UNISON left must rise to challenge
Fred Leplat, CFDU Treasurer, in a personal capacity
Barely five years old, UNISON is now at a critical moment in its brief life with leadership torn between supporting the New Labour government and the need to deliver a reprieve to its members from the government's continuing attacks on public services. The leadership is paralysed, not knowing how to get out of this contradiction..
UNISON's leadership has not planned any national campaigns on key issues such as privatisation or the living wage. Branches are left isolated to face the employers' attacks, and pay rises continue to be well below the going rate.
It is not surprising in this situation that members, and activists, are disaffected. Participation in NEC and the General Secretary elections is as low as 25%. Some seats on the National Executive and at least half the service group executives seats are uncontested or vacant.
Of course, public sector unions have taken a battering over the last 20 years as anti-union laws and privatisation have shackled members' ability and confidence to fight back. Yet there has been no attempt by UNISON's leadership to reverse this situation - except through the failed method of direct talks with New Labour. The halt in the decline of membership is taking place despite the actions of the leadership.
In this context, it is not surprising that there is a strong and vibrant left which is continuously able to muster a third of the votes at conference, obtained nearly 40% of the votes in the recent General Secretary election, and organised fringe meetings at conference with up to 400 delegates (a third of the conference). At conference, the leadership attacked the left precisely because of its real weight in the union.
This strength is unfortunately not reflected on the NEC where there are only half-a-dozen supporters of the Campaign for a Democratic and Fighting UNISON (CFDU).
CFDU is a broad left that includes members of the Socialist Party, Socialist Outlook and Labour Briefing. At the moment the Socialist Workers Party is outside but has recently indicated it favours a single united left.
The left in Unison urgently needs re-organise in order to turn the disaffection of activists towards a strategy to defend jobs and services, to defeat the witch hunt and defend lay-member democracy.
The decision of the SWP to work with the CFDU in a new and broader left is therefore welcome. A united left will have a greater impact than the sum of its parts.
The various components of the left have much more in common than separates them so a united left is a real possibility. Yet for years, the SWP stated that the time was not right for a united left, and approached other forces with hostility. This has unfortunately created bitterness and suspicion amongst left activists about the SWP's new policy towards a united left in the union.
This can only be overcome by working together on the key issues facing members in the union, and through agreeing slates for regional and national elections. There also needs to be an agreement in advance on the organisational framework for the new broad left. There need to be safeguards so that it cannot become the property of a single political organisation.
But the most important task for a new left will be to reach out beyond those who are already organised to those members, activists and stewards who are disillusioned with the existing leadership and hostile to new Labour's direction. If the new broader and united left is simply an amalgamation of the existing left currents, it will not have realised its full potential.
CFDU national conference
Saturday 14 October,
ULU, Malet Street, WC1 London
Details c/o Glenn Kelly, 37 Linale House, Murray Grove, N1 7QH, London.