Don't Lose Sleep over your Job Security: Join UNISON

For once at the UNISON London Regional Committee meeting today, the miserablists agreed with me! The current union TV and media recruitment campaign is reaching out to non members who are just not aware of all the benefits of joining a union.

Times are very tough. This evening I went to my school governors meeting, where I heard that they an advert out recently for one administration job at the school, which was only open for one week, but they had 150 applicants.

If you are in work, the best way to try and save your job is to join a union. If you work providing any form of public services then join UNISON.

UNISON's London Regional Committee – the Paragon of the Labour Movement

(Guest Post by my esteemed UNISON colleague, the NEC member for Skidrow-on-Sea)

"I understand that there is a point of view that, since there are an infinite number of numbers it follows that there are an infinite number of realities.

If this is so then there must be a universe in which one day the London Regional Committee of UNISON, which met this morning, will make sense and do what I tell them to do, since I am of course...their Great Leader.

Mathematically, there must be a reality in which there is a Committee which doesn't care that due to my underlings shouting, bullying, threatening and general bad behaviour, London activists haven’t wanted to attend and make quorate Regional Councils (other than its AGM) since 2005. Instead of listening to my speeches they want to go and represent their members at the workplace! How dare they!

Why do we have this paragon of labour movement virtue as a Committee instead of one that realises that led by me (as said Great Leader), the UNISON London regional committee can deliver instant worldwide revolution, universal love and the downfall of the ruling classes!!! All they have to do is just listen and follow me!

In this universe however, those who believe I am their Great Leader on Regional Committee, who just happen to have lost the last 7 elections “on the trot”, demand that the winners listen to me and my fellow losers and stand up for the right of the self important hot air Brigade, not to have functioning Regional Councils, after all, anyone who has not seen my revolutionary light are indeed sorry creatures.

We need effective and vigorous unity to confront the attacks from the Coalition Government. Such unity cannot be built on the basis that working class grass roots branch secretaries don’t do what they are ordered to by middle class derelicts. Just because in the past my followers have wreaked any chance by their appalling behaviour to arrange a quorate Regional Council (other than an AGM) in eight years. If workers won’t turn up to meetings, then what shall we do? We have no choice, we must get rid of workers!

Trade union democracy - which requires well attended decision making meetings - is not an "optional extra". But we don’t want this. What is really essential is to have pointless talking shops instead of an effective response to austerity and to the defence of workers' interests more generally. What we actually need is to call our opponents stupid, make speeches about General strikes and call for the nationalisation of the top 10,000 corner shops.

Given the infinite possibilities of the "multiverse" there must remain hope that the Regional Committee will rise to this potential occasion and cut the quorum to one male delegate, one female (no low paid)  and their cat to ensure that the revolution will now take place due to there being a quorate Regional Council after this year's AGM.

Or perhaps not.

(apologies to folk who have not a clue what this is on about)

Union meetings..Now and then

On Tuesday I had the great joy of attending the UNISON London Regional Committee.  Before I bored everyone to tears with my Finance Convener report, the Regional Council Officers (RCO) had tabled a statement to the Committee on “Responding to the Coalition Government”. 

This one and a half page statement was something that we RCO’s had genuinely thought would be welcomed and serve to unite all sections of the Committee. It recognised that the real agenda of the Coalition government was to destroy our public services and committed the region to campaign and defend public services.

It also stated that we must ensure the union survives; work with members to defend jobs and livelihoods; campaign for quality public services; organise in private companies; enhance unity across workplaces and unite London against the Coalition.

All good stuff I thought.  I was expecting a debate on the statement (this was our first meeting since the General Election) however for some reason the discussion only centred on the use of this one sentence (& two words) the “current attack on public services is not only an attack on public service workers but on our society and the British people as a whole”.

There was then, to my mind, a very odd and rather unreal debate about the use of the term “British People”!  According to some members of the committee this was the wrong term to use since there are millionaires who are British so if we use the word British this means we are actually defending millionaires? 

Hmmm. 

One committee member wanted us to get rid of “British people” and instead only use the term “working class”.  It was gently pointed out that while we here today might indeed think all working people in Britain are “working class”, most workers, rightly or wrongly, do not recognise that this term applies to them and if we want to genuinely connect with them we should use terms that they relate to. 

This statement of the bleeding obvious didn’t go down well with a minority of committee members and the debate continued. I pointed out that the use of the term “British people” was actually something that we RCO’s had welcomed because we felt it was vital  to make the argument that the public sector trade unions are not just opposing the coalition just to defend our our own jobs and interests - but that we think that quality public services should be protected since they are the glue that hold this country together! 

There were some sensible points made such as some of our members are not British or do not see themselves as British (as my Plaid Cymru Councillor brother-in-law would no doubt agree). 

But overall I was astonished and frustrated that in the face of the impending Coalition Tsunami and slash and burn of our public services - we spent our precious time arguing over the modern day equivalent of “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin”.  

It has since become apparent that one of the reasons for this classic “Life of Brian” debate was that some of our ultra left witch hunting brethren had thought (wrongly as usual) that the phrase “British Public” had been inserted into the statement by some dastardly doublethink enemy of their micro-sects!

Due to the scale of the threat we face we really cannot afford to waste any more of our time on such pointless and self indulgent navel gazing or rearranging of the Titanic's deck chairs. The ultra left have got to grow up and stop behaving like a dog constantly gnawing and slobbering at its favourite bone. IMO.

(see video: some things don't change)

UNISON London Regional Commitee – Calls to Nationalise the Banks and Grown Up Politics.

This morning I went to our regional committee meeting in Hugh Parry Hall, which is just around the corner from the UNISON HQ in Mabledon Place (and Camden Town Hall).

This is a business meeting of the regions elected lay representatives and the full time senior management team. My role there is as the lay regional Finance Convenor and I have to present the Finance report. Some of the stuff we discussed is confidential, other stuff I can report back on.

Good news about recruitment. It appears that the introduction of full time local area organisers is already making a difference. Early days yet, but most (not all branches) find it very difficult to run effective ongoing recruitment campaigns because they are simply overloaded with responsibilities and fire fighting emergencies. Dedicated and focused organisers are, I think, a God send to hard pressed branches.

The well received regional initiative on computer memory sticks will be extended by making sure that all new stewards who attend training will get one. Data on the stick includes links to key website addresses and templates, flyers, PowerPoint presentations for inductions, guides to producing newsletters etc. I think this is a really good initiative which is being looked at by other UNISON regions. The cost of the memory sticks is also being brought down.

On Pay – Local government NJC is with ACAS, 2.45% paid on account pending arbitration. In Scotland they have just accepted a 2 year deal of 3% and 2.5%. In Further Education members have accepted a 3.3% offer. Probation has just accepted a 2 years deal (I didn’t note details). OFSTED are undertaking a 3rd wave of industrial action short of strike action. The Meat Hygiene Service is balloting on a 3 day strike and in Health we have submitted evidence to the Pay Review body to trigger a review in cost of living.

NHS Restructuring – NHS London has started consultation on future provision of trauma centres and reconfiguration of PCTs.

Pension Governance – there will be a regional briefing in January 2009.

Service Group Liaison – A private sector seminar planned for Saturday 14 March 2009 (I must try and attend).

Race Action Plan Working Group – The Challenging Racism Project Plan will be re-launched starting with 5 branches across all service groups.

Equalities Seminar – was held on 22 October and was well received, the only criticism being that the say should be longer to enable delegates to attend more workshops.

Campaign against the Far Right – The region continues to work with both Unite against Fascism and Searchlight. It supports members in the GLA following the election of Barnbrook. Now focusing on European elections where the fascists think they can win in London and the North West.

Labour Link – working with TULO (Trade Unions Labour Liaison Organisation) also focusing on European elections, and the borough elections in 2010.

Regional Policy Day – A very good day (check this post).

Branch and Regional Structures Review – a new branch assessment process will come into effect in January 2009.

O&A Sessions in Regional Council – decisions by elected Regional Council Officers (including yours truly!) announced at start.

Next was my Finance report which today was for “noting” only. It was as usual pretty boring. When I attempted to explain the decision by the Regional Finance Team to spend £3,300 on purchasing materials for use in future strike activity, I itemised the materials bought as barricade building kits; Molotov cocktails; gas masks; hand guns, AK-47’s, portable guillotine etc – but no one was listening.

We had reports from the NEC and a discussion about the next regional Council meeting on 9 December. We then discussed the only motion received for debate at the council meeting, called “Global Financial Crisis”. There had been one other similar LOB motion CALLING, SUPPORTING and DEMANDING which had been thankfully ruled out of order for being clearly outside rule.

Our job at the regional committee was to discuss whether or not this motion should be supported and if we should recommend amendments. I was really pleased that we had a fair exchange of views and debate on this issue and in the end the right decision was made (i.e. the forces of light and reason won).

The main controversial issue (not the only one) was a call in the motion for the permanent Nationalisation of the Banks. While in the past such motions would have just been supported without comment since the silent majority of UNISON members were not represented on such committees or the few reps that did attend often felt it was pointless to argue against such nonsense since the motion would just be ignored in any case.

Today, I was pleased to see committee members argue that nationalising the banks is just meaningless words and gestures which means nothing to our members who are actually facing the consequences of the financial crisis.

I argued that nationalising the Banks is not the answer; I didn’t think that civil servants would make a better job of running Banks than the whiz-kids who have just mucked them up. Instead the major reason for the crisis was a failure of ownership and regulation. Nationalising the Banks (who the state arguably now own big chunks already) means nationalising our members pensions and insurance policies. What went wrong was that owners of capital (me and you) were not allowed to exercise our rights and responsibility of this ownership. Our money was misused and abused in the interests of short term personal bonuses by the people we employed supposedly to look after it.

One member of the committee spoke movingly about his own personal experience in the last financial crisis when he lost his home due to repossession and that this motion is just empty words which would have meant nothing to him during that painful time.

After this, we had a series of good reports from, self-organised groups, young members, sub-committees and Labour Link, but I’m all “blogged” out and can’t face any more typing.

Still, a very good meeting and many thanks to Gloria (and Conroy) for chairing it.

London UNISON Regional Committee – “This has been a Good Meeting”

The London Regional Convenor, Gloria Hanson made this (title) comment at the close. I must admit that it was the most sensible and constructive regional committee meeting that I have ever attended. This was a relief after the rather weird and wonderful antics at the recent Regional Local Government meeting.

This committee is made up of elected lay Regional Council officers (the “Executive”), Regional Committee members and representatives from UNISON Service group committees and self-organised groups. London UNISON elected National Executive Committee members can also attend and speak (but cannot vote). Senior full time UNISON employees such as the Regional Secretary are also present.

UNISON’s democratic structure is - how can I put it? Somewhat complex....if you are a UNISON member and want to find out more about how your union is organised then there is a very good course (and aptly named!) called “Lost in UNISON” which I would thoroughly recommend.

I attend as a lay elected Regional Council Officer and as Regional finance convenor I presented the finance report to the committee.

There was a report on recruitment and organisation. In London region we have 130,000 UNISON members. Some 10% of all UNISON members are in our region. On September 5 there was a very successful and well attended “Organising our Future” event. The event launched the “Branch Resources Recruitment Stick”. This clever idea is a computer memory stick for branches which holds core resource and recruitment information. It contains key website links, for recruitment material as well as model templates for letters, flyers, induction power point presentation, guides for newsletters etc. This is a really exciting development which we think is unique to London region.

There was a sober and wide ranging debate on pay negotiating and bargaining. The campaign continues but we must examine what has happened so far and learn lessons for the future.
Discussions have been re-established in the local government pay dispute.

Members in Probation are about to be balloted for strike action over a disappointing pay offer and the failure to implement last years award in full. In Further Education a 3.3% offer has been made and this will be balloted on with members.

The Regional Secretary reported on Pension governance. Work in the region has begun on mapping the existing governance arrangements. Once competed there will be targeted briefings for current and potential (YES!) trustees and member nominated reps. This is really good news. Investment Governance is now starting to be mainstream.

On diversity issues there will be an Equalities seminar on 22 October. Where a new regional Equalities Award will be made. The focus will be on training and preparation for the Single Equality Bill. There was an update on the Stephen Lawrence Action Plan.

The report on Political Campaigning concentrated on the important work the region carries out on campaigning against the Far Right. The local UNISON branch in the GLA has received a lot of support following the election of the Nazi BNP member, Richard Barnbrook.

It was reported that the BNP are standing a candidate in a Camden Council by-election next week (September 25th)

UNISON regional Labour Link (APF) is working with TULO on the European elections next year and the borough elections in 2010. It is also helping to fund the Labour campaign organiser against the Far Right in East London. The London Labour Party regional Biennial Conference will take place on 22 November (I’ll be there).

The Regional Policy day will take place on 21 October (Trafalgar Day). This is a training day and will evaluate the regional plan, identify next year’s priorities, working with other unions and budget planning.

There were useful discussions about UNISON national consultations on a branch and regional structure review, reserved seat consultation (those NEC seats reserved for low paid female workers), the national minimum wage target, branch representation at National Delegate Conference.

The sad news about long standing UNISON activist Joyce Conway (Health) who passed away on 17 August resulted in all members standing for a minute’s silence. UNISON was well represented by branch and regional officers at her funeral. “She will be missed”.

My Finance report went ok (pretty boring and mostly for noting).

The arrangements for the next regional council Meeting on 9 October were discussed.

Reports from Self organised groups, retired members (David Jones putting the rest of us to shame with his full and detailed report), sub-committee reports (I gave one on behalf of Europe/International and health & safety committee).

The final item was a report on the Labour Link committee by its Joint Chair, the indomitable (a School crossing officer or lollypop lady - from Barking and Dagenham) Louise Couling.

Louise talked about the importance of campaigning against the BNP, not only in her borough but else where in London “the plague is spreading”. Louise is a top to bottom, grass roots, trade union activist and Labour Party diehard supporter. She recognised that the party was going thorough difficult times and that it had made mistakes (public sector pay) but she was passionate in her conviction that we had to support the Party to defeat our natural enemy, the Tories.

It was a bit of a shame that in the Q&A afterwards, one committee guest who claims somehow to be a Labour party supporter, was practically dribbling in his excitement at the prospect of the Party losing the next election. He also asked Louise, I assume sarcastically, how could she contribute to Labour winning the next General election? She immediately replied “by voting Labour” which brought claps and cheers by the non-defeatist majority of the committee.

As Gloria said “A good meeting”. May there be more of them as we play our bit.

(this is of course my own very personal interpretation and report back on this meeting and is not intended to be an official regional record or minutes in anyway – BTW - since this is not a radio advert you do not need to read this quickly)