UNISON NEC National Seats recommendations

 

Nominations for UNISON NEC candidates close at 5pm on Friday 5 March. Denise and I have enough  already be on the ballot paper for Community members but the more nominations the better!

Above are flyers from UNISON candidates I have had personal recommendations from by members of these sector or self organised groups :-

Community - General seat John Gray & Female Seat Denise Thomas (obviously)

Energy - General Tracey Wainwright

Health - General seat James Anthony: Female seats Pat Heron & Michelle England; Male Gordon McKay

Higher Education - General seat Amelia Rout & Female Josie Mangan-Murphy

Local Government - General seat James Minto; Female Maggie Griffin & Janet Green; Male Sean Fox

Police and Justice - General seat Chris Hanrahan & Female Maureen Le Marinel

WET - Pam Sian

Black Members - Femae seat Manjula Kumari, Male Conroy Lawrence, Reserved Abiola Kursoro

Disabled Members - General seat Graham Ellis & Female Katrina Murray

Young Members - General seat Jamie Dickinson

There are many other excellent candidates who I do not know of or are standing against each other so I will give these contests a miss for now. 

Newham Labour Unions telecanvass with Assembly Member Unmesh Desai - Tuesday 2 March 6pm-7.30pm

 

On Tuesday 2 March 6-7.30pm trade union activists in Newham have organised a joint telecanvassing session in support of Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan and our Labour Assembly members. 

East London and City Assembly member, Unmesh Desai, will be in attendance. 

The elections in May 6th are only 68 days away and as much as I prefer other forms of campaigning, telecanvassing is the only thing allowed at the moment due to Covid. 

Check out this article in Labour List by Sadiq on the positive difference trade unions make and his commitment to work with us. 

Unfortunately since we have to use Labour Party software programme called "dialogue" only Party members can participate. 

Can members to try and log into dialogue prior to joining the meeting at this session. Go to try and log in to https://dialogue.labour.org.uk/login first? People not being able to log in because they've not used the Labour online systems before is a common problem and usually eats into training time. 

People should attempt to use an email address that they think they might've used in the past and then click "forgot password" in order to reset. If this leads to no response in an email inbox or junk folder, then they're going to need their membership number in order to link their email to their membership and that can be done at the following link https://login.labour.org.uk/activate

 If there are still issues, they'll need to contact campaigns technology (email labourmembership@labour.org.uk or call on 0345 092 2299 Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm). 

All West Ham Labour party members should have received an invite and I hope that East Ham will be able to do the same. 

I hope that similar sessions will take place at least fortnightly until the election. 

All Labour Party trade union members welcome regardless whether their union is affiliated to the Party or not. 

TUC Pensions Conference 2021: Fair pensions for all

 The TUC pensions conference brings together representatives from trade unions and the pension sector to debate the latest policy issues.

The full programme and sign up can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tuc-pensions-conference-fair-pensions-for-all-tickets-141667161293

About this Event

This year's conference will be held online and will explore four key themes in a series of short webinars across four days:

• Investing in a just transition to a low carbon economy
• Extending workplace pensions coverage to those workers currently excluded
• Ensuring more workers can benefit from collective pension schemes
• Rethinking the balance between state and workplace pensions

Day 1: Monday 15th March, 13:00-14:40

Investing in a just transition

As investors, pension funds have a major role in the move to a low-carbon economy. So how can we make sure they use this position to ensure we have a just transition, with the workers and communities most affected at its heart?

Opening keynote

- Guy Opperman, minister for pensions and financial inclusion

Panel debate

- Paul Nowak, deputy general secretary, TUC

- Diandra Soobiah, head of responsible investment, NEST

- Tom Harrington, assistant director (investments), Greater Manchester Pension Fund

- Katarzyna Szwarc, policy fellow, LSE Grantham Research Institute

- Richard Hardy, national secretary for Scotland and Ireland, Prospect/Just Transition Commissioner Scotland

Day 2: Tuesday 16th March, 13:00-14:00

Fixing the holes in auto-enrolment

Auto enrolment has brought millions of people into workplace pensions. But millions more are still excluded, and too many of those who are auto-enrolled are not building up enough pension to maintain living standards in retirement. This session will explore who's falling through the gaps, what impact Covid-19 has had, and how we can make sure auto-enrolment delivers decent pensions for all.

- Josephine Cumbo, global pensions correspondent, Financial Times

- Chris Curry, director, Pensions Policy Institute

- Joe Anderton, pension officer, Prospect

- Cara Pacitti, economist, Resolution Foundation

Day 3 Wednesday 17th March 13:00-14:00

Making a success of collective DC

Thanks to the hard work of the Communication Workers Union, the Royal Mail is preparing to introduce the UK's first collective defined contribution pension scheme. By pooling investments and sharing risk, these arrangements can deliver more generous and stable retirement incomes than individual DC. So how can more employers be encouraged to offer CDC, and what can we learn from Canada, where unions have been involved in running this kind of scheme for decades?

- Terry Pullinger, deputy general secretary (postal) CWU

- Chris Roberts, director of social and economic policy, Canadian Labour Congress

- Shriti Jadav, director, Willis Towers Watson

Day 4: Rethinking the role of the state pension

The UK provides a significantly lower state pension than most comparable countries, and relies more heavily on occupational pensions to provide retirement incomes for its citizens. Our system is deeply ingrained and has its merits, but is it time to rethink this balance? Would a bigger role for the state pension reduce pensioner poverty and inequality?

Panel debate

- Dr Bernhard Ebbinghaus, professor of social policy, University of Oxford

- Nathalie Diesbecq, ACV-CSC (Christian Federation of Trade Unions, Belgium)

Closing keynote

- Jonathan Reynolds, shadow secretary of state for work and pensions

Overwhelming majority of West Ham Constituency Labour Party delegates vote to get rid of Newham Mayoral model

 

At the General Committee meeting tonight of West Ham Labour Party delegates, they voted overwhelmingly (74% in favour, 14% against; 12% abstain) to support motions to get rid of the existing Executive Mayoral model in Newham and replace it with a more democratic Committee model. 

Only one delegate spoke against the motion (even though she said she was in favour but did not like the call for branches to encourage their members to campaign in favour). 

Check out:-  

wording of motions : https://www.johnslabourblog.org/2021/02/branches-vote-unanimously-to-get-rid-of.html

https://newhamforchange.org/

https://www.facebook.com/newhamvotingforchange/

https://twitter.com/ForNewham

London UNISON Labour Link phone bank with Abena Oppong-Asare MP

 
Photo (hat tip @iamritabegum) from tonight's Greater London UNISON Labour Link sponsored phone bank for the London Mayor and Assembly elections. I was pleased as elected Chair of the regional Labour Link committee to welcome long standing UNISON activist Abena to address the session on the importance of re-electing Labour Mayor, Sadiq Khan and a Labour Assembly victory in May. 

I was also very pleased that we had another old union comrade, TSSA ringer, Sam Tarry MP also present! 

Many thanks for UNISON @JackTMPhipps for organising. 

Next week in Newham the Labour unions are planning another telephone bank session with our local East London & City Labour candidate, Unmesh Desai. 

The Return of Squalor: An anthology from the first ten years of Red Brick Blog

 

I had missed this powerful housing anthology. Certainly, going on early morning inspections of rogue Newham Private Sector landlords brought home this return of squalor. 

Hat tip https://municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2021/02/23/book-review-the-return-of-squalor/ and buy it here

UNISON Community Live! (register by 5pm Thursday 25 Feb)

 

Dear member, This is your final call to sign up to UNISON's online event for Community members. The registration deadline is 5pm on Thursday 25th February 2021. UNISON Community Live! will take place between 16 and 19 March 2021. Participants will be able to put their questions to speakers and presenters. All session will be delivered through GoToWebinar, which all devices should be able to link to. Sessions: Our new General Secretary, Christina McAnea, setting out her vision for your union and how it will support Community members (16 March, 12-1300) The Shadow Social Housing MinIster, Mike Amesbury MP, setting out Labour’s view of how the housing crisis should be tackled. (16 March, 1730-1830). Two sessions on social care: how UNISON is seeking to bring about positive change for social care workers in England; and a presentation by our Scottish and Welsh Secretaries on how our work is leading to change in those nations (17 March at 1300-1400; and 18 March at 1730-1800) . How UNISON is working to tackle Domestic Violence, led by National Women’s Officer Josie Irwin (17 March at 1730-1830). Activists from our sector discussing how you can get more involved in shaping the union’s response to the issues that matter to you. (18 March, 1300-1400). Effective working from home. This will be a certificated training session, and you can ask for time off for training from your employer. It will explore the challenges faced by people working from home and explores what UNISON members and activists need to be considering in order to support workers during the pandemic, and beyond. (19 March, 1300-1400) To attend Community Live! you must be a UNISON member We want to make this event as accessible as we can, so all members can participate fully. If you are disabled, please let us know of any adjustments you will need to allow you to take part in a virtual event. BSL interpretation and speech text will be available for all sessions. To attend any of the sessions, please first register for the event, by emailing us as follows: Subject – Community Live! In your email - please provide: Your name: Your membership number: Your branch name if known: Any reasonable adjustments you need to participate: Please send your email to conferences@unison.co.uk Once registered, you will be sent details of the programme. You can then sign up for the various Community Live! sessions individually. Attend as many or as few as you like! Email conferences@unison.co.uk today to register to attend. We look forward to seeing you, UNISON Conference Team

Working together for a united leadership - UNISON NEC nominations

 

Denise has been sending reminders to UNISON branches which have Community members.

"Dear Branch Secretary

We appreciate how busy and challenging Branches are during these trying times so apologises for sending this very gentle reminder for our joint nomination request (see also below). We hope your branch will consider nominating us. If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

NEC Elections 2021: Community General Seat & Female Seat Nomination Request

John Gray and Denise Thomas

RMS 3083288 RMS 8688788

Dear Branch Secretary and Chair

Your branch is entitled to nominate candidates to the two Community seats for this year’s National Executive Council elections. We're asking that you put this request to your community members for consideration - John Gray for the General Seat and Denise Thomas for the Female seat.

We are standing on a platform to unite the leadership of the union. Our new General Secretary needs unity in the National Executive Committee not factions of politics fighting internally. A united leadership will ensure UNISON concentrates on taking on the government making sure our members don't pay for the cost of Covid and fighting their plans to divide public service workers over the pay freeze. We can't do any of that if we don't have unity in UNISON's leadership.

There's been a change this year in how Community seats can be nominated to. This guarantees that members of the Community Sector can have their say. Please ensure you consult with your Community Sector members in time for your Branch Committee to nominate. Both of us are more than willing to attend (virtually) any hustings you may arrange with your community members to decide upon your nomination.

Denise is currently the NEC member for Community (Female seat). Her background is working in the Voluntary and Community sector for the past 28yrs supporting adults with learning disabilities and works for a national organisation. She holds Regional positions as Branch Black Members Officer and Welfare officer for Ymlaen/Forward Cymru Wales.

John is also currently a NEC Community member (General seat) and has been an activist in UNISON for many years and held a number of different branch and regional positions. He works for a large Housing Association and is its National Convenor. He is the former Branch Secretary and Chair of the GLR Housing Associations Branch.

Denise has served as a NEC member on Policy Development & Campaigns, Trustee for “there for you”, Labour link. Branch Resource working group and International Committee.

John has served as an NEC member on the Policy Development & Campaigns, Trustee on the UNISON staff pension fund, Chair of Investment Sub-Committee, National Labour link and Vice-Chair of the Industrial Action Committee.

Covid 19 Pandemic This past year has been the most difficult time in our lifetimes. AS NEC members we are so proud of our members for continuing to provide much needed public services and also UNISON activists and staff who have supported sometimes very frightened members and fought hard for adequate PPE and risk assessments. But the impact of the pandemic on our members physically and mentally can't be underestimated- proper support needs to be in place for those who got the country through the pandemic as we hopefully come out of this crisis

Austerity. All of us deserve decent wages and decent terms and conditions. Instead, many of us are facing cuts in pay, reduced benefits and redundancies. Both of us as your NEC members will be working and campaigning even harder with branches and regions to oppose these measures. We believe that Community members must play our part in opposing further Covid related austerity.

Equalities: We welcome that public service employers have acknowledged systemic racism in their structures, procedures and in society. The pandemic has highlighted the health inequalities with women and Black communities impacted the hardest. UNISON should be leading campaigns to end the disgraceful health inequalities in this country and holding the government and employers to their commitment to end systemic racism. We also support the Community specific campaigns below:-

• Better funding & resources for branches that support Community member who often work for small employers and in isolated workplaces.
• No public money for “union busters”. Any employer that does not have a union recognition agreement should be barred from public grants or contracts
• Sector Wage Councils. Set up to decide the pay and conditions of all staff by collective bargaining including a real living wage minimum for all Community workers and agency/sub-contractors.
• UNISON Ethical Care Charter. All employers must be called upon to sign up.
• Better governance and democracy. Many of our employer management boards are unelected and unrepresentative.
• Defend Pensions. Protect the Social Housing Pension fund and the Pension Trust from further cuts. A decent defined benefit pension scheme for all.
• Better health & safety at work in particular protecting members by supporting the UNISON “End Violence at Work” charter.
• Recruit & train more activists to support members

We believe that we both work together well as your Community NEC team. While Denise’s employer is a charity, John’s is a housing association, so we represent and complement both of the major sectors in the Community Service Group.

Why are cases of Covid in the workplace not being reported in the UK? Alice Martin

 
Check out this excellent article in the Guardian by PIRC researcher, Alice Martin, about the massive under reporting scandal of workplace deaths and infections from Covid.

"At Pensions and Investments Research Consultancy (PIRC), we’ve been tracking how Riddor (official employer reports to the Health & Safety Executive - HSE) is being used by companies in different sectors. Only 365 cases have been recorded by the HSE in food processing (despite us finding at least 2,666 cases reported in local media), and only two fatalities – a dubious figure given that our research of media reports alone have covered 11 deaths and we know of several others.

In warehousing, only 397 cases have been reported, and three fatalities. But there have been monthly outbreaks in the picking and packing facilities that serve online retailers and supermarkets. And we know there have been more deaths – the Office for National Statistics dataset of Covid-related deaths by occupation, compiled from the death register, has recorded 120 fatalities among warehouse workers (classed as “elementary storage occupations”). So where are the corresponding reports from employers?

One of the starkest discrepancies is that only 20 cases in “security and investigation activities” have been disclosed, and no fatalities. But male security guards have one of the highest Covid death rates across all occupational groups". 

Unless deaths and infections in the workplace from Covid are reported, investigated and then appropriate action taken, how can such workers be protected? 

Should not investors in such employer's be concerned about making sure that such employee stakeholders are protected and that there is no legal or reputational risk from doing nothing to tackle this scandal? 

Check out also the report from PIRC last September on "Unreported deaths"

"The shooting of a young protestor"

Check out this BBC report on the shocking public shooting and resulting murder of 19 year old Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, in Myanmar, clearly by security forces belonging to the Army junta that has seized power and over thrown a democratically elected government.  

You can put pressure on the government - Give all key workers a pay rise

 

John, the spring budget takes place in just a few weeks. UNISON is joining the TUC and sister unions to pressure the government to end the public sector pay freeze and give all key workers a pay rise.     This is how you can help:   Come to a meeting with your MP Activists across the country are running online meetings with their MPs. You can search for your constituency, see if there’s a meeting where you live and RSVP today.    RSVP to a meeting   If you’re able to join a local meeting, it will make a huge difference. You can make sure key workers where you live feel supported and your MP pays attention.   Record a video message If you’re a key worker, you can get your story in front of MPs by recording a video message.   Record a video message   We’ll use the videos with politicians and on social media to help build the campaign. Your own story is one of the most powerful arguments we have. You will make a difference in increasing pressure for change. Don’t worry if you’ve never done anything like this before; the tool will help you through the process and make it easy.   Please take a minute to support the campaign. Come to a meeting or record a video message now. You could make all the difference.    RSVP to a meeting   Record a video message   Thank you, Liz Snape UNISON assistant general secretary

Early Voting in Newham for Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan (and campaign begins to step up).

Check out this "early voting" video by the Labour Party promoting postal vote registration in Newham. "Early voting can help double the Labour vote". 

Yesterday there was a meeting of Newham Labour Union activists, where it was agreed to hold regular telecanvassing sessions in the run up to May 6 with our local London Assembly Candidate, Unmesh Desai. 

This morning, Labour Mayor, Sadiq Khan, gave a keynote address by video to the UNISON Greater London Regional Council and praised our public service workers for their fantastic work and sacrifice during Covid. In particular our London Ambulance Service. 

This evening there was a training session and phone bank for West Ham ward members. I was also pleased to see on email that West Ham ward is currently the number one ward in the borough (out of 20 wards) for telecanvassing campaign activity. Many thanks to our Labour Group organiser Hasib Baber for all his hard work (and patience!) training members. 

UNISON Greater London Region Housing Associations Branch AGM 2021

 

Last year our physical AGM was cancelled at the very last moment due to the first lockdown. This year we will have a virtual meeting. Keynote speakers are being arranged and a free meal voucher for all members who join us. 

Email AGM.Admin@unisonhablondon.org if you are going to attend (with your unison membership number or full name and address/employer). 

Newham Voting for Change – on Revive FM

 "Newham Voting for Change activist Josephine Grahl was interviewed today (Monday) on community radio station Revive FM.

She talked to Simon Rush about the reasons for the referendum, the advantages of the committee structure, and the way the council will work if Newham voters opt for the committee structure in May’s referendum.

You can hear the full interview below:" hat tip  https://newhamforchange.org/category/news/

Newham for Change Facebook

Audio Player

00:00

00:00

An established team for the UNISON Community Service Group

 UNISON Branches have until Friday March 5 2021 to nominate NEC candidates. Below is our nomination request:-

Your branch is entitled to nominate candidates to the two Community seats for this year’s National Executive Council elections. We're asking that you put this request to your community members for consideration - John Gray for the General Seat and Denise Thomas for the Female seat.

We are standing on a platform to unite the leadership of the union. Our new General Secretary needs unity in the National Executive Committee not factions of politics fighting internally. A united leadership will ensure UNISON concentrates on taking on the government making sure our members don't pay for the cost of Covid and fighting their plans to divide public service workers over the pay freeze. We can't do any of that if we don't have unity in UNISON's leadership.

There's been a change this year in how Community seats can be nominated to. This guarantees that members of the Community Sector can have their say. Please ensure you consult with your Community Sector members in time for your Branch Committee to nominate. Both of us are more than willing to attend (virtually) any hustings you may arrange with your community members to decide upon your nomination.

Denise is currently the NEC member for Community (Female seat). Her background is working in the Voluntary and Community sector for the past 28yrs supporting adults with learning disabilities and works for a national organisation. She holds Regional positions as Branch Black Members Officer and Welfare officer for Ymlaen/Forward Cymru Wales. 

John is also currently a NEC Community member (General seat) and has been an activist in UNISON for many years and held a number of different branch and regional positions. He works for a large Housing Association and is its National Convenor. He is the former Branch Secretary and Chair of the GLR Housing Associations Branch.

Denise has served as a NEC member on Policy Development & Campaigns, Trustee for “there for you”, Labour link. Branch Resource working group and International Committee.

John has served as an NEC member on the Policy Development & Campaigns, Trustee on the UNISON staff pension fund, Chair of Investment Sub-Committee, National Labour link and Vice-Chair of the Industrial Action Committee.

Covid 19 Pandemic This past year has been the most difficult time in our lifetimes. AS NEC members we are so proud of our members for continuing to provide much needed public services and also UNISON activists and staff who have supported sometimes very frightened members and fought hard for adequate PPE and risk assessments. But the impact of the pandemic on our members physically and mentally can't be underestimated- proper support needs to be in place for those who got the country through the pandemic as we hopefully come out of this crisis

Austerity. All of us deserve decent wages and decent terms and conditions. Instead many of us are facing cuts in pay, reduced benefits and redundancies. Both of us as your NEC members will be working and campaigning even harder with branches and regions to oppose these measures. We believe that Community members must play our part in opposing further Covid related austerity.

Equalities: We welcome that public service employers have acknowledged systemic racism in their structures, procedures and in society. The pandemic has highlighted the health inequalities with women and Black communities impacted the hardest. UNISON should be leading campaigns to end the disgraceful health inequalities in this country and holding the government and employers to their commitment to end systemic racism. We also support the Community specific campaigns below:-

• Better funding & resources for branches that support Community member who often work for small employers and in isolated workplaces.
• No public money for “union busters”. Any employer that does not have a union recognition agreement should be barred from public grants or contracts
• Sector Wage Councils. Set up to decide the pay and conditions of all staff by collective bargaining including a real living wage minimum for all Community workers and agency/sub-contractors.
• UNISON Ethical Care Charter. All employers must be called upon to sign up.
• Better governance and democracy.  Many of our employer management boards are unelected and unrepresentative.
• Defend Pensions. Protect the Social Housing Pension fund and the Pension Trust from further cuts. A decent defined benefit pension scheme for all.
• Better health & safety at work in particular protecting members by supporting the UNISON “End Violence at Work” charter.
• Recruit & train more activists to support members

We believe that we both work together well as your Community NEC team. While Denise’s employer is a charity, John’s is a housing association, so we represent and complement both of the major sectors in the Community Service Group. 

You can contact Denise on denise_thomas2@msn.com or John on john.gray2012@icloud.com.

Denise Thomas & John Gray