Dave Prentis - A personal message

This morning UNISON NEC members received this email from our General Secretary, Dave Prentis, announcing his retirement.

"Dear Colleague

I’ve been so proud to serve as your General Secretary for 20 years. It has been the honour and privilege of my life to be able to represent our incredible public service workers from across our four nations, and never more so than in the last few difficult months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today I have advised the President that I will retire on 31 December 2020 when my current period of office comes to an end. In order to comply with trade union law, our NEC Development and Organisation Committee will meet this week to discuss a timetable to elect my successor and full details will be published once that is agreed. But I wanted you, the leading members of our union, to hear the news directly from me.

We have been through some tough times together. We’ve brought our union through the long years of austerity where we saw our public services decimated with hundreds of thousands of jobs lost. But we stayed strong and we built the union.

We are now the largest union in the UK and the fastest-growing union in Europe. We have a vibrant lay democracy with activists like you in more than 50,000 workplaces. Our finances are strong and I hope we are now in a position to channel additional support and resources to our branches – where I truly believe that we organise and support our members best.

Every day for the past 47 years, I have been proud to serve this union and I have always been driven by a belief in fairness and justice for all our members. Never more so than in the past five months when I have seen our members and our public services rise to the challenge of the pandemic. In the worst of all circumstances, I have seen our union at its very best.

New members are joining our union faster than ever before because they value what a strong union can provide – support when they need it, strength to fight for change and a community that means that even in the most worrying times, you are never alone. Our enduring values of caring and solidarity will be more important than ever in the coming years.

As the health crisis turns to an economic crisis, we will face more challenges. I will be here to continue to lead this union until the end of this year – we still have a great deal of work to do together.

It has been my pleasure, my honour and an absolute privilege to lead our union, UNISON.

Thank you,

Dave Prentis

General Secretary

UNISON

(Above is my favourite picture of Dave taken on a very wet campaigning day in Chipping Barnet. Hat tip Miriam).

Dave Prentis: "This election is the fight of our lives"

Hat tip UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis blog: "Election day is less than five weeks away – and this election is the fight of our lives. After a decade of Tory austerity, public service workers know better than anyone the terrible toll that austerity has had on our communities, the services you provide and on your own lives.

That’s why I’ve been getting out on the doorstep and campaigning for public services – and for a Labour government. So far I’ve been supporting Labour candidates, and UNISON members, Bambos Charalambous and Emma Whysall, and I’ll be out campaigning across the country in the weeks ahead. It really is vital that everyone who wants to see a Labour government gets out on the doorstep and campaigns for Labour – and tells their friends, family and colleagues why they’re voting Labour too. Whilst Boris Johnson may have the money and the media on his side, Labour has something stronger – people.

There’s something else Labour has though – common sense ideas that can changes our country – and the lives of UNISON members – for the better. So it was great to see Labour announcing plans to extend maternity leave, offer real help on childcare and rebuild vital sure start centres. The same goes for giving every family the chance to have a warm home and an affordable energy bill. We have the oldest and most poorly insulated houses in Europe and we need practical measures to address this. Again – this is just the sort of change our country needs.

I know that in the days and weeks ahead, Labour can win this election where it counts – both on the streets, and by showing it has the best plans for working people. I promise you our union will be playing our part – and so will I".

UNISON London Labour Link Forum 2019

Picture collage from last weeks UNISON Greater London Region Labour Link Forum which took place at the UNISON Centre in Euston London.

I chaired the meeting for London region with our vice chair Yvonne Green, during which we went through our workplan, financial report and we debated some great motions (including one opposing the arms fair at DESI London Excel which I seconded) .

Then we met up with the Eastern region forum, who were meeting next door for a speech by Ashley Dalton, who is a UNISON member and is our Prospective Parliamentary candidate in Rochford and Southend East.

Our National Labour Link officers, Julian Cooke and Keith Birch also gave us an update on what they do and the constitutional mess we are currently in over Brexit. 

UNISON Labour Link Forum 2012: Day 2

Saturday was the second (and last) day of this year's Forum in Cardiff. Check out the report on day one here. The traditional Labour Link Social had been held the previous night and "a good time had been had

by all" (it also raised money for UNISON welfare).

Forum started off at 9.15 sharp with a speech by our new UNISON President, Chris Tansley (and life long Labour Party member). Then a presentation on the UNISON Labour Link annual report and review of the year by Chair Steve Warwick and National officers Keith Birch and Julian Cooke.

In the feedback on the recent Local elections in May we heard about the computer tele-canvassing software piloted in London and Eastern region. It was such a success that there are plans to roll out the software to all regions and even possibly for Labour Link volunteers to use from home.  We were also shown the video by Southampton UNISON on how they helped get rid of its anti-union Tory Council in May (I will post when I find it).

Followed by motions on "Impact of the cuts on the Black Community"; "LGBT equality - reality not rhetoric"; Labour & Disabled people" and "The Labour Party and detrimental age discrimination".

Next were seminars on "Police and Crime Commissioners" and "Devolution". I chaired the seminar on "Devolution". Delegates from Wales, Scotland and London (who will not be facing Police Commissioners elections in November) came to together with Welsh Assembly Minister for Europe, Alan Davis (right of picture), Welsh Assembly member (and former MP) Julie Morgan and Dave Watson (UNISON Scottish Organiser and top blogger) to discuss the political impact of devolution on the Party and trade unions.

I said at the start that I was perhaps well qualified to chair this meeting since I was born and bred in Wales to a Welsh mother and Scottish father. I have since lived and worked in Scotland but have now spent most of my life in London (and am now a Councillor in the Peoples Republic of Newham where we have a 61-nil Labour majority).

Alan made the valid point that it was sometimes very frustrating being in a Labour Government in Wales since the UK media are completely obsessed about what is going on in the "SW1 bubble" and it's about time that London recognised that trains go down to Cardiff as well as up to London.  Julie made the very interesting point that this was the first ever meeting she had attended of representatives from Wales, Scotland and London discussing this issue.

Dave pointed out that before devolution he would give evidence to the London Parliament 2/3 times per year on Scottish issues. Now with a Scottish Parliament he is in Holyrood 2/3 times a week! London UNISON Labour Link Political officer, Steve Terry, also spoke about the work we are doing with Labour London Assembly members to hold the Tory Mayor, Boris Johnson to account. Difficult to do of course with someone who doesn't do anything.

After this there was Motions on "Renewable Energy" (another London Regional Motion) and a rule amendment on representation in Labour Link of self organised groups.

The Chair Steve Warwick closed the Forum and hoped that we all got home safety (the weather has been atrocious with floods up and down the country). Due to time limits he declined to accept a vote of thanks to the Chair from Bristol delegates (in joke).

On the way home I did feel reflect on Forum and felt very proud of Wales for not only keeping the faith and returning a Labour Government but also demonstrating "Socialism works" and (most importantly) "it can deliver" (Alan Davies).  

UNISON London Labour Link Forum 2012

Yesterday evening I Co-chaired with Gloria Hanson, the 2012 UNISON London Labour Link (APF) forum. Which acts as the Annual Regional Conference of 60,000 (ish) London UNISON members who choose to affiliate to the Labour Party. 

This took place at the UNISON HQ in Euston. Afterwards there was a launch event with Ken Livingstone which I post upon later.

After opening remarks and introductions, we discussed our financial report and the work plan for 2012. This has been dominated this year by the London GLA and Mayoral elections. Next we debated motions.

The first was a motion from my Housing Association Branch on "A New Direction for the Labour Party" which I will also post upon later. This motion was passed overwhelmingly apart from one Toy Town Revolutionary who obviously does not believe in greater equality nor that the Party should move to the left since that would prevent him from braying betrayal politics at every opportunity. While from Waltham Forest Local Government, my good comrade, Alan Griffiths spoke on "Renewable Energy". Unfortunately we were not able see his PowerPoint presentation.

Next was our first guest speaker Keith Birch who gave a report on National Labour Link. Followed by Helen Symons, the Campaigns and Communications Officer for TULO (Trade Union Liaison Organisation" (see picture above). Finally Julian Cooke (who use to be a member of Forest Gate North Labour Party), who is a Labour Link Organising Officer, he spoke about the "Political Education Project" which is is trying to get ordinary members to recognise how important "politics" is and to encourage them to get involved.