Tory Wipe out Poll (don't believe it)

 

While I want to believe that this poll is accurate I do not believe it "until it happens". We are are still very, very vulnerable to Tory division and lies. The Tories are the most ruthless and successful election machine in Western Europe. Never forget this.

I also had a rather depressing experience today at a trade union meeting, where the ultra left spent all their time slagging off Labour and not the Tories. They obviously want another 5 years (and longer) of Tory rule, since they believe it will bring about "the revolution". Yeah. 

Labour is not perfect and I have never personally agreed with every one of their policies or statements. But the choice (in the main UK elections) is really about either the Tories or Labour. Full Stop.

The Ultra left would rather have the Tories in power than Labour to keep themselves "ideologically pure". They do not give a damn about working class people. 

I am off with "West Hammers on Tour" tomorrow to support the Labour Candidate for Wellingborough, Gen Kitchen. Fingers crossed. 

Yet more disasters by the UNISON NEC Far Left extremists - "Our union is at a crossroads"

It is no secret that we have now had disastrous ballot results for pay claims in Health and Local Government. The blame for which must lie squarely with the new UNISON NEC who decided to wage a civil war in the union.  As well as trying to sack our newly elected, first ever female, General Secretary, instead of trying to unite us. 

Check out below our former President, Chris Tansley views.  

"Our union is at a crossroads and the wrong decisions now could have profound consequences well into the future.

The far-left faction ‘Time for Real Change’ who already control the National Executive Council are now planning to extend their reach by taking over Regional Convenor Teams and the Service Group Elections.

Since assuming control of the NEC, Time for Real Change has focused attention not on the interests of members but on strengthening their control of the union. In the last 12months the union has lost almost 30,000 members and a good number of our activists, but Time for Real Change has focused on internal politics, and the wrong priorities.

Controversial motions to change our rules were pushed through against the advice of our General Secretary and legal officers. New rules for internal elections have been imposed which permit the involvement of outside political parties. Long-standing conventions that guaranteed a voice for our devolved nations have been dumped, and our Self Organised Groups have rightly criticised Time for Real Change for the lack of diversity in the lay leadership of our union.

This is a group supported and resourced by political organisations and groups from outside Unison in particular Momentum and the Socialist Workers Party. This last week we’ve seen among others John McDonnel MP launch the Time for Real Change SGE election campaign. The same people who led the Labour Party to its worst ever election defeat, left it mired in anti-Semitism, and were found to have acted illegally by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, are now invited to exercise power and influence in our union.

Time for Real Change is not representative of UNISON members, and we must ensure that our union remains focused on its members, addressing their issues, not taken on a political journey to the point of being irrelevant".
 

"Factional Magical-Leninism - The Festive Quiz 2013"

 

Facebook reminded me to day that 8 years ago I had posted on a Festive Christmas Quiz on the website "Facing Reality" which described itself as a "Satirical view from the left".  The site has stopped publishing since 2015 which is a shame since it exposed the "ultra left" extremists for what they are and the damage they continue to cause even today. Including the ultra left "junta" who have recently been trying to take over UNISON. 

Enjoy the Quiz below and answers here

!After six months of news, blog rants, screen-play scripts, musicals, leaked  emails, leaked Socialist Worker articles, leaked letters, leaked Party Notes, fairy stories,  angry polemics, thought provoking articles and journeys into trade union history, its time to end 2013 with our Traditional Festive Quiz.

Prizes, in the form of gift-links, will be awarded to those who answer correctly in the comments section or the facebook “discussion”. Answers will be revealed on this blog in the New Year. (Some people may not be happy with the answers. I don’t know everything for sure & apparently the internet sometimes contains errors) [EDIT : ANSWERS ARE HERE]

1.  Which group had a faction fight at conference over whether all married members should be compelled to divorce, as marriage institutionalises women’s’ oppression?
2.  Which group has a member who wrote a book subtitled “Quantulumcunque Concerning Materialist Esthetix” ? And what the hell does that mean?
3.  Which group once said that it would ideally call for the banning of alcohol “but the workers wouldn’t understand it”?
4.  Which group once handed out leaflets to Vietnam War Protesters explaining “Why We Are Not Marching”? 
5. A third of the 15 strong leadership of which Leninist Party were formerly students at Sussex University?
6. Whose stall did Simon Watney and Edward King of the lesbian & gay rights group Outrage kick over at Gay Pride in 1990? And why?
7.  What was the key point about the end of World War Two according to followers of one faction of the Fourth International?
   
8. Which Fourth International Leader became a minister in the Algerian government after the revolution in 1961, and who’s funeral in his native Greece was a state event?
9.  How many monopolies did Militant want to nationalise in 1965, 1970,1980 and 1990?
10.  Which Leninist organisation explained the need for separate women’s organisation within Leninist Parties in order to combat sexism within the revolutionary movement in 1978?
11. Which Socialist Party threatened to take the Socialist Party (formerly Militant) to court, and why?
12.  Which organisation fought hard in the 1980s to stop women, black, LGBT members of the Labour Party organising autonomously against sexism, racism & homophobia, claiming such organisation divided the workers Movement?
13.  Which organisation once wrote “We must call upon beings from other planets when they come to intervene, to collaborate with the inhabitants of the Earth to overcome misery. We must launch a call on them to use their resources to help us.” believing that socialism could arrive from another planet, and that a nuclear war might be an advantage for revolutionary Marxists?   (”
    Humanity will pass quickly through a nuclear war into a new human society – Socialism.”)
14.  Which organisation discovered that their leader had become senile and their main theoretician schizophrenic, before they were both removed?
15. Which group lost a libel action brought by ITN and lost around £1 million, bankrupted their magazine?
16.  Fidel Castro was “First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba” for nearly 40 years. In July 2014 a British Trotskyist leader will, health permitting, break that record as the worlds longest standing Leninist Party General Secretary. What is his name and organisation?
17. Which group stood against Labour in elections and got results ranging from 111 (0.24%) and 644 (2.1%)?
18. What was the Marxist Daily Building Fund and what happened to all the money it raised?
19. What is “The Hallas Foundation”?
20. Why did the International Marxist Group initially not join the “Anti Internment League”, despite the AIL’s organisation of Britain’s biggest ever Irish Solidarity march in 1972? [EDIT: its been pointed out by a former member that the IMG were involved in the AIL. I will check about claims of initially abstaining]] And what slogan about the war in the six counties were their members supposed to chant on marches in Britain?
21. Which group banned its members from talking to each other across branches and international groups via the internet in the 1990s?
22. Name 57 left wing groups in Britain. (The group does not have to be alive any more. If a name has been used twice, it counts twice)

True or False?

1. In 2013, a member of the Central Committee of the SWP  hacked into other CC members computers and began  leaking stories to the Facing Reality blog.
2. In the late 1970s, it was possible to go on a left wing march against the cuts or racism and be offered two papers, “Gay Left” and “Straight Left”
3. In a report by a police informant, Militant was described as “The most unbelievably boring and turgid newspaper I have ever read, never mind sold”
4. A police raid on the Workers Revolutionary Party Derbyshire training centre found only used bullets, so no action was taken.
5. The IS/SWP once had an opposition faction that called itself “The Right Opposition”
6. In 1980s Liverpool, GMB stewards using taxis to deliver redundancy notices to the entire council workforce, were picketed by NALGO stewards and taken to court by the local NUT
7. The SWP has over 7,000 members
8. The leader of the Alliance for Workers Liberty (AWL) produces such brilliant poetry that it is published on the groups website and sometimes even in print
9.  Everybody’s favourite Left-Trainspotter paper/website, the “Weekly Worker” used to be called the “Daily Worker”
10.  In the 1980s it was possible to go on a march and be offered to buy two copies of “Newsline” produced by rival factions of the WRP.
11. In the 1980s, tit-for-tat killings became the norm between the 3 main revolutionary socialist groups, which saw nearly 100 dead.
12.  In the 1980s it was possible to go on a march and be offered two copies of “Brighton Labour Briefing” produced by rival factions of the Brighton’s Labour Left.
13.  There are three daily papers run by left wing parties in Britain.
14. A Trotskyist paper called “Workers Hamster” greeted the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan with the headline “Hail The Red Army in Afghanistan”
15.  At Labour Party Young Socialists summer camp in the 1980s, supporters of the Militant Tendency organised an attack on the tents of the openly LGBT campers.
16.  The CPB (M-L) ( founder John Buckle), with less than 100 members, currently organise rallies where they tell their membership how they “punch above our weight”
17. The SWP in 1960s USA expelled lesbian and gay members because they were a security risk.
18.  Occupy Marxism Festival was bigger than the real Marxism Festival in 2013
19. Joan Lester, a former Labour Minister who became Baroness Lester of Eccles Cakes in 1997, was once a member of the Socialist Party of Great Britain.
20. The Japanese section of the Fourth International expelled all its male members due to the high level of physical abuse of women members by male “comrades”
21. John Lennon wanted to join the International Socialists (SWP), but didn’t like the thought of the subs he was ask for, so he joined the Fourth International International Marxist Group” instead.
22. Surrey was the origin of two British left groups, the New Communist Party (AKA North Korea Juche International, UK section) and Spanner (a 1980s breakaway from the SPGB (AKA Small Party of Good Boys)

Which is the odd one out? And why?

1) Workers Power, 2) Socialist Resistance, 3) Anti-Capitalist Initiative, 4) Counterfire, 5) International Socialist Network, 6) Revolutionary Democratic Group, 7) Alliance for Workers Liberty, 8) Permanent Revolution, 9) Revolutionary Communist Party, 10) International Socialist Group, 11) Revolutionary Communist Group, 12) Red Action

1) British National Party, 2) The SWP, 3) UKIP, 4) Liberal-Democrats

1) Ted Grant, 2) Tony Cliff, 3) Gerry Healy, 4) Sean Matgamna

1) Globalise Resistance  2)Right to Work Campaign  3) Youth Fight for Jobs 4) Education Activists Network 5) Fast Food Rights

1) Costas  2) Starbucks  3) Firebox  4) Café Nero  5) Coffee Republic

1)The SWP telling people to pay their poll tax, 2) Militant  refusing to call for the withdrawal of Thatchers Falklands Task Force, 3) The SWP saying collect money for the miners & take it to the picket lines instead of working with the Miners Support Groups and collecting food, 4) The Militant calling 1980s Syria a Workers State (deformed),5)  Militant staying in The Mass party Of The Werking Class (AKA The Labour Party) quite as long as they did. 6) The procedures of the SWP Disputes Committee in 2012 7) The SWP standing Lindsey German for London Mayor under a “Left List” platform after getting “witch-hunted” out of “Respect”

[EDIT : ANSWERS ARE HERE]

More Corrupt Practices by Ultra Left Extremists & Cultists in UNISON NEC.

Check out the comments today of former UNISON President Gordon Mckay (and NHS Nurse) on the latest move by our current NEC to allow our union to be controlled and ultimately destroyed by Ultra left extremists and cults.

"UNISON NEC today agreed rule changes to the election procedures to allow election candidates to take donations from political parties, organisations and businesses without having to declare them and without cash limit.

We rightly condemn the Tories for not declaring donations from big business who buy influence, but our Time for Real Change colleagues apparently are okay with political parties buying such influence with us and keeping it a secret from our members.

The question you have to ask is why? When I wanted to move amendments the Vice President accepted a motion to refuse to allow any amendments to be debated.

If UNISON members want a trade union that is open, transparent and free from outside control we need to start working now to get our union back".

Hat tip https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python%27s_Life_of_Brian#Political_satire

The Good and The Bad - UNISON Labour Link & Self Organisation

Excellent news yesterday about the UNISON National Labour Link committee elections.

"Congratulations to my UNISON friends and colleagues Linda Hobson and Sian Stockham on being elected as Chair and Vice Chair of the UNISON National Labour Link Committee.

 Especially happy to see Sian as one of the Wales NEC members flying the flag for Cymru/Wales.

As chair of UNISON Cymru/Wales Labour Link committee looking forward to working with both of you".

Hat tip Dan Beard.

However, today we find that the ultra left in UNISON NEC tried to destroy our members right to self organisation

"Felt very uncomfortable today by proposals by some on UNISON’s NEC, including a Vice President, that nominations made by our elected Self Organised Groups of who UNISON’s representatives on the TUC Women’s Committee and TUC Disabled Members Committee and the motions they agreed to submit to these conferences should be overturned by NEC.

I strongly argued against and said this was a very dangerous road to be going as it sounded like our Policy Committee knew what was good for women and disabled members rather than the women and disabled members themselves.

At the end it was agreed to remit for further discussion but if this is Time for Change I believe it is time for our members to challenge this change. The leading voice for Women, Disabled, Black and LGBTI+ members are those people themselves".

Hat tip Gordon Mckay (former UNISON President and current NEC member). 

Latest on extremists attempts to destroy our union's democracy, stop us winning strike ballots over pay (& take our money)

Check out personal report below by former UNISON President and current NEC member Maureen Le Marinel. 

It is incredible in the midst of us mobilising to take on the Tories and win strike ballots over pay, the ultra left are attacking our General Secretary and deliberately provoking a civil war. 

"This is my personal page, the views are my own.

‘UPDATE’ on NEC Resolutions.

Many of you will have seen the ‘Opinion’ provided by John Hendy QC to the NEC, as requested by the Presidential Team, which has been posted by the “Time for Real Change’ organisation. Firstly I believe that as this ‘opinion’ was provided to the NEC it is ‘privileged’ and not for wider circulation, until the NEC had agreed it could be and the NEC should have had the opportunity to discuss and fully understand the content in a ‘legal’ sense, we are not lawyers. This was taken away from us by the publication.

The NEC was provided with ‘legal advice’ on the resolutions by Stuart Brittenden on the 5th October with verbal confirmation of this at the NEC meeting on the 6th October, this I was informed was privileged and not for wider circulation. Following the NEC meeting I reported that the legal advice conflicted with view of the Presidential Team, and as I now understand it, their ‘legal advice’ prior to the NEC meeting on 6th October which I asked for at the meeting and have again requested, as in the Statement from ‘Time for Real Change’ on the 7th October confirmed that they had legal advice and also in tweets from John McDonald MP also confirmed that “they had legal advice at every stage”.

Since receiving the email from the Vice Presidents containing Hendy’s advice this morning, the NEC has received an email from the General Secretary, which contains updated legal advice from Stuart Brittenden on Hendy’s advice. Brittenden’s advice is ‘privileged’ so again I cannot share this with you, but the upshot is that it reaffirms his original advice and conflicts with Hendy’s advice. The email also contains another document of an ‘independent’ legal view from a leading QC Michael Ford, which also does not accept that Hendy’s advice is ‘definitive’ as the Vice Presidents say it is and that is put out by the ‘Time for Real Change’.

I am told that I am bound by ‘collective responsibility’ by the Vice Presidents on the NEC decisions, but as I said earlier this is my personal FB Page and these are my personal views and I make them in a ‘personal capacity’ a term I have never used but now feel that I need to to protect my position and one widely used by members of ‘Time for Real Change’ when they do not agree with decisions made and speak against them on various platforms.

My personal view is that given the information that I have there are still serious questions on the validity and the legality of the decisions taken by certain members of the NEC in respect of the resolutions of the 6th October and I believe that I am duty bound to inform members of the union of this under my duties and responsibilities as a member of our union and a member of the NEC under rule.

I ask that you do not accept the spin’ of ‘Time for Real Change’ and that you continue to support the position taken by a number of NEC members including me as we continue to question the validity of the resolutions and their breaching UNISON Rule.

Thank you".

Other posts here and here

Dave Prentis re-elected as UNISON General Secretary with huge majority (Miserablists come bottom)

Great news. UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, has been re-elected by members for another 5 years. He received just short of an absolute majority of votes 49.4%.

• Roger Bannister 16,853 (12.6 per cent)

• John Burgess 15,573 (11.6 per cent)

• Dave Prentis 66,155 (49.4 per cent)

• Heather Wakefield 35,433 (26.4 per cent)

   

  Commiserations to Heather Wakefield and Roger Bannister for coming 2nd and 3rd. While I was glad that the disgraceful campaign by the miserablists resulted in them coming bottom yet again. 

   

  I will blog further on them later and what can only be described as the conspiracy by sections of the ultra left to discredit the union #forgerygate

UNISON Greater London Regional AGM election results 2015

The Evil Ones were crushed. The election result in today's London regional council AGM was the 10th victory in a row for the forces of light and reason against the Ultra left and their supporters.

Clear proof that the mass of ordinary unison members and branches are not interested in student union toy town politics. Instead, in these serious times, they want a grown up union leadership, one that will do what they think is best for members and not barmy extremist postulating.

It was amusing to read the on-line strop from the well known "Goblin and evil one-in-chief" middle class stranger to the truth. What else do you expect from those who despise working class people, since they think we are too thick to understand what is good for us and don't do what they tell us.

Left politics in this country has suffered so much from these 5th columnist Tory excuser's, who discredit the entire progressive agenda which their ranting, wreaking and splitting. It is the Far Right such as UKIP who are the chief beneficiaries from this nonsense but the wreckers don't care and actively want the right to win in order to bring about "the revolution". yeah. Dream on comrades.

Anyway, the motto for the sensible left in London from now on is "10 more years"!

London UNISON Regional Council AGM 2015

On Wednesday 4th February 2015 at 10am it is the Annual General Meeting of the Greater London UNISON Regional Council.

It will take place at the Holiday Inn Conference room, Coram Street (across the road from Russell Square tube station). Doors open at 8:45am.

There will be guest speakers, reports and motions but the chief purpose of the AGM is to elect Regional Council Officers and committee members.

This will be last AGM as Regional Convenor for Gloria Hanson who is stepping down. Gloria has done a fantastic job as Convenor for many years but now thinks it is time to let someone new take over. Existing Equalities Convenor, Yvonne Green, is standing and she will make a terrific Regional Convenor.

The forces of light and reason are standing a full slate against the ultra left evil ones.  So if you are a UNISON branch delegate to the AGM please consider voting as below:-

Yvonne Green - Regional Convenor 

Conroy Lawrence - Deputy Regional Convenor 

John Gray - Regional Finance Convenor 

Liz Baptiste - Regional Equalities Convenor 

Lynn Bentley - Regional Publicity Officer

Update: Clean sweep - Victory for forces of light and reason!

Rudderless trots?

(Guest post by Denver Walker) "As the Government of millionaires attacks on one front after another, the political ultra left is bereft of direction.

The catalogue of brutality unleashed by the side currently winning the class war would have been unimaginable even three years ago.

Yet never forget that the ultra left did their best to let the Tories win. Hundreds of thousands of jobs have gone over the same period as real wages have continued to fall in an unprecedented way. The tide of privatisation rising across the public sector has begun irreversibly to engulf the health service and now laps at the feet of postal workers.

The demonisation of claimants is gradually capturing the popular imagination as benefit cuts force us back to the nineteenth century. Legal aid cuts and employment tribunal fees (coupled with changes to rules on remission), together with other changes to employment law further hobble workers individually and collectively. Even the seemingly solid social gains of a generation of progress towards equality are fragile in this most reactionary century.

The defence of the public sector equality duty will be of totemic importance. So where is the opposition? The (capital "O") Opposition is Labour who can still mobilise meaningful opposition to "Tory cuts" (as in the London Fire Service) but is hamstrung by the ultra left's meaningless sloganising and selfish distructive gesture politics. In large part the absence of our Labour Party where we so badly need it is a function of a generation of ultra left grandstanding and stupidity on the part of extremists in the trade union leadership.

The strategic error of supporting Trotsky entryists and not the centre left in Labour in the 1990s has had cumulative, calamitous political consequences for the trade union movement which are still playing themselves out. Since the General Election the unions have mobilised around real and winnable issues such as pensions and have achieved incrediblely successful results.

The largest strike since the General Strike secured real meaningful concessions on public service pensions. Laughable attempts by extremists who want members to die in poverty to satisfy their perverse views undermine the morale and motivation of our activists. Pragmatic General Secretaries are staring into the horror and know what they can do as opposed to meaningless and futile oppositionalism.

Out on the further reaches of the left there is no direction or purpose. Those who hoped the Green Party was a new road to a new Jerusalem can pick their way through the litter strewn streets of Brighton as they contemplate their error. The largest far left political party has imploded, and those clinging to its wreckage simply haven't noticed yet that it is over (though it may not be dead for years - some people still sell the "Newsline").

The latest electoral project of the far left has broken all records for tragic irrelevance. Socialists might as well practice "entryism" in the Monster Raving Loony Party as continue to place hope in TUSC. Such is the lack of hope in ultra leftism that an excellent film maker has managed to lever his deserved reputation to promote the "Left Unity" project (which falls somewhere between Sir Richard Acland's Common Wealth Party and the political equivalent of vanity publishing).

There is no alternative to the Labour Party - and no matter how many lamps the middle class ultra left rub no such alternative appears. The political problem confronting the working class in this country, as throughout Europe, over the last generation is the political inadequacy of the wreckers and splitters in our trade unions, not the political label of the politicians we can vote for. They provoke and encourage infighting and allow the right wing to make us appear irrelevant. Unable to make a difference in the wider world, comrades retreat into squabbles they believe they can win even if no one else has a clue what on earth they are going on about.

Internecine strife between and within groups on the left will continue to get worse as long as we fail to change the script of this tale and tell them either to get on the bus or go forth and multiple. So what do we do? We don't just say sloganise. Wherever you are, working or unemployed, you can organise collectively to resist the ruling class offensive as best you can. We have suffered many defeats and will suffer more if the ultra left have their wrecking ways.

Lives are being ruined - and ended - and we, who should lead the resistance, are continuing to fail since we put up with those who want to destroy us and our unity for their selfish ludicrous politics So we must rethink, regroup and redouble our efforts. Due to the wreckers, some may be rudderless in a storm but that is no excuse for failing to keep the boat afloat. Our trade union movement, the oldest in the world, remains the largest voluntary organisation in UK civil society by a country mile. We are not weak. We are not powerless. We need not be ineffective.

We have just got to sort out the ridiculous sects and the fantasists who divide us.

Trots throw toys out of pram over pay consultation

UNISON is beginning a consultation process of its members subject to local government pay and conditions on the employers final offer of 1%. This is following a meeting of UNISON elected lay NJC representatives on Monday.

It’s not at all surprising that the middle class, self proclaimed revolutionary hero of Skidrow-on-Sea, has attacked those he doesn’t agree with as being in some way weasel worded.. timid...feeble...pathetic, inadequate failures (as well as being secret Tories).

The fact that he publically discloses the voting record of a private and confidential internal union meeting on our negotiating stance regarding this final pay offer from employers is probably far more significant.

The ultra left in UNISON not only think they are right and everybody else is wrong on everything but they can say and do anything they want regardless of the interests of our union or our members.

Amazing isn’t it that these people actually think that they can “unite the left” around them?

Now, I doubt that many people in that meeting are that bothered about the childish name calling nor am I criticising anyone at the actual NJC meeting. Since it was actually one of the better meetings I have ever attended, since it was a honest, largely fraternal and constructive debate between lay representatives, who agreed that we were all in a rotten situation but did not all agree on the best way forward. These things happen from time to time and this is what union democracy is suppose to be all about. I respect the reasoned arguments and opinions of those who on this occasion I did not agree with.

What really bothers me is the contempt that the Ultra left extremists outside that meeting since have shown for the Union and ordinary rank and file union members. Demanding that the union preempts the consultation by recommending rejection and strike action. They clearly consider members to be sheep, incapable of any free or rational thought, who must be told what to do and think by the “Great Leaders”. Workers are too thick to know what is good for them so they need to be led by the nose into yet another “glorious defeat”.

Since such an attitude is so essentially divisive and self defeating then you are forced to conclude that the Ultra left could not give a toss about tackling low pay but are throwing their toys out of the pram because they see yet another opportunity for strike chasing and revolution going out of the window.

There is actually a real opportunity for the union to fight back and organise around pay cuts by using it to build density in the workplace to increase our real bargaining power. We also need to talk with and not talk down, to our members about politics and economics. We need to persuade them without lecturing or sloganising, that there is a viable alternative economic policy to austerity.

If we achieve this then we can deliver successful strike action on pay. This will not happen overnight nor will it happen at all if we treat our members as mere cannon fodder.  Or if we try and force them into taking action that they may not believe in at this stage just to satisfy the warped beliefs of a tiny, tiny minority.

This tiny minority really don’t want action to bring about a decent pay offer they just want strike after strike after strike to bring about the fantasy Trotsky idyl of permanent revolution (yes they actually believe in this load of old nonsense).

There are many members who are not activists but are incredible loyal to the union and if the union recommends action they will support it instinctively almost without question. They do so not just out of collective solidarity but because they trust the union to only promise something it can actually deliver. If we play games with that trust then the next time we ask them for support on something we can deliver on then the answer is going to be NO.

UNISON NEC elections 2013

I was away last week and was pleased to come home and find a letter from UNISON elections office telling me that I had been reelected unopposed again for the General seat on the National Executive Member (NEC) for the General seat of the Community & Voluntary Service Group. 

The results will not be confirmed until the end of the elections on 10 June 2013. Many, many thanks to all the branches that had nominated me.

Now I will need to do my bit to help the other NEC candidates representing the forces of light and reason in UNISON who are being opposed by ultra left (aka the miserablists).

Ballot papers are being sent out on April 22. I am creating a blog site detailing which candidates I recommend (personal capacity only). Which should be up and running this weekend.

Branches who have nominated candidates can remind their members who they have nominated by the usual way they communicate with them e.g. newsletter, email or mailshot.

Sectarianism, Miserablists and opposing Austerity

I’ve been meaning to comment on this post made by my esteemed UNISON colleague, the NEC member for Skidrow-on-Sea, attacking an unnamed UNISON branch secretary (and as usual interfering in the internal democracy of other branches and Service Groups).

He selectively criticises the branch secretary for sending out an email to all staff warning them of attempts by the SWP and the SP to hijack their campaign to defend public services. However, he fails to mention or quote that part of the email that states the reason why it was sent out. 

Which was due to the violence, abuse and thuggery shown by various outsiders in a “hate fuelled frenzy”. This and threats to patients safety is actively undermining the campaign and putting off potential supporters .

It's the old story of "rule or ruin" by "wreaking and splitting". Ordered by the so called democratic centralist leadership of the various ultra left sects (not by all their rank and file members) if they cannot get their own way.

This is not the way to oppose Austerity nor win anything.

Considering that my esteemed colleague publicly derides anyone who disagrees with him as a "poodle of the ruling classes" it is just hypocritical of him to criticise anyone else as being in any way sectarian.

I also note that the hard working and respected branch secretary he is having a go at started life as a porter in a hospital, who then put himself through night school to eventually become a fully qualified nurse.  Who still works shifts as a nurse on the wards. Unlike the full time middle class bureaucrat who snipes at him from afar.

(ps I am also of course furious that anyone else apart from me should have been awarded “Sectarian of the Year” especially after my 2012 masterpiece Moanie fibbing miserabalists and the LGPS 2014)

Hat tip picture Rustbeltradical (and some interesting comments!)

UPDATE: I have been reminded how the Ultra left got up to similar tricks and destroyed any chance of forming a broad anti-austerity coalition in Local Government in 2011.

National Association of Pension Funds Local Authority Conference 2012

This was very informative and well organised conference taking place during an absolutely crucial time for the future of the local government pensions scheme (LGPS). I was there as a Councillor and member of the Borough LGPS Investment and Accounts committee.

I did “twitter” (in my case a very apt term?) during the conference (see hash tag @grayee and #napf).
The NAPF had amongst many other speakers the minster responsible for the LGPS, Bob Neill MP, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Charlie Bean; the Chair of the Local Government Association, Sir Merrick Cockell (who in a Q&A I referred to as “Michael”) and from the unions, GMB national secretary Brian Strutton.

The Chair of the NAPF is Joanne Segers. By coincidence the first ever trade union pension course I ever went on was delivered by her father, TUC tutor Terry Segers. Proper old school ex-fire brigade union.

Considering the number of forthright and opinionated individuals present at the conference, the Q&A sessions were quite quiet, which gave a opportunity to a certain gobby part time politician and union rep to somewhat hog the floor during questions.

Key issues to me from the speeches and seminars were:- how Housing associations are “gagging to build new homes” which if happened could help us get out of recession like it did in 1930’s; the real problem in pensions is not in the public sector but that private sector pensions were destroyed by various incompetents; if you truly want diversity on company boards why not have employee reps on them? Are fund advisers really interested in good governance and making company boards accountable? It’s a “no brainer that LGPS should share services" (if so why not just merge?); in the current LGPS if you earn £150k per year you pay less in percentage terms net than if you earn £15k pa (this is wrong, wrong, wrong); What is the collective term for Actuaries? Answer “An invoice”; the new proposed £2 billion infrastructure fund and LGPS governance (a possible national Local Government Pensions Board?)

There was clearly an expectation by speakers that the future of the LGPS negotiations would have been finalised by now. But there is some last minute hic-cups. This is immensely frustrating but I suppose they do want to make sure, as far as possible, that there is no misunderstanding or ambiguities about the “agreement”. The ultra left trade union cry babies (the so called 0.8%ers) are of course still weeping tears at the prospect of no more strike chasing to bring about the revolution but we should have the final offer very soon.

It was good to see at the final session that the conference applauded DCLG pensions lead, Terry Crossley, who is retiring from the civil service. I have crossed swords (politely) with Terry for the past 10 years or so over beneficiary representation on the LGPS. I wish him well in his retirement and told him that if a deal is reached on a new look LGPS then he should have a new part time job and go out and sell the model to the private sector who are in desperate need of affordable and sustainable defined benefit pension schemes. 

Letter from a new union bureaucrat to those he left behind

Guest post from Comrade Eitingon. "Dear John's Labour blog. This letter (see scans left - double click to bring up detail) was recently sent to all members of a trade union branch.

I was surprised to read that it was from its branch secretary, who announced that since his substantive job had been privatised by the Council and he would now not be able to have paid facility time off to carry out his union functions, he was giving up his job and joining a trade union as a full time official.

Now, I happen to think that it is a good idea that a trade union recruits from its lay membership but this branch secretary is a supporter of the ultra left sect SPEW, who has constantly attacked such "unelected" full time trade union officials as "bureaucrats".  Yet he gives up being a lay rep to become a unelected full time official? What is wrong doing a worthwhile job while being a normal shop steward?

Also a trade union rep should be there to protect and defend their members and if a service is being privatised then members need their union rep even more than ever. Surely the union rep should follow the members in order to defend and not just leave them in the lurch?

Did you try and leave your members and get a bureaucrats job when

your job was privatised John?

Finally I understand that this strike ballot he called on his first day as a full time union bureaucrat had to be withdrawn - because he messed up the paperwork.

Yours Nahum Eitingon".

UPDATE: Onay Kasab has claimed that he sent this letter. Check comments.

UNISON Pensions decision: jaw-jaw better than war-war (for now)

In a victory for common sense UNISON elected lay reps have voted to continue with negotiations

over Local Government and NHS pensions.

This morning there was a two hour Pension Summit with 250 senior lay reps present were it was clear that an overwhelming majority of branches, up and down the country, wanted negotiations to continue.  While reserving the right to call further action if these talks break down. Their was near unanimous agreement that there had been a significant improvement in the offer over pensions and that we had a duty to talk not walk.

Next there were separate detailed briefings on the Local Government and NHS pension schemes after which the different Service Group Executive's (SGE)  met and debated on what to do next.  I am really pleased that all the SGE's voted to talk further. 

One sour point in an otherwise positive and constructive day is that it is clear that certain "individuals" outside the union have been telling completely despicable lies about UNISON and trying to interfere in our internal democratic process.  Now while I can respect the opinion of those who genuinely feel that UNISON have made a wrong call.  This is the decision of our democratically elected representatives. What many UNISON reps will not tolerate is unrepresentative, ultra left sects playing out their toy town revolutionary fantasies at our expense. We will not do what we are told to do and think by rule or ruin wreckers and splitters.

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 NDC 2010: End of Conference – Goodbye Bournemouth

The UNISON National delegate conference finished at 4pm on Friday. Our President, Gerry Gallagher, was given the traditional very emotional UNISON “goodbye and thanks” - which left him red eyed and saying he would close conference down now since he was sure we didn’t want to see a grown man cry!

Conference will still live on a few more days on this blog as I will still post on some of the debates, fringes and speeches that I didn’t have time to do at the time.

It was actually quite a positive conference and apart from the occasional silliness by the Ultra (disunited) left it went quite smoothly and there were some very good and constructive debates. There was a bit of fuss and bother by some daftey on Wednesday who came to conference wearing a tee-shirt praising someone who had been kicked out of the union by independent lay discipline committees after being accused of let us say – “very serious extremely offensive behaviour” against trade union members (and various other things!). A number of delegates who represented trade union members who had been brave enough to complain against this person (who is now a paid full time SWP official and currently trying to sue the union) naturally objected to this.

There was a “call for unity” by many speakers – which is fair enough but it seemed that for some speakers this unity would only be on the basis that us proles gratefully accepted their leadership and direction over said “unity”. The words “hell and high water” comes to mind with regard to this particular no doubt kind and generous offer.

There was of course a little bit of the usual NEC “bashing and baiting”. But even the sensible left of UNISON London region had a “comradely” disagreement with the NEC over a proposed maximum term of office.

Conference was however solid and united in its opposition to the CONDEM s attempt to decimate our public services. UNISON 1.3 million members are rolling up our collective sleeves, getting ready for a fight, weighing up what is Tory bluster and what they think they can get away with – and what we shall be doing to stop it.

As is my want after close of conference I went off for rest and recuperation in another south coast resort for the weekend, this year, Weymouth in Dorset. Picture is the lovely view from bedroom window on Saturday morning. I recommend the Weymouth fish restaurant “Floods” and the late night Friday (not Saturday) boogie at the “Edinburgh - House of Sounds” bar.

It was all very strange that no-one in Weymouth was at all interested in standing order committee reports, or rule P expulsions (apparently there was some sort of football tournament going on somewhere? :)