Friday Sectarian: "Peoples United Front of Judea and UK"

"United Left

I understand that the departure of the led officer/activist for the United Front, Jon of the Rogers, means that the 'organisation' is searching for a new name. 

So I am suggesting that the Peoples United Front of Judea and UK could be an alternative? Call me old fashioned but more people will then be able to identify with them and join when they have very little else to do?" 

Hat tip Nick on his view on battle for Ultra left permanent revolution slate for London UNISON Regional Council elections 2014. SPEW & LRC V SWP/PR/AWL and the various other bonkers extremists.

Time to Say Goodbye to UNISON United Left

Following the latest example of appalling behaviour by the leadership of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), Nick and MJT announce to the massed ranks of UNISON United Left that it is time to say goodbye. They follow the wreckers and splitters at SPEW and will now have to find a new path to the political wilderness.

Saying Goodbye to UNISON United Left

This is probably how it happened but will anyone notice? Or care? Or know what on earth I am going on about?

:)

UNISON NDC 12: Kicking the Far Right out of the Union

During the rules debate on Thursday afternoon I was really pleased that Conference finally agreed to change membership rules that will enable the union to expel existing members of far right political parties and refuse admission.

(It did help on this occasion that members of the People's Front of Judea finally showed enough gumption to publicly tell the Judean People's Front to stop their completely untruthful sectarian scaremongering and squabbling).

The new LGPS 2014 (and the old Miserablists)

On Wednesday I went to a presentation/Q&A by UNISON to London Region on the proposed new Local Government Pension Scheme 2014. It was on the whole a fairly good humoured and constructive meeting.

I think that the points that struck home with the audience was that 90% of scheme members will pay the same in the new scheme (or less). Only the very high paid will pay more (and they will be gain by higher rate tax relief)

Members within 10 years of retirement will be fully protected (so-called Grandparent Rights).

It will be a fairer, non-discriminatory scheme.  It will improve the build up of benefits for everyone but in particular will mean a better pension for low paid women workers who have average service who will pay less and gain more (70% of our members are women).

There will be a new temporary 50% cut in the cost of staying in the pension scheme (with a corresponding cut in benefits). This will help stop members leaving when they have temporary financial problems. One of my top stewards recently admitted she had to leave the scheme to pay for childcare. Something she had always regretted.

More room for flexible retirement age (still from age 55). I cannot count the number of members I have met who want to "downsize" when they get older and take less stressful roles but cannot under the present scheme since if they if they do so towards the end of their career their final pension will be massively cut.

Workers who depend on non contractual overtime and other earnings will finally be able to protect their full income when they retire.

While the preservation (against huge opposition) and extension of “Fair deal” will protect workers who face or have been out sourced. They will be able to keep their pensions! This is a significant improvement. Which nobody who really cares about the future of working people should put at risk.

The scheme is different and complex but not impossible to understand. There were a number of good questions and points made in the Q&A (even by some of the usual suspects). Yet the miserablists were also present. Barracking, muttering, carping, misrepresenting and scaremongering. Making grossly inaccurate statements and indulging in self important grand standing.

I made the point that as a member of the LGPS for 19 years I was pleased that we now finally have the prospect of a truly long term affordable and sustainable pension scheme. The LGPS 2014 is a world class guaranteed scheme. Which we should now be arguing that all employers, private and public, should either join the scheme if eligible (and many will be) or use as a benchmark to set up a similar scheme to give their workers decent pensions.

To illustrate the value of the scheme I pointed out that where I work those UNISON members who have no access to the LGPS and have to pay into a non guaranteed personal pension scheme would have to save over their career, a saving pot of £300,000 to get a similar £10,000 per year pension. This savings pot would also potentially go up and down due to the vagaries of the stock market. So who knows what you will retire on.

The current average lifelong personal pension saving pot is £32,000. Do the maths.

Everyone is perfectly entitled (and expected) to query and challenge. I can understand those who say that they don't yet understand all what is being proposed yet or even those who genuinely think that we did have the bargaining power to get an even better deal.

I am forced to conclude that the miserablists however don’t give the proverbial about what are the best interests for members. They are driven by their ultra left sectarianism. Nothing would satisfy them. As a longstanding pension activist I can say with certainly that they had no interest whatsoever in pensions before they saw the opportunity to "strike chase" on the backs of ordinary workers. They are extremists who want to hijack the dispute to indulge in their toy town gesture politics.

Ironically it is the Tory right who are spitting the most blood and crying "betrayal" at our deal.
This week I came across, let us say, a "leading opponent" of public sector DB pensions. Who told me that the Government had "surrendered" to the unions. When I told him that there was some opposition to the proposals, he was genuinely shocked and said "don't they really realise how good it is"? I said yes most of them do, but they pretend otherwise.

UNISON has been clear from the beginning that once we have a final offer then it will be put to the members to decide in a secret ballot.

Let us also make clear that LGPS 2014 is potentially a bloody good deal won by our negotiators and our collective action. A perfect deal? No deal is ever perfect but this is really as good as it gets.

But the members should decide.

(Youtube video of leading lights of UNISON united left HotAir guitarists plotting world domination)

Those who think that words speak louder than action

While I am not at all surprised I am still somewhat puzzled about the call for a special UNISON local government conference on Pensions. This is of course only a couple of months after the 2011 UNISON Local Government and National Delegate Conferences.  When pensions were discussed and debated in depth and a number of motions passed.

So why should our precious facility time, resources and money be spent on yet another “conference”? When what we should be actually doing is real practical things in our branches: such as organising and mobilising our members? 

The union position I think is crystal clear. Unless it gets a deal supported by members, the most far reaching and coordinated strike action seen in generations will take place. However, the union will not call for strike action purely to satisfy the fantasies of the ultra left. That way will only result in yet another “Glorious Defeat”. No thank you.

I am also amazed about the sudden “about turn” by many of those who are calling for this conference. Only a little while ago they were arguing for co-ordinated action over pensions across the whole public sector. Now it seems that they want not only individual unions to go their own sweet way but unions could even be split internally over action? This would potentially be disastrous.

My esteemed NEC colleague for Knowall suggests here that I would be opposed to this "conference" idea because I think it would be “divisive” and yet he encourages me to ask my service group to hold a separate conference? 

I have been a member of the Local Government Pension scheme for nearly 20 years. There are many thousands of members in my branch and in our UNISON Community Service Group who are also members of the LGPS.

So our views are valid but what would happen if we did indeed hold a conference and we arrived at a different position from the local government service group? Or if the Health Service Group had yet another position?

While I am sure that there are members who genuinely think that calling for an (unnecessary, divisive and expensive) conference is the right thing, I cannot agree. The time for making speeches and passing motions has ended. We should now not be diverting our time and resources on conferences, motions, amendments, points of order and speeches. Branches should be focused on updating RMS, mapping the work place, educating members, supporting and recruiting new stewards and organising for possible action.

If we don’t do that we could not only lose any ballot but we will inevitably fail to deliver any effective industrial action that really matters.

So please comrades for the sake of our members "actions not words".

UNISON NEC

I will post another time on my thoughts and
impressions of the first full UNISON National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings I attended last week. In the meanwhile you can read the UNISON news report here.

NEC Young member, Graham Smith, also has an excellent report on the antics of the “meaningless gesture politics of some individuals inside the meeting and outside”(hat tip UNISONactive).

There was indeed a small “lobby” outside UNISON Centre which initially I thought was a “Welcome John to the NEC” display by all my good friends and comrades in UNISON United Left. Instead it turns out it was about “please, please, please go on strike regardless of any reason so we can build the Revolution”. As Graham points out, the “lobby” was on the wrong day and before the wrong meeting but never mind. Most of those present were not UNISON members anyway.

The rude and disruptive behaviour at NEC toward our President and at sub-Committee meetings by a very small number of malcontents I thought was also just to make me feel at home.  It  reminded me very much of everyday life at UNISON London regional Council meetings.  However, the Sensible Left have things well in hand in the NEC. 

It should be an interesting two years.  

London UNISON Regional Committee: Wednesday 13 January 2010

While I did wonder on the Tuesday evening what awful things I must have done in a previous life to put myself through such experiences. It turned out to be on the whole, thankfully, a pretty positive and constructive committee meeting!

The snow had caused some of usual suspects to be absent or arrive very late, but the forces of progress and light did have a clear majority at the committee so we were able to mostly concentrate on proper trade union issues and concerns.

Very good news about our recruitment in London with net growth and many new members taking advantage of joining UNISON online by direct debit 24/7 (join here). Encouraging stuff also about Service Group Liaison work; our oversubscribed Equality Rep courses; the Million Voices Campaign and campaigning against the Far Right.

There was the usual (IMO) incoherent carping from one that what we should be doing is demonising our members in East London who are proud to be British and who don’t support the Nazi - but that is just to be expected from the self-proclaimed experts of East London politics who don’t actually live there. We quickly moved on and I hope (in spite of past experience) that all true anti-fascists will unite against the BNP in Barking & Dagenham.

London Labour Link is encouraging local government branches to agree mini-Warwick type agreements with Council Labour Groups, building in as well the “Million Voices” campaign. There was a good discussion on the new “Honoraria and Expenses” briefing; and an update on the new Bargaining structures in UNISON.

There was a little bit of a bun fight over motions but I am intrigued at the open spilt over rule changes between some very close members of United Left.

My Finance Report was actually quite exciting for a change with a number of interesting and thoughtful comments and contributions. I was kept on my toes by Peter and Nick!

The meeting finished bang on time thanks to our top Chair and convenor Gloria Hanson. During AOB we agreed a message of support and £250 donation to the Sodexo strike in North Devon.

Walked out of room and thought...Cricky - what a good meeting! Roll on Regional Council AGM!

Still time to nominate the forces of light and reason in London UNISON.

In our London UNISON world the first big election test of 2010 is of course, next year’s UNISON London Regional Council AGM.

The 130,000 UNISON members in our region can send delegates via their branches to elect by secret ballot the Regional lay leadership - Regional Council Officers for the coming year.

There is also a number of other important regional committee members elected as well. Nominations close on 15 December 2009.

Rank and file delegates were able to wrestle control of the regional lay leadership away from the SWP/SPEW dominated Ultra Left 4 years ago and we have regained control at each AGM with increased majorities. The dream ticket for next February (IMO) is:-

Regional Convenor – Gloria Hanson (bottom right)

Deputy Convenor – Conroy Lawrence (bottom left)

Finance Convenor – John Gray (middle top)

Equalities Convenor – Monica Hirst (not showing)

Publicity Convenor – Lynn Bentley (top left)

Young Persons Convenor – Emma Rolland (top right)

Monica takes over from Gill Brown (top 3rd from left - who is a new NEC member) as our Equalities Convenor Candidate.

So why re-elect a Centre Left “sensible slate”?

Since the Region was brought back into members control Gloria and her team has helped increase membership; developed and trained more activists; organised effective regional campaigns on pay, equal pay, pensions and against privatisation; campaigned for equalities and against discrimination; and intensified work with members working for private companies and in the voluntary sector. The region is now built on solid foundations.

The coming year could present UNISON with many challenges. However, the Greater London Region is more than capable of organising to defend our members from future attacks but we need a solid leadership to do this. We need a team who:

- continue to return control of the union to its members

- strengthen support for branches and activists in undertaking the difficult task of supporting members at work

- put members first, keeping ultra left politics out of the union

- celebrate diversity, promote unity

- on real issues for real members, keep the union relevant

Please support Gloria and her team in carrying on with the work they started

The Ultra Left slate has been publicised widely by the usual suspects. However it seems some of their slate are now protesting that they are “independents” and they want nothing to do with those extremists. While at the same time I understand some of the true believers are horrified at the prospect of some of their “slate” and their “politics” (or lack of). Especially one of them who boasts of their very close relationship with full time officers? (personally I think that all activists should have good relationships with their full time officers?).

Murky waters indeed!

A close UL mole has even suggested to me that some of their slate are only standing for some sort of “a laugh”. Whatever that means?

I do look forward to next year’s Regional Council AGM which I always enjoy but I hope for the sake of the union that we will not again have the ultra left minority indulging in their usual aggressive, bullying and threatening behaviour while trying to shout down anyone who opposes them.

Of course such conduct wins us loads of votes but we would always rather have a dignified and reasoned debate. But I doubt very much this will happen. Never mind - roll on next Feb!

United Left TV Highlight of the Week

Grandstanding union infiltrator at private political meeting. Hat-tip thingy Comrade Mercader

Unison United Left Big Day Out

My many Unison United Left Friends and comrades have asked me to post this invite. Artwork

Comrade Mercader (double click picture)

UNISON NEC ballot finishes this Friday 15 May

Final reminder to those of us who support the forces of light and reason in our great union. If you have not voted yet or know UNISON members who have not then please encourage them to dig out the ballot papers out of their pile on the kitchen chair (check out here, here and here) and send off tomorrow without fail. We know it makes sense.

UNISON United Left are seen as an “exclusive drinking club” while “Gloria is a Vote Winner”

I welcomed to the blogosphere a little while ago Lambeth UNISON Joint branch secretary (and free thinker), Nick Venedi. Nick has now published here what I think is an important post on the UNISON Trotskyite dominated faction, United Left. Nick has in the past been supported by United left in elections for union positions.

While he clearly supports the current UL slate in Thursday London UNISON AGM elections he thinks that “UL has failed to make the impact it needs to have made to ensure that they win an election”

“The mistake the UL keeps making is that it does not appear or looks like a very inclusive product and is seen by some, who are involved with regional politics, as an exclusive drinking club” (shock horror)

“The UL also underestimate how clever the current administration are and ignore the fact that Gloria is a vote winner and John Gray has an established following and is seen as someone who is not afraid to speak his mind...” (I couldn’t possibly comment).

While I disagree with some of the conclusions that Nick makes in this post I have always found him to be personally polite, considerate and thoughtful.

I would imagine that some of his UL “comrades” are “hopping, hopping mad” (to say the least) about his post. I would love to be a spy in the wall at the Lambeth UNISON office on Monday.

Keep up the good stuff Nick!

London UNISON Local Government Committee AGM - "the Horror, the Horror"

A report on yesterdays AGM at the University of London Union (ULU). When I arrived there was the usual UNISON ultra left “paper sellers” outside the main entrance. I wasn’t sure which room the AGM was taking place so I went to the ULU reception desk were there was an ULU student complaining about the "revolutionaries" handing out leaflets. He claimed they were blocking entry into the union. He was demanding that staff got rid of them. The reception staff were arguing that they were not students and that there was nothing they could do. He responded “Well, who are they?” - I just meekly asked were the UNISON meeting was and then quickly ran away. Things have obviously changed since I was a student.

The AGM itself went "quite" well compared to previous meetings of the LGC that I have had the misfortune to attend. It was the last meeting chaired by its long serving Chair, David Eggmore, (my pesky election rival who had beaten me twice for a place in the UNISON Service Group Executive) was retiring from the post. So people may have decided to be relatively civil and polite to each other I suppose. Which was refreshing but I will not hold my breath for future meetings.

The committee itself is dominated by ultra left supporters from various revolutionary Trotsky Political Parties. So in the elections itself, those who I consider to be the forces of light and reason were comprehensively defeated (including me). However, there is room for optimism. We had a solid 1/3rd of the votes which I think shocked many on the "United Left" who always assume (wrongly) that they speak on behalf of everyone in local government. I am optimistic that we can build on this and we just need to organise ourselves better to win.

There were a number of positive and constructive things discussed during the meeting. But most of the business was not that relevant to my members who are not directly employed by London Councils. UNISON is hopefully changing its structures to more accurately reflect member’s interests but until then we have the LGC.

The chief United left "Red baiter" (of any socialists he doesn’t like) and witch hunter general was there droning on about various things. Every time anyone spoke against the Trotsky received wisdom you would be mildly barracked and glared at by the extremists who cannot deal with any opposition. It’s more unpleasant than threatening but no wonder many moderate "centre left" delegates don’t want to attend such meetings.

However, I am the ever the eternal optimist and I look forward to attending regional service group UNISON meetings in the future whose business directly concerns my members and that people feel confident to attend and participate without feeling, let us say “pressurised”, by those who consider the LGC to be their own private club.

Pass the Sick Bag - United Left's Permanent Revolution circa 1979

In case some UNISON comrades wondered what United Left is really all about...(it’s on blogger and in wikipedia so it must be true!)...

“Permanent Revolution is a revolutionary Trotskyist group which was formed after 24 people were expelled from the League for the Fifth International (L5I) in July 2006. It takes its name from Leon Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution.
The group was founded after a two year struggle against the perspectives adopted by the L5I at its 2003 Congress [1]. It had first organised as a tendency then as a faction.[2]
The split followed a discussion of how to assess the impact, on class politics in general and the level of class struggle, of two changes:
the effect of the restoration of capitalism in the former degenerated workers states in 1990
and of the defeats of the working class movement in the 1970s/80s, particularly in the USA and United Kingdom.
The group gathered together a minority which argued that, almost without exception, the international left had undertaken no serious rexamination of world perspectives and economy since a "stagnation phase" in the 1970s and 1980s. [3] It felt that as a result, the international left had been unable to explain either the marginalisation of the left or the failure of important protest movements against capitalism (such as the anti-capitalist movement, anti-war movement and Social Forum movements) to sink significant roots into the world working-class.[4][5]
Permanent Revolution argued the L5I perspectives adopted at their Sixth Congress in 2003, that the engine of the world economy had “halted”, that world capitalism was in a “period of stagnation” and as a result the world faced a “pre-revolutionary period,” were fundamentally inaccurate and the refusal of the L5I to correct these perspectives in the light of experience, proved they had decisively broken from the method of revolutionary Trotskyism. In contrast Permanent Revolution argued that the integration of the former workers states into world capitalism, when combined with the defeats of the working class in the 1970s/80s, had allowed capitalism to revive itself through globalisation.[6]
Furthermore, it argued that while the working class movement was no longer in the counter revolutionary phase of the 1990s, the movement had still not fully recovered from those defeats and rather was in a transitional period, with uneven struggles, not yet usually generalised or sustained [7].

Yawn, yawn, yawn and yawn...God, these people are so boring and so full of themselves. What on earth are they going on about? What does this rubbish mean? it's a tendency, then a faction, they are all L5I, who are these degenerated workers? What are they on? and of course, what on earth are they trying to do to our union? (we can guess)

What's Going Wrong in the UUL?

On the way out of the really good UNISON National Housing seminar last week, a London comrade was handing out this leaflet (or something similar) to delegates outside the Hotel. He told Alan and I that he didn't think we would be interested in attending this event. We asked for a copy. He gave us each the colour leaflet rather reluctantly. I don't know why?

Of course, the vast overwhelming majority of trade union members and activists would not , dream of attending such a thing. However, if they are not breaking union rules (a big if for some), and if UNISON United Left (UUL) want to organise these sort of things then "Bring on the Clowns" I say!

This Circus is not an "official" UNISON event and no branch resources should be spent on it. Click on flyer to view properly.

Hat tip - comrade Mercader