For a fighting union leadership!
After the shenanigans of the election campaigns of the last few weeks, another election starts on 17 May - the election of Unison's general secretary. This gives 1.4 million workers the chance to vote for a fighting, militant leadership, and thereby the chance to influence events, which is more than most of them got in the general election.
Roger Bannister, candidate for Unison general secretary
After the "dirty deal" to install the ConDem government, which has pledged to make £6 billion cuts in public services this year and emphasised minimal tax increases for their rich friends, workers, especially public sector workers, have to take stock, to assess the mettle of their leaders.
The union leaders are using the understandable shock and fear at the return of the Tories to avoid facing up to the failings of the last Labour government. A circular to branches from current general secretary Dave Prentis pledges to "fight tooth and nail" to protect members and their jobs. But this rhetoric is in stark contrast to what the leadership did to protect members during the last government.
The Unison right wing have already started re-writing history. A Policy Committee right winger plus a senior official criticised me when I pointed out that even if Labour had won the election we would still have had to fight. They claimed that Unison had been successful in getting public sector pensions protected in the Labour manifesto. But the main statement in the manifesto on public sector pensions was the ominous pledge to make: "tough decisions on public sector pensions to cap the taxpayer's liability, saving £1 billion per annum."
The debates in the general election were artificial. All the main parties lied about the extent of the cuts they would make, about avoiding redundancies, despite the fact that they were already happening, and drew the false distinction between "front line" and "back office" services.
The scale of the proposed cuts will massively increase redundancies and accelerate privatisation. But workers are angry and prepared to fight and the example of the Greek workers is not going unnoticed.
The legal rulings against striking workers at BA and elsewhere over the last few months pose major obstacles that will have to be defied at some stage. It is true that the pressure of workers from below could eventually push the trade union leaders beyond their rhetoric. But what most of them won't do is lead now, prepare workers to struggle now and build unity across unions now. This runs the risk of dissipated, disunited action, lacking overall impact, or even no action at all.
National action is needed to defend Unison members' jobs, pay and pensions and we need a general secretary who will lead such a struggle.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Mistaken occupation of British Airways talks
The defeat of Willie Walsh and the brutish British Airways (BA) management is the most important aspect to this dispute.
It is therefore unfortunate that the reported decision of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) members at the end of the Right to Work Conference to invade talks between British Airways management and Unite has partially obscured this issue.
This occupation was completely mistaken.
Whatever the nature of the deal being negotiated it is not for a group like the SWP to decide to break up talks.
Cabin crew
A decision to accept or reject a deal is solely the property of cabin crew and their democratically elected representatives.
In an industrial dispute the final decision on tactics to confront the employer must always rest with the strikers themselves.
Socialists can assist by sharing experiences and ideas in past disputes and building support and solidarity for the strike among the general public.
This has always been the method of the Socialist Party. We will offer our opinion on the course of a dispute to workers but we believe that any initiative taken in support of a dispute should be taken in consultation with the workers themselves.
Key task
A key task for socialists and trade union activists is to raise the confidence of workers to fight not to substitute themselves for workers in struggle.
This will mistakenly create the impression that a special minority of activists will do the fighting leaving workers as bystanders.
The Socialist Party stands for the maximum control of workers over their dispute.
It is the view of the Socialist Party that the actions of the SWP on Saturday was not in the best interests of striking cabin crew workers.
Such tactics will prove to be counter-productive. It is the mass action of cabin crew through their union that is the key to defeating Walsh, not the actions of a self appointed minority.
Despite this we are totally opposed to any victimisation of those who mistakenly took part in this protest.
The priority for all workers in the trade union movement now is to support the cabin crew workers against Walsh and BA management.
It is therefore unfortunate that the reported decision of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) members at the end of the Right to Work Conference to invade talks between British Airways management and Unite has partially obscured this issue.
This occupation was completely mistaken.
Whatever the nature of the deal being negotiated it is not for a group like the SWP to decide to break up talks.
Cabin crew
A decision to accept or reject a deal is solely the property of cabin crew and their democratically elected representatives.
In an industrial dispute the final decision on tactics to confront the employer must always rest with the strikers themselves.
Socialists can assist by sharing experiences and ideas in past disputes and building support and solidarity for the strike among the general public.
This has always been the method of the Socialist Party. We will offer our opinion on the course of a dispute to workers but we believe that any initiative taken in support of a dispute should be taken in consultation with the workers themselves.
Key task
A key task for socialists and trade union activists is to raise the confidence of workers to fight not to substitute themselves for workers in struggle.
This will mistakenly create the impression that a special minority of activists will do the fighting leaving workers as bystanders.
The Socialist Party stands for the maximum control of workers over their dispute.
It is the view of the Socialist Party that the actions of the SWP on Saturday was not in the best interests of striking cabin crew workers.
Such tactics will prove to be counter-productive. It is the mass action of cabin crew through their union that is the key to defeating Walsh, not the actions of a self appointed minority.
Despite this we are totally opposed to any victimisation of those who mistakenly took part in this protest.
The priority for all workers in the trade union movement now is to support the cabin crew workers against Walsh and BA management.
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Vote Roger Bannister
Ballot papers will be going out soon in the election for Unison general secretary. Nearly 1.4 million workers in local councils, the health service, police, fire service, voluntary sector, universities, colleges and privatised utilities will be voting for a new leader.
Socialist Party member Roger Bannister is standing against the current general secretary, Dave Prentis and a third candidate, Paul Holmes.
Whichever government takes power the Tories, Labour and Lib Dems have all promised to make massive cuts at the behest of the financial markets and as usual it is ordinary working class people who will be expected to pay the price with job losses, pay freezes and attacks on pensions.
In a recent interview in the Financial Times Dave Prentis has already concluded that: "An attack on pensions would provoke a national strike" but "it is unlikely that we would take national industrial action over jobs". He also reported that "union negotiators are being trained in public procurement negotiations and local government and health finances. The idea is to go through an employer's books and suggest alternative ways to make savings."
In contrast, Roger Bannister argues that national action is needed to defend members' jobs, pay and pensions so that branches are not left to fight these battles on their own. Union leaders should not suggest how and where to make cuts!
If elected Roger will lead a campaign in Unison to stop these attacks and join with other public sector unions to defend jobs and pensions.
Roger is the only candidate who opposes Unison funding the Labour Party and supports the building of a new trade union based party.
Unlike Roger, the other two candidates, Dave Prentis and Paul Holmes, are members of the Labour Party. Unison members have suffered for too long as millions of pounds of their union subs have gone to the Labour Party. In return Labour have attacked their pay, conditions and jobs. As part of this support for Labour, Unison has held back from a real fight against these attacks.
The election period is 17 May-11 June.
Socialist Party member Roger Bannister is standing against the current general secretary, Dave Prentis and a third candidate, Paul Holmes.
Whichever government takes power the Tories, Labour and Lib Dems have all promised to make massive cuts at the behest of the financial markets and as usual it is ordinary working class people who will be expected to pay the price with job losses, pay freezes and attacks on pensions.
In a recent interview in the Financial Times Dave Prentis has already concluded that: "An attack on pensions would provoke a national strike" but "it is unlikely that we would take national industrial action over jobs". He also reported that "union negotiators are being trained in public procurement negotiations and local government and health finances. The idea is to go through an employer's books and suggest alternative ways to make savings."
In contrast, Roger Bannister argues that national action is needed to defend members' jobs, pay and pensions so that branches are not left to fight these battles on their own. Union leaders should not suggest how and where to make cuts!
If elected Roger will lead a campaign in Unison to stop these attacks and join with other public sector unions to defend jobs and pensions.
Roger is the only candidate who opposes Unison funding the Labour Party and supports the building of a new trade union based party.
Unlike Roger, the other two candidates, Dave Prentis and Paul Holmes, are members of the Labour Party. Unison members have suffered for too long as millions of pounds of their union subs have gone to the Labour Party. In return Labour have attacked their pay, conditions and jobs. As part of this support for Labour, Unison has held back from a real fight against these attacks.
The election period is 17 May-11 June.
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Public Meeting - Conway Hall, London, Thursday 13th May
Roger will be speaking at a Socialist Party public meeting on Thursday 13th May at 7:30pm in Conway Hall, Holborn, London.
The meeting will be discussing the results of the general election and what they mean for working people, as well as the UNISON general secretary election which Roger is standing for.
You can view and download a leaflet for the meeting here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/31249670/After-the-election-Prepare-for-battle-www-socialistparty-org-uk
The meeting will be discussing the results of the general election and what they mean for working people, as well as the UNISON general secretary election which Roger is standing for.
You can view and download a leaflet for the meeting here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/31249670/After-the-election-Prepare-for-battle-www-socialistparty-org-uk
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Roger's election leaflet
Roger's election leaflet has been uploaded as a PDF to scribd.com and can be viewed at the link below:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30633287/Roger-Bannister-for-UNISON-General-Secretary-leaflet
Please take a look over it and circulate it via email, Facebook and anywhere else that you can think of posting it. If you want some properly printed hard-copies of it to distribute at your workplace, union branch, etc then get in touch and we can post some out to you.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30633287/Roger-Bannister-for-UNISON-General-Secretary-leaflet
Please take a look over it and circulate it via email, Facebook and anywhere else that you can think of posting it. If you want some properly printed hard-copies of it to distribute at your workplace, union branch, etc then get in touch and we can post some out to you.
Sunday, 18 April 2010
Roger Nominated - vote for a fighting general secretary!
"34 Branch nominations have been reduced to 30 by the Returning Officer, goodnes knows why! It looks like I'm on the ballot paper. Thanks everybody for all the hard work getting the nominations in, the campaign goes on! I'll be speaking to delegates to the Health Service Group Conference next week, Tuesday 20 April, 7 pm, UMI Hotel Brighton."
Roger BannisterMonday, 15 March 2010
UNISON'S “DAWN RAIDS” BREAK RULES
Not surprisingly the raids on three UNISON offices in Greater London have angered UNISON members across the country, and have shocked a number of the union's own officials. The common link is that the Branch Secretary's of these branches had been disciplined by UNISON in the case revolving around the Three Wise Monkeys leaflet distributed outside UNISON's Annual Delegate Conference. This explanation has more credibility that the claim that the branches were “failing” in some way, and is consistent with a bias against left wing UNISON members detailed below.
Of particular concern is the cancellation of the Annual General Meeting of one of the affected branches, denying members of the Branch the right to run their own Branch affairs.
Neither the National Executive Council nor any of its subordinate committees has sanctioned these actions, which breach Rules B.2.2, B.2.4, B.2.5 and G.8.8.1.
These actions appear to be a continuation of the trend of a biased political interpretation of the rules recently demonstrated in a case brought to the Certification Officer, Bedale v UNISON, where left wing UNISON members are penalised and/or punished whereas right wing members are allowed to break the rules. This in itself is a breach of Rule A.3.
The officials should be withdrawn from these Branches, and their members' right to run them should be restored. As one UNISON member commented, “If UNISON was as hard on the employers as they have been on these Branches I'd be impressed!”
Of particular concern is the cancellation of the Annual General Meeting of one of the affected branches, denying members of the Branch the right to run their own Branch affairs.
Neither the National Executive Council nor any of its subordinate committees has sanctioned these actions, which breach Rules B.2.2, B.2.4, B.2.5 and G.8.8.1.
These actions appear to be a continuation of the trend of a biased political interpretation of the rules recently demonstrated in a case brought to the Certification Officer, Bedale v UNISON, where left wing UNISON members are penalised and/or punished whereas right wing members are allowed to break the rules. This in itself is a breach of Rule A.3.
The officials should be withdrawn from these Branches, and their members' right to run them should be restored. As one UNISON member commented, “If UNISON was as hard on the employers as they have been on these Branches I'd be impressed!”
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Stop public sector cuts! Fighting union needed!
The outcome of a BBC survey shows that at least 25,000 council jobs are at risk. A spokesperson from the London School of Economics has declared that: “Nothing like this has happened for a generation”. They added that council job losses could soar to 100,000.
Unison members will be asking which candidates in the current general secretary election have a clear strategy to fight these massive cuts.
Socialist Party member Roger Bannister, who is seeking nominations to stand, says that local government members should be mobilised now, with a clear message to local authorities and all the main political parties that their union intends to resist these cuts.
He believes that it is crucial to move now to send a message out that whoever wins the general election will face nothing but opposition to these draconian cuts to jobs and services.
There is a lot of talk about maintaining ‘front-line’ services and reducing the ‘back-office’. But with years of cuts (3% savings year on year) back-room services have already been reduced to the bone and front-line services cannot function without workers in the back.
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis responded to these cuts by saying that: “big job losses could cause social disharmony.” And that: “We will not allow our members to pay the price” (of bailing out the banks.) But there is no clear plan as to what he is going to do about these attacks.
The current leadership of Unison gave no effective opposition to the employers when single status, which was supposed to increase the pay of many women, led instead to women workers suffering pay cuts. Unison are still bogged down in legal battles over this. Socialist Party members warned of the pitfalls of single status before it was implemented.
The one-day strike over pensions by local government workers in 2006 was the biggest strike since 1926. But if Unison had continued the strike, Unison members would not be paying more for their pensions now. Unison only put up half a fight and now we see further attacks on public sector pensions.
Unison members who want a democratic fighting union should back the nomination of Roger Bannister for general secretary. He believes Unison should not fund the Labour Party which is committed to implementing massive public sector cuts.
Friday, 26 February 2010
Support for Roger continues to grow
Over 90 UNISON warehouse members attended the aggregated on site NHS Supply Chain Unison Branch AGM's held on Thursday 25th February 2010.
There was overwhelming support from members for the branch to support Roger Bannister's nomination for the General Secretary Election.
Members commented it was important to have an election for the top Unison post, in which Roger promotes a clear programme in dealing with genuine concerns covering members where at this depot very few members earn above £21, 000 per year.
The Regional Officer attending the AGM commented this is a real work-place based branch.
Brain Loader
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Stop Council Cuts!
Roger Bannister, who is seeking nominations to stand in the UNISON general secretary election, commented on the latest round of job cuts announced by councils across the country.
“Up here in Knowsley the Labour council are preparing to slash our jobs in the new financial year. In a pre-emptive strike they have unilaterally ripped up a long-standing agreement for redeployment of those whose jobs have changed or gone. People were put in a redeployment pool for five months. Only after that, if they still didn’t have a job, they would be given three months notice of redundancy. This meant that redundancies were very rare.
The council now say – the three months statutory notice and that’s it. It’s clear that they are preparing the ground for a new wave of redundancies from April. We are organising a strike ballot at the moment, along with the Unite union branch, in opposition to this.
In a further development, we are organising a strike ballot over the defence our 35-hour week agreement. We won this after strike action in 2001.
Under this agreement, workers working 37 hours have had their hours reduced to 36 and should have had them reduced to 35 by 2008. But it didn’t happen. Now the council say that those on 35 hours will be forced to go up to 36 hours.
These attacks by Knowsley council reflect what is happening around the country on jobs and pay. Nationally the local government employers have offered a zero pay increase this year. Last year it was 1.5% which was in effect a pay cut.
The councils, year on year, have faced a 3% cut in grants under New Labour. According to one of our managers: ‘They have trimmed the meat, now they’re cutting the bone’.
Where is the current general secretary Dave Prentis? What does he say about all this? He should be organising a national mobilisation of our members against these cuts in our jobs and pay and against the expected attack on public sector pensions, whoever wins the general election.
Prentis said at UNISON conference last year that if the Labour manifesto did not contain key elements of UNISON policy then UNISON would further cut its financial support for the Labour Party. Brave words then but silence now.
If elected I will begin the process of ending the union’s link with the Labour Party and, along with other unions, would call for the development of a new workers’ party.”
“Up here in Knowsley the Labour council are preparing to slash our jobs in the new financial year. In a pre-emptive strike they have unilaterally ripped up a long-standing agreement for redeployment of those whose jobs have changed or gone. People were put in a redeployment pool for five months. Only after that, if they still didn’t have a job, they would be given three months notice of redundancy. This meant that redundancies were very rare.
The council now say – the three months statutory notice and that’s it. It’s clear that they are preparing the ground for a new wave of redundancies from April. We are organising a strike ballot at the moment, along with the Unite union branch, in opposition to this.
In a further development, we are organising a strike ballot over the defence our 35-hour week agreement. We won this after strike action in 2001.
Under this agreement, workers working 37 hours have had their hours reduced to 36 and should have had them reduced to 35 by 2008. But it didn’t happen. Now the council say that those on 35 hours will be forced to go up to 36 hours.
These attacks by Knowsley council reflect what is happening around the country on jobs and pay. Nationally the local government employers have offered a zero pay increase this year. Last year it was 1.5% which was in effect a pay cut.
The councils, year on year, have faced a 3% cut in grants under New Labour. According to one of our managers: ‘They have trimmed the meat, now they’re cutting the bone’.
Where is the current general secretary Dave Prentis? What does he say about all this? He should be organising a national mobilisation of our members against these cuts in our jobs and pay and against the expected attack on public sector pensions, whoever wins the general election.
Prentis said at UNISON conference last year that if the Labour manifesto did not contain key elements of UNISON policy then UNISON would further cut its financial support for the Labour Party. Brave words then but silence now.
If elected I will begin the process of ending the union’s link with the Labour Party and, along with other unions, would call for the development of a new workers’ party.”
Friday, 19 February 2010
Get your nominations in!
The nominations are coming in now, but the right wing's restrictive timetable means that we have to move quickley. Make sure you raise it in your Branch, and fight for the nomination. UNISON members need a fighting General Secretary!
* For a Fighting General Secretary
* A General Secretary on a Worker's Wage
* Stop Wasting Money on New Labour - Disaffiliate Now!
Get your Branch to Nominate Roger Bannister, nomination close 1 April 2010
* For a Fighting General Secretary
* A General Secretary on a Worker's Wage
* Stop Wasting Money on New Labour - Disaffiliate Now!
Get your Branch to Nominate Roger Bannister, nomination close 1 April 2010
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Wolverhampton General Branch Nominates Roger Bannister
Wolverhampton General branch have nominated Roger for General Secretary. We need a leadership that will fight for our members rights not a leadership tied hand and foot to New Labour and its agenda.
UNISON seems more intent on expelling activists who are committed to figthing the attacks we face than defending our members interests.
Roger has proven over many years his committment to building a fighting and democratic union.
Activists are often accused of not listening to our members - in nominating Roger we have listened! His call for disaffiliation from a party which is the cause of many of the problems our members face is a clear response to the question we are constantly asked 'why do we continue to donate to New Labour?'.
UNISON seems more intent on expelling activists who are committed to figthing the attacks we face than defending our members interests.
Roger has proven over many years his committment to building a fighting and democratic union.
Activists are often accused of not listening to our members - in nominating Roger we have listened! His call for disaffiliation from a party which is the cause of many of the problems our members face is a clear response to the question we are constantly asked 'why do we continue to donate to New Labour?'.
Dave Auger
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
No to Birmingham City Council Job Cuts!
Birmingham City Council intends to slash spending by £75 million and destroy up to 2,000 jobs in a cuts package so severe that Thatcher’s spending cuts in the 1980s could seem tame by comparison. Among the services which face the axe are all 23 council-run nurseries, libraries, neighbourhood offices, day centres and care homes for the elderly and youth clubs.
Roger Bannister
The savage cuts announced in Birmingham are being repeated by councils, health authorities and the education sector across the country. While the mainstream parties argue about how deep the cuts should be and how quickly they should be implemented after the election the reality is that the culling of jobs, conditions, pay and public services has already begun in earnest.
Dave Prentis on the UNISON website attacks the Tory’s who run Birmingham Council but Labour councils will be making similar cuts. Is he prepared to attack them?
Why can’t the Labour government bail out our public services as they did with the banks?
UNISON must not leave each council, school or hospital to fight alone. National attacks must be answered with national co-ordinated action. Campaigns against the cuts must be linked up along with other trade unions in the public sector.
The truth is that the UNISON leadership is fighting with one arm tied behind them due to their backing of the Labour Party. The £3 million that UNISON pays to Labour each year could be put to better use by launching a national fight-back against these attacks.
What has this Labour government done for workers? Public sector workers have had to put up with meagre or zero wage increases, worse conditions and now threats to their pensions. The disgraceful anti trade union laws brought in by an enemy of the working class – Margaret Thatcher – have not been repealed in the 12 years that Labour has been in power. Now Labour is promising draconian cuts to our public services. This is despite the millions of pounds that UNISON and many other unions have poured into the coffers of New Labour.
This is why I argue that Unison should break the link with Labour and act in the interest of our members.
If elected to the position of General Secretary of UNISON I would take a workers wage instead of the inflated income of most union leaders and ensure that all union officials are elected.
Nominations for General Secretary candidates close on the 1st April and I urge branches to nominate me so that we can begin to build a democratic fighting union which is essential to the battle to defend jobs and conditions in the worst attacks facing the public sector for decades.
Roger Bannister
The savage cuts announced in Birmingham are being repeated by councils, health authorities and the education sector across the country. While the mainstream parties argue about how deep the cuts should be and how quickly they should be implemented after the election the reality is that the culling of jobs, conditions, pay and public services has already begun in earnest.
Dave Prentis on the UNISON website attacks the Tory’s who run Birmingham Council but Labour councils will be making similar cuts. Is he prepared to attack them?
Why can’t the Labour government bail out our public services as they did with the banks?
UNISON must not leave each council, school or hospital to fight alone. National attacks must be answered with national co-ordinated action. Campaigns against the cuts must be linked up along with other trade unions in the public sector.
The truth is that the UNISON leadership is fighting with one arm tied behind them due to their backing of the Labour Party. The £3 million that UNISON pays to Labour each year could be put to better use by launching a national fight-back against these attacks.
What has this Labour government done for workers? Public sector workers have had to put up with meagre or zero wage increases, worse conditions and now threats to their pensions. The disgraceful anti trade union laws brought in by an enemy of the working class – Margaret Thatcher – have not been repealed in the 12 years that Labour has been in power. Now Labour is promising draconian cuts to our public services. This is despite the millions of pounds that UNISON and many other unions have poured into the coffers of New Labour.
This is why I argue that Unison should break the link with Labour and act in the interest of our members.
If elected to the position of General Secretary of UNISON I would take a workers wage instead of the inflated income of most union leaders and ensure that all union officials are elected.
Nominations for General Secretary candidates close on the 1st April and I urge branches to nominate me so that we can begin to build a democratic fighting union which is essential to the battle to defend jobs and conditions in the worst attacks facing the public sector for decades.
Monday, 15 February 2010
More witch-hunted activists support Roger
"I'm fed up with our Unison leadership that has now overseen what will be four failed pay campaigns; a botched defence of our pensions where we now pay more for less. This is all due to the current General Secretary and his colleagues being more protective of a Labour government than our members. In Hackney, we have fought for four years to have regional and national officers elected and accountable to the members, which is what Roger Bannister also stands for.
We also want the dead hand of regional officialdom removed from stopping our members having strike ballots when they want them. Over the last 10 years Roger Bannister has supported members in Hackney on demos, strikes and meetings. So I know first hand that Roger as General Secretary - taking a workers’ wage, not the hundred thousands pounds plus on offer - will fight for the best interests of all our members in all sectors."
We also want the dead hand of regional officialdom removed from stopping our members having strike ballots when they want them. Over the last 10 years Roger Bannister has supported members in Hackney on demos, strikes and meetings. So I know first hand that Roger as General Secretary - taking a workers’ wage, not the hundred thousands pounds plus on offer - will fight for the best interests of all our members in all sectors."
Brian Debus,Hackney UNISON joint Chair
Brian Debus is one of four Socialist Party activists in Unison who have been the victims of a vicious witch-hunt. For more information on these attacks and the campaign to Defend the Four, see www.stopthewitchhunt.org.uk.
Friday, 12 February 2010
Witch-hunted Branch Secretary backs Roger
"In Greenwich we are fighting on two fronts. We are in the front line fighting attacks on our sevices from a Labour Council. But we are also in the front line in another battle, a battle with our current union leaders whose cosey relationship with New labour means that they will attack and witch-hunt anybody who demands that we stop funding those who attack our members and our services. We need a General Secretary who puts members first, not the big business labour government. That is why I am supporting Roger Bannister"
Onay Kasab, Greenwich UNISON Branch Secretary
Onay Kasab is one of four Socialist Party activists in Unison who have been the victims of a vicious witch-hunt. For more information on these attacks and the campaign to Defend the Four, see www.stopthewitchhunt.org.uk.
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Political Fund Report "Business as usual"
The NEC met on 10 February, and approved the Report on the Political Fund to be presented to Conference in June. It says nothing new, and doesn't even go as far as Prentis did in June last year, calling for cuts in Labour Party funding if the election manifesto doesn't have substantial elements of UNISON policy in it. So the dwindling minority of APF payers will still call the shots, unless Conference stops them in June!
Unison general secretary election: Fighting leadership needed!
Nominate Roger Bannister
Whoever wins the general election, members of Britain's largest public sector union Unison, like all other public service workers, are in for a hard time. All three capitalist parties have declared their intention to make the working class pay for the financial crisis through attacks on jobs, pay, pensions and public services.
Roger Bannister, with over 33 years of trade union experience and activity, is standing for general secretary of Unison. If elected he will lead Unison members, along with other public sector workers to fight against these attacks.
The union's leadership has to date failed to use the union's full strength to maximum effect. In fact it has signed disastrous deals, such as the Single Status Agreement, instead of fighting for decent pay. Now thousands of Unison members, mainly women, face pay cuts in the name of equal pay!
Roger has an outstanding record of supporting workers in struggle. In 2001 he led a strike of 1,500 council workers, successfully defending the 35-hour week, in Knowsley, where he is Unison branch secretary.
Dave Prentis, the incumbent, announced his intention to stand for re-election last month. Under current rules he could continue without election up to his retirement, so his decision to stand has been greeted as "brave" by his right-wing sycophants on the national executive committee (NEC).
Shrewder judges should take this view with a large pinch of salt however, given that the union usually approves the election procedures in October, and makes a nomination in December. This delay until January in announcing his intention more likely reflects a period of uncertainty and argument within the right-wing camp between pro- and anti-Prentis forces, the latter being further divided into pro and anti-election cliques.
Roger is a NEC member for Unison's North West region. He has fought several general secretary campaigns in Unison, and its precursor union Nalgo, getting over 41,000 votes (see box) last time. He regularly tops the poll in North West NEC ballots, proving that Unison members in the region do not endorse the policies of its right-wing dominated regional structures.
A clear call to disaffiliate Unison from the Labour Party will be a key feature of Roger's election manifesto. Unison's 'Labour Link' organisation operates like a union within the union, and has a great deal of influence, despite the fact that only one third of the members support it. What is worse is that to hold office in it you have to be a member of the Labour Party, so the majority of Unison members are disenfranchised, and it is run by a tiny clique.
More importantly, the millions of pounds of members' money that the union gives to the Labour Party have not modified Labour's anti-public service, anti-trade union policies. Unison members have been forced to strike to defend their pensions, pay and jobs under a Labour government. Local government workers now face a 0% pay rise!
It is time the union was led by someone who can represent the vast majority of Unison members, not someone who is beholden to ties with the Labour Party.
Whoever wins the general election, members of Britain's largest public sector union Unison, like all other public service workers, are in for a hard time. All three capitalist parties have declared their intention to make the working class pay for the financial crisis through attacks on jobs, pay, pensions and public services.
Roger Bannister, with over 33 years of trade union experience and activity, is standing for general secretary of Unison. If elected he will lead Unison members, along with other public sector workers to fight against these attacks.
The union's leadership has to date failed to use the union's full strength to maximum effect. In fact it has signed disastrous deals, such as the Single Status Agreement, instead of fighting for decent pay. Now thousands of Unison members, mainly women, face pay cuts in the name of equal pay!
Roger has an outstanding record of supporting workers in struggle. In 2001 he led a strike of 1,500 council workers, successfully defending the 35-hour week, in Knowsley, where he is Unison branch secretary.
Dave Prentis, the incumbent, announced his intention to stand for re-election last month. Under current rules he could continue without election up to his retirement, so his decision to stand has been greeted as "brave" by his right-wing sycophants on the national executive committee (NEC).
Shrewder judges should take this view with a large pinch of salt however, given that the union usually approves the election procedures in October, and makes a nomination in December. This delay until January in announcing his intention more likely reflects a period of uncertainty and argument within the right-wing camp between pro- and anti-Prentis forces, the latter being further divided into pro and anti-election cliques.
Roger is a NEC member for Unison's North West region. He has fought several general secretary campaigns in Unison, and its precursor union Nalgo, getting over 41,000 votes (see box) last time. He regularly tops the poll in North West NEC ballots, proving that Unison members in the region do not endorse the policies of its right-wing dominated regional structures.
A clear call to disaffiliate Unison from the Labour Party will be a key feature of Roger's election manifesto. Unison's 'Labour Link' organisation operates like a union within the union, and has a great deal of influence, despite the fact that only one third of the members support it. What is worse is that to hold office in it you have to be a member of the Labour Party, so the majority of Unison members are disenfranchised, and it is run by a tiny clique.
More importantly, the millions of pounds of members' money that the union gives to the Labour Party have not modified Labour's anti-public service, anti-trade union policies. Unison members have been forced to strike to defend their pensions, pay and jobs under a Labour government. Local government workers now face a 0% pay rise!
It is time the union was led by someone who can represent the vast majority of Unison members, not someone who is beholden to ties with the Labour Party.
Roger Bannister's record
Result in 2005
Dave Prentis 184,769 (76%).
Roger Bannister 41,406 (17%).
Jon Rogers (United Left) candidate 18,306 (7.48%).
Turnout 16.6% (membership entitled to vote 1,476,488).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Result in 2000
Roger Bannister (CFDU candidate) 71,021 (31.65%).
Dave Prentis 125,584 (55.9%).
Malkiat Bilku (a London hospital striker) 27,785 (12.3%).
Turnout 16.5%.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 1995 Roger won 58,052 votes (18.2%) on a higher turnout of 22%.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dave Prentis 184,769 (76%).
Roger Bannister 41,406 (17%).
Jon Rogers (United Left) candidate 18,306 (7.48%).
Turnout 16.6% (membership entitled to vote 1,476,488).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Result in 2000
Roger Bannister (CFDU candidate) 71,021 (31.65%).
Dave Prentis 125,584 (55.9%).
Malkiat Bilku (a London hospital striker) 27,785 (12.3%).
Turnout 16.5%.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 1995 Roger won 58,052 votes (18.2%) on a higher turnout of 22%.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unison general secretary election: Fighting left challenge needed
Following the announcement of an election for the general secretary of Unison, a meeting of the left in the union took place on 30 January. This was an attempt to reach a consensus on standing one left candidate to confront the incumbent Dave Prentis.
Glenn Kelly
Socialist Party members in Unison want to see one genuine fighting left challenge.
At this point we have three possible options: Socialist Party member and general secretary candidate on three previous occasions, Roger Bannister; Paul Holmes; and Delroy Creary.
The Socialist Party would be happy to stand down if we believed that there was a candidate who would have a better chance of defeating Dave Prentis than Roger Bannister, even if that meant making concessions on our political programme.
We would be prepared to stand aside for Paul Holmes, despite the weakness of his political programme and our disagreements with it, in particular over the issue of the Labour Party.
But our assessment is that Paul Holmes does not have a genuine chance of beating Prentis and we do not believe that he would secure a better vote than Roger Bannister. Roger has a long established record of nationally challenging the bureaucracy on all the key industrial and democratic issues. He has played a key role in building the left and organising against and opposing the witch-hunt of socialists publicly.
Roger and the Socialist Party were the ones to seek to rebuild some left unity by proposing the 'Reclaim the Union' initiative, which even at this stage has achieved the most united electoral challenge to the union bureaucracy for many years.
Roger has secured the highest vote of any left wing challenge in the last three general secretary elections. This has been when other lefts - for example Yunus Bakhsh and Jon Rogers - stood against him and split the left vote.
At the meeting on 30 January we were asked by some to stand down for Paul Holmes, who is standing on the same political programme as Jon Rogers and who is less well known than Jon. This is despite the fact that in the last election Jon came last and was soundly defeated by Roger Bannister.
In the last election a key plank of Roger Bannister's manifesto was a call for 'not a penny more for New Labour' and for a ballot on disaffiliation from New Labour. This was described by some at the meeting as being secondary but it actually reflects the mood of the members and is what is politically required.
Our position has been reaffirmed in the last six months by the results of the last national executive (NEC) elections where Socialist Party members won three more seats. If this had been matched by the rest of the left it would have meant we would now have a left majority on the NEC. Despite Socialist Party members' gains, the left as a whole went backwards in those elections.
In our view it was that success that forced Prentis to, in rhetoric at least, launch an attack on the Labour Party at last year's conference. He repeated the Socialist Party's phrase: "It's time to stop feeding the hand that bites us". This received a rare standing ovation.
He later warned the Labour Link conference of the threat that Socialist Party members posed because of the increase in our NEC seats.
Whilst we accept that not all on the left support our position, this did not stop us agreeing a joint platform for the Reclaim the Union election list in the NEC elections. We are happy to have those discussions again.
Delroy Creary is in favour of a break with New Labour. He put a "yes it's time to leave" position to conference. Paul Holmes is not in favour of breaking the link with Labour. Only last week he stated that he believes that: "it is untenable at the moment for a Unison general secretary not to be a member of the Labour Party".
Paul made a point of telling the left meeting about how he came under pressure from the bureaucracy to speak for them against the motion from the Bromley local government branch at the 2008 union conference.
This called for consultation with the members on whether we should continue to fund Labour.
Whilst it true Paul did not speak for the bureaucracy at the conference, he did not even try and speak in favour of the motion - a position which he now says he holds. This was the key debate of that conference.
Someone who aspires to be the leader of the union and the voice of the left has to do more than resist the call of the bureaucracy to back them on key issues. We expect them to be leading the charge.
We note that Paul has now said that he is in favour of a special conference on affiliation to the Labour Party and for that conference to make a recommendation to the members in a ballot.
We welcome Paul's move now on something that has been an issue in the union for many years.
The problem for us is that Paul would undoubtedly be calling for a 'stay in Labour' vote in that conference and ballot.
In our opinion this runs counter to the mood of the members and is why Prentis and co have been forced to make noises in our direction whilst being determined not to allow a ballot to take place.
But let us repeat, even with this significant political weakness, if Paul had a better chance of beating Prentis than Roger, we would be prepared to stand down.
But on the basis of Roger's long standing record industrially and politically, his defence of and organising of the left in the union, his previous votes in elections and his position in the union, our view is that Roger is the better candidate. Paul Holmes and Delroy Creary should stand down in the interests of having one candidate with the best record and the best chance of defeating Prentis.
Aims of the campaign
• To defeat Prentis in the general secretary election.
• To offer a genuine fighting democratic programme capable of defending the membership from the attacks we face.
• To bring together the most fighting militant members in the union for a genuine rank and file organisation.
Programme
• For public sector-wide action to defend pensions.
• Oppose the cuts - make the bosses pay.
• No to privatisation, bring back in-house services previously privatised.
• No to the public sector pay freeze - for public sector-wide strike action.
• Not a penny more for New Labour.
• For a ballot of all members on whether to remain in the Labour Party.
• For the right of the union to back local and general election candidates who support union policies.
• Expose and oppose the racist lies of the BNP.
• For a general secretary on a worker's wage.
• For the election of full time officials on a worker's wage.
• An end to the witch-hunt of union activists.
• For genuine membership control of the union.
• For the right of all members to campaign within the union without fear of attack.
Glenn Kelly
Socialist Party members in Unison want to see one genuine fighting left challenge.
At this point we have three possible options: Socialist Party member and general secretary candidate on three previous occasions, Roger Bannister; Paul Holmes; and Delroy Creary.
The Socialist Party would be happy to stand down if we believed that there was a candidate who would have a better chance of defeating Dave Prentis than Roger Bannister, even if that meant making concessions on our political programme.
We would be prepared to stand aside for Paul Holmes, despite the weakness of his political programme and our disagreements with it, in particular over the issue of the Labour Party.
Outstanding record
But our assessment is that Paul Holmes does not have a genuine chance of beating Prentis and we do not believe that he would secure a better vote than Roger Bannister. Roger has a long established record of nationally challenging the bureaucracy on all the key industrial and democratic issues. He has played a key role in building the left and organising against and opposing the witch-hunt of socialists publicly.
Roger and the Socialist Party were the ones to seek to rebuild some left unity by proposing the 'Reclaim the Union' initiative, which even at this stage has achieved the most united electoral challenge to the union bureaucracy for many years.
Roger has secured the highest vote of any left wing challenge in the last three general secretary elections. This has been when other lefts - for example Yunus Bakhsh and Jon Rogers - stood against him and split the left vote.
At the meeting on 30 January we were asked by some to stand down for Paul Holmes, who is standing on the same political programme as Jon Rogers and who is less well known than Jon. This is despite the fact that in the last election Jon came last and was soundly defeated by Roger Bannister.
In the last election a key plank of Roger Bannister's manifesto was a call for 'not a penny more for New Labour' and for a ballot on disaffiliation from New Labour. This was described by some at the meeting as being secondary but it actually reflects the mood of the members and is what is politically required.
Our position has been reaffirmed in the last six months by the results of the last national executive (NEC) elections where Socialist Party members won three more seats. If this had been matched by the rest of the left it would have meant we would now have a left majority on the NEC. Despite Socialist Party members' gains, the left as a whole went backwards in those elections.
Success
In our view it was that success that forced Prentis to, in rhetoric at least, launch an attack on the Labour Party at last year's conference. He repeated the Socialist Party's phrase: "It's time to stop feeding the hand that bites us". This received a rare standing ovation.
He later warned the Labour Link conference of the threat that Socialist Party members posed because of the increase in our NEC seats.
Whilst we accept that not all on the left support our position, this did not stop us agreeing a joint platform for the Reclaim the Union election list in the NEC elections. We are happy to have those discussions again.
Delroy Creary is in favour of a break with New Labour. He put a "yes it's time to leave" position to conference. Paul Holmes is not in favour of breaking the link with Labour. Only last week he stated that he believes that: "it is untenable at the moment for a Unison general secretary not to be a member of the Labour Party".
Paul made a point of telling the left meeting about how he came under pressure from the bureaucracy to speak for them against the motion from the Bromley local government branch at the 2008 union conference.
This called for consultation with the members on whether we should continue to fund Labour.
Whilst it true Paul did not speak for the bureaucracy at the conference, he did not even try and speak in favour of the motion - a position which he now says he holds. This was the key debate of that conference.
Someone who aspires to be the leader of the union and the voice of the left has to do more than resist the call of the bureaucracy to back them on key issues. We expect them to be leading the charge.
Affiliation to the Labour Party
We note that Paul has now said that he is in favour of a special conference on affiliation to the Labour Party and for that conference to make a recommendation to the members in a ballot.
We welcome Paul's move now on something that has been an issue in the union for many years.
The problem for us is that Paul would undoubtedly be calling for a 'stay in Labour' vote in that conference and ballot.
In our opinion this runs counter to the mood of the members and is why Prentis and co have been forced to make noises in our direction whilst being determined not to allow a ballot to take place.
But let us repeat, even with this significant political weakness, if Paul had a better chance of beating Prentis than Roger, we would be prepared to stand down.
But on the basis of Roger's long standing record industrially and politically, his defence of and organising of the left in the union, his previous votes in elections and his position in the union, our view is that Roger is the better candidate. Paul Holmes and Delroy Creary should stand down in the interests of having one candidate with the best record and the best chance of defeating Prentis.
Aims of the campaign
• To defeat Prentis in the general secretary election.
• To offer a genuine fighting democratic programme capable of defending the membership from the attacks we face.
• To bring together the most fighting militant members in the union for a genuine rank and file organisation.
Programme
• For public sector-wide action to defend pensions.
• Oppose the cuts - make the bosses pay.
• No to privatisation, bring back in-house services previously privatised.
• No to the public sector pay freeze - for public sector-wide strike action.
• Not a penny more for New Labour.
• For a ballot of all members on whether to remain in the Labour Party.
• For the right of the union to back local and general election candidates who support union policies.
• Expose and oppose the racist lies of the BNP.
• For a general secretary on a worker's wage.
• For the election of full time officials on a worker's wage.
• An end to the witch-hunt of union activists.
• For genuine membership control of the union.
• For the right of all members to campaign within the union without fear of attack.
UNISON GENERAL SECRETARY ELECTION - NOMINATE ROGER BANNISTER
To: UNISON Branch Secretaries, Stewards & Members
31 January 2010
Dear Colleague
I have decided to canvas for nominations for the General Secretary election, to argue for radical change at the top of UNISON.
I fought this election in 2005, obtaining over 41,000 votes. Since then I have continued to campaign as an NEC member for the North West Region, for fighting policies to defend jobs and conditions of service. I am currently about to ballot members for strike action in defence of our 35 Hour Week Agreement, and against the imposition of a redeployment policy by the employer that will lead to compulsory redundancies. It is my belief that UNISON needs a General Secretary with this Hands On experience of dealing with the problems faced by ordinary members.
My election programme would be based on:
• A General Secretary on a Worker's Wage
• Fighting policies against spending cuts – defend all jobs – fight the pay freeze – not a penny off our pensions!
• UNISON members first - Break the link with New Labour, use our Political Fund to support candidates whose policies are best for UNISON members
• End low pay amongst UNISON members
• Oppose all privatisation
• Oppose the BNP & the Racist right
• Election of all officials
• For the right of all members to campaign under rule within the union without fear of attack
Yours sincerely
Roger Bannister (Membership Number 1318436)
31 January 2010
Dear Colleague
I have decided to canvas for nominations for the General Secretary election, to argue for radical change at the top of UNISON.
I fought this election in 2005, obtaining over 41,000 votes. Since then I have continued to campaign as an NEC member for the North West Region, for fighting policies to defend jobs and conditions of service. I am currently about to ballot members for strike action in defence of our 35 Hour Week Agreement, and against the imposition of a redeployment policy by the employer that will lead to compulsory redundancies. It is my belief that UNISON needs a General Secretary with this Hands On experience of dealing with the problems faced by ordinary members.
My election programme would be based on:
• A General Secretary on a Worker's Wage
• Fighting policies against spending cuts – defend all jobs – fight the pay freeze – not a penny off our pensions!
• UNISON members first - Break the link with New Labour, use our Political Fund to support candidates whose policies are best for UNISON members
• End low pay amongst UNISON members
• Oppose all privatisation
• Oppose the BNP & the Racist right
• Election of all officials
• For the right of all members to campaign under rule within the union without fear of attack
Yours sincerely
Roger Bannister (Membership Number 1318436)
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