Left revolt stems offensive by UNISON right wing
Fred Leplat, Islington UNISON(personal capacity)
DISILLUSION with the Labour government was the dominant mood at UNISON conference in Brighton.
Fifteen hundred delegates representing 1.3 million public sector workers gave only a polite reception to government minister Mo Mowlam when she addressed conference. For her part she made little attempt to defend the government’s record, instead spent time telling amusing personal anecdotes.
UNISON leaders were prepared to reflect this mood in their rhetoric.
NEC member Jean Geldhart, opened the local government sector conference by saying "we have a government prepared to subordinate the needs of public services and their users to a market economy. We expect them to deliver what many of us campaigned for 2 years ago."
In the main conference debate on privatisation, General Secretary Rodney Bickerstaffe repeated an often used expression during the week when he said that "if millions could be found at the drop of a hat for that war (in the Balkans), then millions could be found at the drop of a hat for the war on poverty and unemployment".
Despite left words the only concession by the platform in terms of action was to support another national demonstration early next year for a decent minimum wage. The national demonstration in Newcastle on the 10 April had attracted 20,000 people and the bureaucracy could hardly be seen to drop the Campaign for a Living Wage so soon after this success.
However, on other issues which affected members, such as privatisation and the anti-union laws, the leadership steered the conference to prevent it adopting policies which might lead to conflict with the government.
The NEC supported co-operation with Best Value, and opposed an amendment which simply described as worse than the Tories’ Compulsory Competitive Tendering. Delegates knew better, and on a card vote the amendment was carried.
In the debate against privatisation in education, the NEC introduced an amendment to omit Education Action Zones from a list of forms of privatisation. Again, delegates knew better and defeated this amendment.
Although the NEC and Rodney Bickerstaffe declared their support for individual branches such as Sefton taking action to protect jobs and conditions, it avoided supporting national campaigns against privatisation and other government attacks.
The NEC also stopped debate of resolutions on the anti-union laws, hiding behind lawyers’ views that even to discuss campaigning against such laws may be illega#l.
Conference also upheld policy on the only other area of difference UNISON has established with the government, its opposition to the Maastricht convergence criteria and joining the Single Currency. UNISON was the only national union to back the recent Euromarches demonstration in Cologne.
The disaffection of delegates with the New Labour government also influenced the major recurring theme of recent UNISON conferences: the defence of union democracy and opposition to the witch-hunt against left activists.
The first test (and first card vote) was delegates voting for the reference back of the Standing Orders Committee Report ruling out of order emergency resolutions demanding the re-instatement of the suspended Birmingham branch. Unfortunately, the Standing Orders Committee came back reaffirming their position and this second report was carried narrowly by delegates.
However, concern amongst delegates against attacks on democracy was so widespread that 400 of them attended a fringe meeting on the issue. It was addressed by London convenor Geoff Martin, as well as members from Sheffield, Birmingham, Liverpool and Leeds, where disciplinary actions against left activists are taking place.
This large meeting (a third of conference) was able in turn to convince enough delegates to stop new disciplinary rules being introduced.
Conference also voted against the introduction of a £25 fee for branch observers. This was seen as a means to prevent branch activists from attending conference, and the NEC speaker on the issue confirmed this by implying this would make it too expensive for SWP supporters in UNISON to attend!
The NEC were nevertheless able to obtain a subs increase despite the left making it known to delegates that UNISON officials have probably one of the best redundancy schemes on offer anywhere: six months pay, plus one month for every year of service and statutory redundancy pay.
Conference was however able to stop the closure of the union’s convalescence homes.
The broad left in UNISON, the Campaign for a Fighting and Democratic UNISON, organised a large meeting of 160 delegates on Single Status.
At the meeting, branches recognised that the warnings of the CFDU that Single Status was being used to attack conditions had come true. The CFDU also helped organise a meeting on Kosova and the large meeting on democracy.
Cooperation
There was a greater degree of co-operation between sections of the left at this conference. Many independent left activists and the CFDU were discussing the need for a wider broad left than the CFDU.
Over the coming months, it will be necessary to work together to defend union democracy and oppose the witch-hunts, to develop a fighting strategy against the privatisations through Best Value and PFI, and to co-operate in elections for regional and national bodies.
This co-operation may well build the trust necessary to create a new organization of the left in UNISON, which will have the credibility and weight to seriously challenge the NEC’s collapse in front of the government’s attacks.
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