Thought for the Day: What have the unions ever done for us?

With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organisation of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in man, than any other association of men.”

Clarence Darrow (hat-tip J)

It's tomorrow! Stand up for your Public Services and an Alternative Economic Policy

Get out and march tomorrow.  Newham Trade Unions and the local Labour Party are meeting up outside Stratford Station ticket barrier at 10.30am. But you can turn up as late as 2pm to Embankment to take part in the March. Check TUC latest tips here. 

UNISON TV Advert "One is the Loneliest number"

Another UNISON TV advert.  Great Music and Great message.

Saying Goodbye to Bill Wakefield

Picture is from Bill Wakefield's funeral procession entering Manor Park Cemetery on Friday.  Bill was a Labour Movement Champion.  Trade Union leader, Councillor, Residents rep and Pensioners activist.

This was a traditional East End funeral for someone who had lived and worked nearly all his life in Bow.

Bill (age 81) was first seen off from his home in Rosebank Gardens, Bow, E3.  There was a very good turn out of family, friends, neighbours and former work colleagues. 

The horse drawn hearse then took Bill to the cemetery followed by loved ones and friends.  Bill's coffin was carried into the crematorium for the Service by four of his great nephews who also gave a touching personal tribute to him.  During the service we were told that Bill was from a family of 13 (only 9 lived to adulthood) and that their parents decided not to evacuate them during the Second World War so they all lived though the Blitz and the V1/V2 Rocket attacks.

Bill spent a year away on National Service then returned to work at the Post Office (GPO) before becoming a gardener in Victoria Park.  He became the Tower Hamlets Council NUPE Branch Secretary.  NUPE later merged with other public sector unions to form UNISON. After his retirement he became a Labour Councillor, Residents and Pensioner rep.

After the funeral there was a Wake with a superb spread at the Colburn Arms and I had the chance to speak to his sisters and his nephews.   Check out also these reports in East End Life and East London Advertiser

Bill was a great fan of Shirley Bassey and at the service they played one of his favourite records - it had to be her version of "My Way".

Voluntary Sector Union Growth

Check out this article in yesterday's Guardian.  UNISON grow by 50% in last 5 years in voluntary sector and now number over 60,000.

22% of employees in sector are union members - a growth of 12% in one year.

"activists who are elected not just to enact revolution but to also support those in need"

Former London UNISON Branch Secretary Nick Venedi (left) makes a valuable contribution on his blog here to an age old dichotomy about trade unions.  Which is - are unions all about providing top class services and representation to its members or is it just a platform for self serving toy town "wannabe" revolutionaries?

Nick bemoans a branch that now apparently takes weeks to answer members who try to call or contact it.

He makes the point that "I think we must offer or at least commit ourselves to some standards of 'excellence' members deserve better attention from the activists who are elected not just to enact revolution but to also support those in need".

Name names Nick, name names!

I shall look forward (as always) to Nick's appearance at the next London UNISON regional Committee meeting.

Labour Party conference 2010: General Election report (the role of unions)

I am listening to the debate on the General Election in the conference hall.   Andy Kerr (Labour NEC and CWU) has just spoken about the role of the unions in the election.  He thanked the unions and in particular TULO for their work.  In the election the unions fought for a “fair future for all working people”.  He compared the role of the unions in elections on both sides of the Atlantic. 

During this election as in America, what was found to work is one union member talking to one. New media helps but it is no substitute for targeted calls to targeted seats by trade union volunteers.  The unions used targeted direct mail.  Aided by polling and which was also used to tackle members concerns especially BNP threat. The unions ran voter registration and postal vote campaigns. 

TULO used its website to support the wider campaign and to respond quickly to events.  The unions had deadicated organisers for all key seat seats.  Remember that not all members use internet.  Anti-tory posters and bill boards were most effective.  The unions were major funders in the election but it was not just money. 

Union meetings..Now and then

On Tuesday I had the great joy of attending the UNISON London Regional Committee.  Before I bored everyone to tears with my Finance Convener report, the Regional Council Officers (RCO) had tabled a statement to the Committee on “Responding to the Coalition Government”. 

This one and a half page statement was something that we RCO’s had genuinely thought would be welcomed and serve to unite all sections of the Committee. It recognised that the real agenda of the Coalition government was to destroy our public services and committed the region to campaign and defend public services.

It also stated that we must ensure the union survives; work with members to defend jobs and livelihoods; campaign for quality public services; organise in private companies; enhance unity across workplaces and unite London against the Coalition.

All good stuff I thought.  I was expecting a debate on the statement (this was our first meeting since the General Election) however for some reason the discussion only centred on the use of this one sentence (& two words) the “current attack on public services is not only an attack on public service workers but on our society and the British people as a whole”.

There was then, to my mind, a very odd and rather unreal debate about the use of the term “British People”!  According to some members of the committee this was the wrong term to use since there are millionaires who are British so if we use the word British this means we are actually defending millionaires? 

Hmmm. 

One committee member wanted us to get rid of “British people” and instead only use the term “working class”.  It was gently pointed out that while we here today might indeed think all working people in Britain are “working class”, most workers, rightly or wrongly, do not recognise that this term applies to them and if we want to genuinely connect with them we should use terms that they relate to. 

This statement of the bleeding obvious didn’t go down well with a minority of committee members and the debate continued. I pointed out that the use of the term “British people” was actually something that we RCO’s had welcomed because we felt it was vital  to make the argument that the public sector trade unions are not just opposing the coalition just to defend our our own jobs and interests - but that we think that quality public services should be protected since they are the glue that hold this country together! 

There were some sensible points made such as some of our members are not British or do not see themselves as British (as my Plaid Cymru Councillor brother-in-law would no doubt agree). 

But overall I was astonished and frustrated that in the face of the impending Coalition Tsunami and slash and burn of our public services - we spent our precious time arguing over the modern day equivalent of “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin”.  

It has since become apparent that one of the reasons for this classic “Life of Brian” debate was that some of our ultra left witch hunting brethren had thought (wrongly as usual) that the phrase “British Public” had been inserted into the statement by some dastardly doublethink enemy of their micro-sects!

Due to the scale of the threat we face we really cannot afford to waste any more of our time on such pointless and self indulgent navel gazing or rearranging of the Titanic's deck chairs. The ultra left have got to grow up and stop behaving like a dog constantly gnawing and slobbering at its favourite bone. IMO.

(see video: some things don't change)

Torygraph and Tax Avoiders Alliance “twaddle” about unions

What a lot of old twaddle from the Torygraph and the Tax Avoiders’ Alliance about “millions” being (so called) wasted on time off for trade union stewards and safety reps to represent their members.

So every time a rep goes to a meeting with a member or sits down with management to sort out local problems - this is somehow “fund (ing) the activities of the union barons”? How silly.

So what exactly are these “Big Society” Tories clones proposing should happen instead?

a. Workers facing discipline or sickness hearings should be banned from having trade union colleague representing them?
b. safety reps should not be allowed to carry out workplace inspections or investigate accidents ?
c. organisations should not consult elected staff representatives on pay, proposed redundancies or changes to terms and conditions?

This is all politically motivated stuff and nonsense and I suppose in one way we should expect such “tic for tat” attacks on the unions due to our support for Labour. Frankly, I would have thought that they could have come out with something just a little more intelligent to have a go at us.

If you are thinking about efficiency I would suggest the Tories and their allies look into the number of HR personnel in large organisations (and wages paid to the HR directors!) compared to the facility time offered to trade union reps?

The only really sensible quote in the Torygraph article is from UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis about the role of union reps "Far from causing industrial strife, paid facility time has contributed to the lowest levels of strikes on record. In short – trade union facility time makes good business sense."

The TUC blog “Stronger unions” reports on the Tax Avoiders that “The voice of employers is also absent from the report – quite odd given that I assume that the TPA would regard itself as a friend of employers. Is this because only last year the CBI joined with the TUC and BIS to publish a report – Reps in Action – on the role of union reps and stated that it;

“Believes that modern [union] representatives have a lot to give their fellow employees and to the organisations that employ them”

The Ultra right wing “teenage scribblers” of the Torygraph and the Tax Avoiders' Alliance have (self evidently) no idea whatsoever of industrial relations in the real world.

UNISONactive and Socialist Unity have sensible posts on this as well. Caption from here

"What is it about this obsession with Leaders?"

Good post by Ian

"I reckon the left groups are the worst here.

How often do you hear left groups supporting this candidate for leader or that while at the same time championing rank and file power or lay member democracy?...."

(I suppose I should ask you to ignore for the moment that most of my recent posts have been about "leadership elections" :)

TULO campaign to Save the Labour Link

I got this email this morning from TULO on defending the link between the affiliated trade unions and the Party – the Labour Movement family.

I don’t suppose any of the leadership candidates will not sign the pledge but it is right that TULO and the rest of us should be campaigning on this issue and making people aware of the real threat.

“Dear John,

Where would the Labour Party be without us?

It's almost impossible to imagine. For over a hundred years, trade union members have been at the heart of the Party. Together, we have fought for the rights of working people and their families - and built a better society as a result.

Now, with the Labour leadership election approaching, we find ourselves in a precarious situation. The Tory and Liberal Democrat Coalition wants to change the way political parties are funded. This would threaten the way unions currently affiliate to the Labour Party and represent their members.

It's crucial for union members that we have a Labour Leader who will defend the strong relationship between the Party and the unions. Ask the candidates to pledge their support for a strong link between the Party and the trade union movement:

http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/protect-party-link

Labour was founded on the principle of being a voice for the people of Britain; the voices of millions of working people are brought to the centre of the Party through collective representation by the affiliated trade unions.

Now with the Coalition government looking to change how political parties are funded, working people's voice could be silenced....”

I think that the Party and the trades unions are pretty shell shocked at the moment with all that has gone on under the LIBCONS (and the far, far worse to come) so this should also be a good time to build a better relationship in the future between the wider Labour movement and its political arm.

Sunday sectarianism: SWP branch resigns over control of Union branch secretary

Interesting post on “A Very Public Sociologist” on the resignation letter by practically the “entire” membership of the SWP in Doncaster. Aside from the fact that the “branch” probably could meet comfortably inside a telephone box. The letter of resignation is rather fascinating and gives you an insight into the murky internal workings of the SWP and its control of union activists.

I’ve always known that all SWP union activists have to do what they are told by their central committee (or else) but now it appears that local SWP branches also think they can order “their” union activists about! Perhaps this has always been the case?

It appears that SWP members who hold full time elected union positions should only do so “in exceptional circumstances and only on the proviso that the party closely monitors the comrade’s work, which must involve the CC, the local SWP branch and the respective union fraction”.

I’ve heard of (un)democratic centralism but now it appears that there is also (un)democratic localism! It seems that an union official elected by trade union members not the local SWP branch had stood up to them and refused to do what he had been told (and stopped selling the Party rag) – sensible chap. He even “often acted unilaterally against branch decisions”. Shame on him.

The Doncaster branch of the SWP are so disgusted with the failure of “their” (not the union) branch secretary that they have now gone off and joined the Counterfire splitters who left or were witch-hunted out of SWP in recent years.

I do hope it is made clear in future union elections that SWP candidates firstly admit that there are members of the SWP and whether they will do what they are told by their Central Committees and/or what local SWP branches tell them.

Finally, the letter claims that it was a deliberate decision of the SWP central committee to break up the ACAS meeting between Unite and BA. If true then the SWP is definitely falling apart even faster then I thought. Shame!