatisation, and has
demanded that the union leadership is accountable to the membership.
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