UNISON Community Seminar/Conference 2023 - Day 1

 

UNISON holds an annual Seminar and Conference for members who work in our Community Service Group (Housing Associations and voluntary sector).  This year it was held in Bournemouth. Unexpectedly I stepped in to chair a workshop on pensions due to illness.  Once again I will use my twitter feed to report on the day. 

At @unisontheunion @UNISONCommVol annual conference in sunny Bournemouth. Started 9am with meeting of Service Group Executive. Now #HousingAssociation sector meeting addressed by @CityHallLabour @Semakaleng

Our speaker @Semakaleng is Chair of @LondonAssembly #Housing committee & @CityHallLabour spokesperson. I asked for appropriate support for our campaigns against pay cuts, breaking #pension promises & trade union victimisation. Sem is willing to listen & work with us

After @Semakaleng we had a roundtable feedback from Housing Associations @UNISONCommVol members from all over the UK. Common themes were Cost of Living, pay cuts (below inflation offers), breaking #pension promises, bullying, discrimination, stress, workload but some positives. I made a suggestion about a new campaign to improve Housing Association Governance and accountability.

After lunch the @UNISONCommVol annual seminar kicks off with welcome from our Chair Malcolm Gray (long lost cousin) & speech/Q &A from @unisontheunion regional secretary Clare Williams. The actual #unisoncomm23 conference starts tomorrow

Next Nye Cominetti from @resfoundation on report "who cares" "exp of social care workers & the enforcement of employment rights in sector" clearly care workers are being unlawfully under paid by not properly inc travel time. #ucommunity23 @UNISONCommVol @GavinEdwards77

Final presentation by @organiserjo the @unisonglr regional secretary on "organising & recruitment strategy development project". We need to build on our strengths. While we need to acknowledge our weakness we should not beat ourselves up. Need to learn & evaluate.

After break I will be leading a #ucommunity23 workshop on "Find out what is happening to your pension & how to organise to improve it". @unisontheunion pension guru, Glyn Jenkins is not well. 4.20pm at Meyrick suite. Finish 5.20pm. All welcome but register beforehand at conference desk

Chatting to delegates outside #UCommunity23 with @DeniseT25475880. Both of us are standing for
@UNISONCommVol NEC seats. Many thanks for the support we have received so far from so many branches. Ballot papers drop 17/4/23. Any delegates who want to speak to us are very welcome

After a meeting of all London delegates there was a Conference social. Afterwards we went for a #UCommunity23 @unisonglr delegation meal with great comrades @JoeOgundemuren
@MarcelaBenede10 @CllrLolaOyewusi @rachangeli @TLJM44 @jcreed551

Having a dialogue with West Ham residents

 

This morning there was a Newham wide Labour telecanvassing session using the Labour Party "dialogue" software to call residents about their views about Covid and the forthcoming local elections in May. 

I don't particularly like telecanvassing and much prefer going door knocking and speaking to people face to face. Obviously this cannot happen at the moment so the only means of direct political canvassing is via the phone using a special software tool called "dialogue". . 

You need a landline (preferred since cheaper for the Labour Party who pays all costs) or mobile phone and a PC, laptop or tablet. 

I was phoning residents in West Ham which is the ward I represent as a Councillor. Perhaps it was due to the cold but it was by far the best telephone canvassing session I have had using "dialogue". For understandable reasons many people block or will not pick up calls from anyone they do not recognise. 

I was able to speak to a number of residents and had some really good conversations with them. This included those residents who were highly critical of Labour and in particular local Council issues. We have to listen to them to understand their concerns and act upon them where possible. 

I was even given by dialogue a "John Gray" to ring in my ward. Alas, he did not pick up the phone to speak to his long lost cousin and namesake. . 

Our East London Labour Assembly member, Unmesh Desai, joined us and gave a pep talk on the importance of getting the Labour vote out in Newham. Since the London Mayor and Assembly vote is by proportionate representation (PR) every singe vote will count. 

We later spoke and agreed to organise a Labour unions meeting in Newham on how we can help achieve this.  

Why I fear the BNP

The British National Party could easily win seats in the London Assembly elections - unless voters wake up the threat

This is a superb post (see below) by London Labour Assembly member Jennette Arnold in “Comment is free”. BTW - On Sunday London TULO are encouraging people to go and help out at the Goodshays by-Election (BNP councillor resigned) Meet 10.30am 9 March outside the Harold Hill Community Centre, Gooshays Drive, Romford, Essex RM3 9LB

Like a dangerous dog, the threat from the British National Party in the London Assembly elections has been allowed to lie. But the realisation that they need just 5% of the capital's vote to win seats in May is now slowly dawning. The shock that this awakening has taken so long alarmed me almost as much as the threat itself.

The facts are stark. For one seat on the assembly, the BNP need just 5% of the vote. For two seats they need 8% and for three seats 11%. For anyone doubting how achievable these targets are, at the last GLA elections in 2004 they got 4.8% - just 5,000 votes away from credibility and a stepping stone to further power.

Though the BNP is currently wracked by internal wrangling and financial turmoil, any success in London would galvanise its supporters, give the party UK-wide credence as an electable force and set in motion worrying momentum heading into next year's European elections. Or, as they put it: "If we are successful it will send shockwaves through the media and the establishment and will really propel the BNP into the political premier league."

As someone who adores multi-cultural, multi-coloured and multi-racial London, it's a terrifying thought.

The BNP terrify me not because they are a racist, thuggish bunch who thrive on hate and fear - though of course they are - but because they represent the polar opposite of my political beliefs. For me, politics is about the power of collective action, in all its forms, as the driver for achieving change. This was my philosophy as a member of the church, then a nursing trade union official and finally as a Labour politician.

I have always believed in the power of the collective will of the majority to improve lives and communities. In contrast, the BNP are a fascist minority who manipulate grievances to divide the communities they infect. It is their pernicious scape-goating, based on racism but thriving on fear of 'the other', that I so despise.

There is a danger - and I have seen it here at City Hall - that progressive-minded people will shrug their shoulders. The pervasive attitude that says: "It won't happen here. The BNP blights Oldham and Burnley but not our great multi-cultural capital. We're above all that."

But the far right's recent successes should serve as a wake-up call. In Barking and Dagenham two years ago they won 11 out of 35 council seats with 8,000 votes (remember they only need 5,000 more across the whole of London for an assembly seat). They have polled 10% in wards in Havering, Sutton, Croydon, Lewisham, Hillingdon and Enfield - all areas where UKIP have previously done well.

Why do I talk about UKIP? In 2004, when the BNP were in touching distance of an assembly seat, the GLA and European elections were held on the same day. UKIP punched above their weight by exploiting the shared date and won two seats. Excellent work by the anti-fascist group Searchlight and the Joseph Rowntree Trust has found that, with UKIP (now called One London) all but finished as an electoral force and with no European elections this year, as many as 20% of their supporters could switch to the BNP. This would give the racist party 6.5% even before their growth in the capital since 2004 is taken into account. More than enough to get them elected.

It is far from a forgone conclusion, though. The BNP are the most despised political party in Britain and London's diverse population means that 35% of voters should automatically oppose them. The problem comes with the word "automatically".

It is not enough to be automatically or naturally opposed to the hideous ideology of the far-right. What matters is getting out and voting. And, because of the electoral system, it is not enough to say it won't happen in, say, Hackney or Hampstead. It is the party's share of the vote across the whole of London that counts. So the more votes that are cast the higher the bar will be that the BNP have to reach.

An increased turnout is the only way to stop the BNP gaining a foothold in London. If 45% of Londoners turn out to vote, the BNP would need 120,000 votes for one seat and almost 200,000 for two. In 2004 they got 90,000 votes.

One upshot of the high profile fight for the mayoralty is that the increased media attention should encourage people to get out and vote. Let's hope so. With the nation's eyes on the capital, the British far right have their best chance in recent years of gaining respectability and - as the BNP see it - a springboard to further political power. But if London's mainstream majority are alive to the threat and get out to vote, the capital and the country will have a lot to be thankful for.

Backing Ken Livingstone for London Mayor 2008

The London Labour Party has launched a website for the re-election of London Mayor Ken Livingstone. So far the website.

KenLivingstone.com only has a request for donations and to "sign-on" box to enable activists to sign up for email alerts. More to follow.

“Ken Livingstone is committed to securing the long-term success of our capital, making sure that every Londoner is able participate in that success – and protecting our environment so that London's success is sustainable.

We'll be campaigning hard to ensure that London remains on the right course and that Londoners understand the choices they'll face in the election for Mayor on 1 May 2008”.

During the election campaign I will also be doing my best to encourage trade unionists to support Ken and the excellent existing Labour GLA member for City and East, John Biggs, as well as looking to increase the Labour vote and turnout, not least in order to prevent the BNP from getting a seat.

Interestingly Galloway has indicated that he will stand for the GLA as well this year! Should be fun. Email Hat tip to AG