Re-elected to UNISON NEC 2025-27

 

I was pleased today to find out that I was re-elected to the UNISON National Executive Council (NEC) for the next 2 years representing all our members who work for Housing Associations and Charities. My running mate Denise Thomas was also re-elected with a similar majority. 

While there were a few shocks and surprises when the results were announced I am so relieved that it seems that a clear working majority of the NEC are not aliened to the tfrc ultra left faction, that has run it (fairly disastrously in my personal view) during the last 4 years. We should now have a NEC that will act on behalf of members, first and foremost. 

Many thanks to all our supporters for such an excellent result. Turnout was dismal in all of these elections and I hope by 2027 the promised legal changes are made to allow electronic balloting. 

I will pass on my commiserations to Anjona and Michelle who stood against the two of us. 

UNISON National Labour Link 23: Motion 12. Stop Bogus self-employment companies exploiting workers

My speech to Forum. "Chair, Forum, John Gray from Greater London Region, moving our regional motion on stopping bogus self-employment companies exploiting workers

 
Forum, the recent BBC TV documentaries referenced in the motion have exposed the scandal of many thousands of worker being exploited by unscrupulous organisations and employers.

 
People respond to direct sales adverts apparently promising good pay and even salaries but it turns out that these are in reality, commission only jobs, often with a culture of bullying and pressured working, forcing staff to work 60/70 hours plus per week. Long hours and commission only means many are cheated from even receiving the national minimum wage, as well as associated benefits and pension contributions. Of course with such bogus employment, the government is also cheated of much needed tax and national insurance contributions.

 
I will admit, many moons ago I tried out, like no doubt others here today, direct sales jobs, it was even then a pretty miserable existence and I soon began to look for other work. 

However, somewhat naively, I had thought that with the advent of the national minimum wage and recent trade union victories in employment courts on uber etc bogus self-employment, that such exploitation had been largely done away with. However, those BBC programmes show that such practices are alive and kicking.

 
What was particularly shocking to me as a community service group NEC member and housing worker, that so called respectable registered charities have outsourced their sales and fund raising services to such bogus employment companies, so are making money out of exploitation.

 
By coincidence, 2 weeks ago I was working from home in East London when the doorbell rang and I went down to the door and to my surprise, there was a young man outside our door holding a large tray of household cleaning products. He politely showed me an identification card and explained he and his girlfriend were living in a homeless hostel run by a well-known homeless charity and he said that he needed to sell a number of products to meet a target in order for them to stay in the hostel for another week. If they did not meet this target they would have to leave. I brought a brush which we did not need from him for tenner.

 
Forum, I am trying to find out more about this call but if this is true that a charity is effectively forcing a young homeless couple to go door to door selling cheap household goods to keep a roof over head or be thrown out – this is not just exploitation, it is modern day slavery and that charity should be investigated by the Charities commission and if proven, it and any others that carry out such practices should be closed down.

 
Forum, this motion calls on our national labour link committee to campaign to change employment law to ban “commission only” employment and for every worker to receive a living wage. Also an investigation into such practices but also Forum, also most importantly, penalise such organisations and companies that make money from such exploitation.

 
Forum please support this motion. I move".

UNISON Special Labour Link National Forum 2021 Motion 8: Charity Contracts - Race to the Bottom

 

This is the motion and my speech from last Saturday's (3.7.21) UNISON Special Labour Link National Forum meeting.  I moved this Greater London motion 8 about the Volunteer sector and the race to the bottom with regard to staff terms and conditions - and what we can do about it as a Labour movement.

Many thanks to Jordon Creed from London Voluntary Organisations branch who sent this motion to London Labour Link, who supported it and sent it to our National Forum on behalf of all London Labour Link Members. 

I am fairly confident (touch wood) that this is a campaign we can win. Not only is this National Labour Link policy but at a meeting last week of London Regional Council officers and Regional Management team, everyone was very supportive and it feeds into our existing campaigning on UNISON Ethnical Care contract and the response to Covid. 

I also last week spoke virtually at Kilburn and Finchley branch Labour Party and my UNISON branch executive about the campaign and I am more than willing to speak to any other Labour movement meetings. 

Motion 8. Charity Contracts: Race to the Bottom

Forum believes that we need to ensure across London there is no race to the bottom in terms of pay, holiday, sickness when charities bid for contracts.

Forum calls upon the National Committee to call upon Labour councils and representatives, including the Mayor of London, to commit to not giving contracts to any providers that do not pay the living wage and use zero hour contracts and give their employees only statutory sick pay.

Forum believes local authorities and the Greater London Authority should have terms and conditions of employment which are clearly specified and protected in agreements when competitive tending takes place.

Forum believes this will also improve the quality of the service as contracts will be awarded on the basis of quality not just the lower cost and support collective bargaining in the community sector workplaces across London.

Greater London Region

Moving motion 8

Chair, Forum, John Gray, Greater London Regional delegate moving motion 8 “Charity Contracts: Race to the bottom”

Forum, this motion is London centric but I am sure the issue of a “race to the bottom” in the Charity and voluntary sector applies to all regions and nations.

I don’t need to tell anyone here about the simple, day in, day out, misery of all workers, who have to exist on a minimum wage, insecure employment and no employer sick pay.

And of course it’s not just about the workers and their families, who are our members, as vital as that is, it’s also about the residents and clients who receive these services. Who don’t want overworked and stressed carers, who have to work 60 hours a week to pay the bills.

The question is what as a Union and a Labour link do we do about it? What do we do about it? Passing motions for motions sake never achieved anything. So let’s think things through. 

Firstly, let’s not be forgetting that while charities get funding from various sources including the NHS, the commissioning of services by local government is key.

While we want services to be provided in-house whenever possible and I note that by doing so, it would in fact at a stroke mean that in most, not all Councils, the objectives of this motion would be obtained. So defending public services from future outsourcing and campaigning to bring back services in house is a given.

But in the meanwhile, we need to press all our levers, industrial and political, to campaign for all councils and Mayors to insist that all their commissioned services, pay at least the real living wage, ban imposed zero hour contracts and pay proper sick pay.

Now we cannot ignore that there are legal and funding difficulties, after 10 years of austerity local authority funding has been cut by up to 50%.

But let us work with councils to take on the rouge employers who threaten them with legal action if they impose such conditions. Many employers want to stop this race to the bottom, they want a level playing field, in order to provide better services. We need to work with these employers and target those who will not.

Forum, passing this motion should also be just a beginning, we want more for our members. As well as a real living wage we want a living pension provision, we want to sustain decent terms and conditions by also demanding trade union recognition and sectorial pay bargaining.

Forum, while we will not win every battle, this issue, is one that I think the Labour movement family can win. Let us act as a united Labour movement family, by campaigning as a union, work with progressive labour councils and employers and then by doing so - win real benefits for our members, not least, putting money in their pockets and purses of our members, which to me is why the labour movement was formed.

Forum, please support this motion, I move"

I was very happy that 99% of delegates supported this motion. 

UNISON NEC Election 2021: Your Community team standing for re-election

 

Both Denise and I have been nominated and accepted by the returning officer to stand again in the UNISON National Council Elections (NEC). 

The UNISON NEC is hugely important in our union and acts as the decision making "Parliament" of UNISON outside our annual National Conference meetings. 

We are standing for the Community NEC seats (representing UNISON members who work for Voluntary organisations and Housing Associations). 

Denise is re-standing for the Community Female Seat, she works for a Charity in Wales.  I am re-standing for the Community General Seat and work for a Housing Association in London. 

Postal ballot papers for all NEC positions will be sent to members home addresses from 4 May 2021 and the election ends on 27 May 2021. The results will be announced on 11 June 2021.

Vote John Gray UNISON NEC Community

Yesterday I received notification that I have been accepted as an "eligible candidate" for the UNISON National Executive Council (NEC) elections 2021-2023. I will be thanking all the branches that have nominated me. 

I am standing for re-election as the "Community General Seat" holder together with Denise Thomas who is also restanding for the "Community Female seat". 

Community is the part of UNISON that represents Housing Associations and Charities. We have 82000 members and is the fastest growing part of UNISON. 

The ballot opens on 4 May 2021 and runs until 27 May 2021. The results will be announced on 11 June 2021.

 

Union Rights are Human Rights

This is me speaking last week at our UNISON London Regional Council AGM.

The motion was on "Union busting by UK public service providers" (see link for wording).

There a number of completely rogue and fascistic large UK Charities and Housing  Associations who refuse to recognise human rights and who threaten and attack union activists trying to protect their members.

This motion argues that no employer should have access to any public funds or procurement if they do not have a recognition agreement with a TUC affiliated trade union.

"Council, the United Nations recognises that there are 10 fundamental human rights and of those 10 rights is included that of free assembly for trade unions and collective bargaining. In the history of our union movement, activists have given their lives and their liberty in the fight to have trade unions recognised.

Unions in this country and all over the world are under attack. In the UK are numbers have gone down significantly but in recent years numbers have stabilised and we may see soon a return to growth. It is no coincidence that the massive decline in pay in recent years has been linked to the decline of collective bargaining. Workers desperately need the unions to protect and strengthen their terms and conditions by collective bargaining.

The best way to get recognition and collective bargaining is by action by members forcing anti-trade union employers to negotiate and bargain with unions. Yet when you are in a fight with employers for justice at work you want every help you can get.

Council, is it not perverse that in this county vast amounts of public money is handed over to organisations, which are hostile to unions? Why is this money going to organisations who don't believe in human rights? If public money was going to those who employed child labour or used corruption there would be an outcry. Yet we have allowed the government and employers to pick and choose which human rights they want to respect. A human right is a human right.

No organisation which refuses to recognise a trade union should be allowed to bid for any form of public money or support. No grants, No contracts, No loans, no Partnerships, No deals - not even housing benefit.

Council, What have they got to hide? Remember, that there is an extreme right wing ideology against trade unions. It is called corporatism. A core belief of corporatism is to get rid of trade unions and replace them with powerless and compliant staff associations.

While we would expect some hostile private sector employer to be anti union, we have organisations in this country masquerading as socially responsible charities.  They not only refuse to recognise trade unions but carry out trade union busting to threaten and frighten union activists and members.

Council, please support this motion and help send a message that trade unionism is your human right and we will not tolerate attacks on our human rights from anyone. Council, I move".

(motion was passed unopposed. I am not sure yet if it was selected for submission to our National Delegate conference. However, a version will be debated at the Community Conference later this month and I hope to try and send it by some route to the Labour Party conference in September)

The United Nations 10 Principles of Human Rights ("Nothing to do with us Guv" says Catalyst Housing)

These are "The 10 Principles of Human Rights". It is disgraceful that the senior management and board of British Charities such as Catalyst Housing Association do not believe in basic human rights.

Principal 3 "Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining"

"The UN Global Compact's ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption enjoy universal consensus and are derived from:

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The International Labour Organisations Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
The United Nations Convention Against Corruption

The UN Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption:

Human Rights
Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and
Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

Labour
Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;
Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and
Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Environment
Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and
Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

Anti-Corruption
Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.