UNISON: Campaign for a Fighting, Democratic General Secretary!
Nominations are under way for the Unison general secretary elections. ELKIE DEE reports.
Roger Bannister is the left candidate, chosen by a meeting of CFDU supporters in September, needs 25 branch nominations before the end of November to stand - at time of writing, he has 15.
Bannister’s platform is For a Fighting General Secretary on a Worker’s Wage. The policies of this campaign will include:
End low pay - the union should demand £5 an hour, not a penny less, with no exemptions
For a national fight against cuts and privatisation in all their forms - against the Private Finance Initiative, public-private partnerships and Best Value
Campaigning to take back the privatised utilities into public ownership
Solidarity with and support for workers on strike
Repeal of the anti-union laws, and if necessary, defiance in defence of members’ interests
No financial support to Labour councillors or MPs whose policies attack members’ jobs, wages and conditions, and the opening up of the political fund so that union can support candidates whose policies defend members’ interests
Support for the right to self-organisation
Against all forms of discrimination
Defend a woman’s right to choose
Defend the right of members and branches to campaign
An end to all victimisation of union activists – lift the branch suspensions now!
He will take the average wage of a Unison member, not the £74,000 on offer, and supports the election of all full time union officials - on a worker’s wage
The campaign is to link the defence of members’ interests with the democratic right for union activists and branches to campaign politically.
It is also a campaign in opposition to the current witch-hunt within the union, in which a number of branches have been suspended by Unison.
The left within the union needs to mobilise the anger of activists and members disappointed by the leadership’s failure to defend its members’ interests against continued attacks from the government and employers, and offer a way forward.
It is important that the left within the union can build a united campaign this time, both to maximise support for Roger Bannister and to win people to be part of an alternative to the current leadership.
An important issue in this election is the relationship between the union and the Labour government. The current leadership line is in favour of cooperation and of downplaying conspicuous conflicts of interest between government policy and members’ interests, arguing that Unison can influence the government more by working with them.
Tell that to members who have lost their jobs or had pay and conditions cut under privatisation and spending cuts.
The bureaucracy’s chosen candidate to succeed Bickerstaffe is Dave Prentis, a hitherto obscure career bureaucrat clearly already striving to ensure that anyone likely to vote in the election has heard of him.
In a blatant affront to union democracy, Unison publications have at least three quotes from Prentis in every article, and he is suddenly the union’s spokesperson on anything and everything in the national media.
Sadly, Prentis does not have to compete for branch nominations, as the leadership’s candidate. And 12 out of the 13 regional convenors voted for him.
Not all the regions are following suit, though - Eastern Region, East Midlands and the South East have already voted not to support Prentis. This shows a gap opening up between the bureaucracy and activists who are in touch with what is happening to members on a day to day basis.
Campaign committees in support of Roger Bannister have been launched in several regions. The aim is to set one up in each area to bring the left together, with an elected convenor to act as a link to a nationally coordinated campaign.
There is to be a wider national campaign committee meeting with representatives from all those who wish to take part in this on November 13 in Nottingham.
For more information about the campaign or to join the CFDU, contact Glenn Kelly, national campaign organiser, on 0171-251 8449.