My own personal blog. UNISON NEC member for Housing Associations & Charities, HA Convenor, London Regional Council Officer & Chair of its Labour Link Committee.
Newham Cllr for West Ham Ward, Vice Chair of Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, Pension trustee, Housing & Safety Practitioner.
Centre left and proud member of Labour movement family. Strictly no trolls please.
Promoted by Luke Place on behalf of J.Gray, Newham Labour Group, St Luke’s Community Centre, E16 1HS.
The TUC last year relaunched its UNISONREPS website which you can apply for a log in here TUC - UNIONREPS
It is an excellent resource where you can ask (and answer) questions of reps from other trade unions on various issues :-
Equality
Health & Safety
Law & Representation
Learning & Skills
Organising & Recruiting
Pensions
While it is not designed to replace your traditional sources of advice and support from your branch or region it is a really useful and informative resource for all trade union reps.
A brand a new learning event for union reps - learn from experts ● share your experience ● connect with reps
About this event
What are the big issues facing workplaces and unions? How can union reps best support their members? Come join hundreds of union reps to learn, share, and connect and improve working life for everyone.
Bringing together reps from unions across the UK, Unionreps Connect 2022 offers learning sessions, training workshops and collaborative spaces for both new and experienced workplace representatives. The one day event will give advice and support on everyday issues including employment law, health and safety, union learning and equality. It’s also an excellent opportunity for you to network and make new connections.
We’ll have a packed programme featuring presentations from employment rights specialists, interactive workshops with TUC policy experts and discussions with inspirational union reps.
I've just seen this live on ITV1. It's an excellent Party Political Broadcast. I saw the original version at this year's Labour Party conference. I must admit that I prefer that one. The music in the original version here is more haunting and soulful. There is also a greater emphasis on Party history as well. I suppose the audience and the message is different. By co-incidence I was listening to a Radio 4 documentary today about the European space agency and they had the same background music.
The speech itself and the debate afterwards was I think was very successful. I was pleased about the commitments on equality for agency workers, the End Child poverty commitment, the Equality Bill, Financial Services Bill (nothing mind on shareholders governance) and the Personal Care at Home Bill.
BTW - check out the GMB report on the Privileged background of Conservative Candidates here
Tory candidates standing in the General Election are still wholly unrepresentative of the UK workforce new study from the GMB general union shows. The vast majority - 96% of candidates are still from the top three occupational groups according to an analysis of the 537 candidates and existing MP selected to stand. Of the selected candidates no less than 63 are drawn from the banking and finance industries.
Less than 1% are from the six lower occupational groups employing 56% of the UK workforce.
Tories still dominated by unrepresentative toffs it seems? Hat-tip thingy unionreps.
...and this report in The Times about the private medical clinic suspended from their contract by the London NHS after two deaths. Hat-tip Col. Roi.
Excellent post by trade union blogger Johninnit from the TUC congress in Brighton. He makes four predictions about how unions (or at any rate unionists) will be using Web 2.0 by 2010. He addressed a fringe on this subject with Eric Lee who helps edit Labourstart (who I have met). I have never met John even though he once made a banner for me in “Second Life”.
1st - He believes that it will empower the grass roots and points to the 13,000 users of the successful TUC network unionreps.org.uk who share advice and resources. Globalisation could also encourage unions to form connections internationally. There is a General Motors Workers’ blog where GM car plants across the world connect with each other.
2nd - More creative on-line campaigning. Unions and activists can nowadays produce near professional quality campaign material. The Postal Strike YouTube video shown (above) on this post (pardon the pun) is he believes an example of what can be achieved by activists. Quality may be mixed '…they may be loose cannons sure, but if you could line up 1,000 loose cannons pointed in half-way the right direction, I know which side I’d rather be standing.'
3rd - Is an improvement in Union democracy and consultation.
4th - Using the internet will also reach out to young workers who would otherwise never consider joining.
The trade union movement is notoriously conservative (with a small “c”) which personally I feel is a reflection on its membership. Membership has fallen since the peak of the 1970’s but in recent years has stabilised. Sometimes you come across activists who think either its all doom and gloom for the movement or equally bizarrely, we’re just on the verge of “Revolution Now” comrades. It’s refreshing to read something which is both positive and realistic about the future of trade unions for a change.
This is not an alternative “techie only” argument to the traditional values of organising, educating, training, internal discipline and building the union. It should not be either a "free-for-all" by activists regardless of rule or policy. Nor of course, is it a substitute for talking face to face to members when this is possible in the complex modern workplace. The success or otherwise of such traditional values will make or break the movement in the end. Rather, our society and economy has changed radically in recent decades (years?) and trade unions simply have to reflect this.
Good turn out at safety protest held yesterday at Tower Hamlets new “Homeless Persons Unit”. The protest was staged at the opening of the unit to protest at the removal of safety screen for staff (see post). Management are refusing to budge. We should now move to ballot members for strike action. I will post a copy of Mick Holders (London Hazards) critical report on the new office and my own trade union safety inspection report on union reps “health & safety” in next few days. Other safety reps can possibly use, if their employers are inappropriately threatening to remove security screens from front line services. Will keep you updated.
