Next Labour MP for Bethnal Green & Bow speaks to local UNISON Labour Link

Rushanara Ali, the Labour Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Bethnal Green & Bow (BG&B) was the guest speaker at our Tower Hamlets branch UNISON Labour Link meeting. Cuckoo George Galloway, has “promised” not to stand in BG&B at the next election since he knows he will lose.

Rushanara spoke about local and national issues then we had informal but wide ranging “question and answers”. Some of the points we discussed with Rushanara were: -

A major local issue was the recent collapse of “1st Solutions” a money transfer service to Bangladesh from the UK. It would appear that many people all over Britain who thought they were sending money to their families may have lost everything. Incredibly it seems that such services are not regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

We also discussed the London Living Wage campaign. This campaign which is supported by London Mayor Ken Livingston, wants a higher minimum wage for London (currently £7.20 per hour) to take into account the higher costs of living in the Capital. Labour Boroughs want to make sure that all their directly employed workers and sub-contractors have this amount but are worried that if they specify a living wage in any tenders without specific legal authority, they could be sued by whoever failed to be awarded the contract. This could be challenged if the Labour Boroughs worked together.

We also talked about working together to lobby the government about re-introducing a “Fair Wages Clause” which was done away by Thatcher. This clause use to state that if any public service was privatised then new starters would still be paid the same amount as if they remained in the public sector. This would benefit low paid workers who work in privatised services nationally and not just in London.

Tomorrow I am off to UNISON Labour Link Forum in Manchester. Our branch has had its motion on the Living Wage supported by London Labour Link Forum. I hope it will be adopted by the National Forum then we can take it hopefully to the Labour Party Conference later this year.

The GLA elections next year and in particular practical support for Ken and our local hard working GLA member, John Biggs, was agreed. Also the local by-election in Shadwell following the resignation of the Respect Councillor. For the next few weeks the priority will be canvassing in the Ealing Southall Parliamentary by-election (Sedgefield is a bit too far)

Also at meeting we unanimously nominated Rachel Voller, to be the London UNISON National Labour Link committee member. Rachel is a nurse at UCL hospital and has been an excellent Labour Link rep for London.

The New Internationalist Capitalists

Back this morning from annual meeting of the “Committee on Workers Capital” (CWC) held in the International Labour Organisation’s headquarters (ILO) in Geneva. A superb one

day conference for international labour movement activists, who are involved on workers capital issues.

The chair of CWC is Ken Georgetti, who is President of the Canadian Labour Congress. Canada seems to be taking the lead on worker’s capital. John Maitland, from the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) chaired the actual meeting.

There were nearly 40 participants from all round the world. Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Iceland (who was also an MP), UK and USA. I went to the meeting in London in 2005 and there was probably nearly twice as many people present this year as then. From UNISON there was also national officer for Capital Stewardship, Colin Meech, and from the TUC senior Policy Officer, Janet Williamson. Janet gave two presentations on the TUC response to Private Equity in the UK. Also present was David Russell from the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) and Donald McDonald who is a BT pension scheme trustee (and Chair of PRI).

Some of the pension schemes represented even dwarfed the £125 billion invested (collectively) in the British local government pension scheme (LGPS).

Check out the CWC link for the full picture on the Labour movement and investments (I’ll do a further post on this issue later). The themes for this year meeting were a “Trustees approach to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment “ (PRI - we must get all British schemes to sign up to this campaign). There was than a lot of good stuff on trade union approaches and initiatives on Private Equity (PE); assessing its risk and market distortions, making PE work for us, and PE “due diligence”. There was a very wide ranging discussion. Finishing off with debate on common problems and issues.

Potentially one of the most significant things that the CWC does is to operate a “clearing house” for international trade unions to post requests for assistance or information about international companies who are operating in their country. Recently we had a fairly successful campaign in the UK by the T&G and the Teamsters to try and persuade First Group not to practice anti-trade union activities in the US.

It was good to meet Mike Musuraca from the New York City Employees Retirement System (NYCERS). He is also an official with the American Public sector union (AFSCME). They appear to be far more proactive with their pension fund than we are in London with the LGPS. It would be good to keep in contact so we can get share some ideas.

Another one bites the dust…. yet another Respect resignation?

If you look at the Tower Hamlets Council web site tonight and check the details for the elected Councillors in Shadwell ward, you will notice that there are now only 2 councillors instead of the 3 listed previously. Rumour mill has it that Respect Councillor, Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury, (who got the highest vote for diss-respect in the ward) has resigned not only as a Councillor but also as a member of Respect. There is apparently a “hot” press release out somewhere. Probably best to check out “TRIAL BY JEORY” in this week's East End Advertiser out Thursday. This is the second Councillor to leave Respect in just over 2 months. Labour Majority on council now 4. A hotly contested by-election in the summer months would seem to be on the cards.

Engaged Investor Awards 2007 (and possible pension industrial dispute)

First “pension” awards ceremony I have ever been to and I really enjoyed it. A sign of age maybe, but I now tend to know a few people at such events which makes a difference. There was no “hard sell “by sponsors either.

It was held on the “Silver Barracuda”, Savoy Pier, a London Thames restaurant ship.

Everything seemed to go off smoothly despite the bombs found early on that morning in central London. It did pour down with rain at the start and I got soaked walking to the ship from Temple underground.

Picture of top UNISON Pension trustee and national treasure, Stan Edwards ,(above right National Grid Pension scheme) who was judging in the award. Also, next picture (below left) is of Pete Davis from the Prudential who is on the national (TUC nominated) Pension Trustee panel. They meet up on a regular basis with the Pensions minister (who we are still waiting to be announced due to the reshuffle). Next year we ought to organise trustees to make nominations to such awards.

On my table I sat with Peter Vercoe who is a trustee with Carnaud Metal Box group. He won the runner up award for Trustee of the Year. There were also two members of staff from the Pensions Trust who were very pleasant and knowledgeable. Even though I did upset them somewhat about my dismay over the Social Housing Pension Fund (SHPS - which is part of their group).

I am holding a meeting next week with UNISON members of a housing association where they are trying to replace the SHPS 1/60th final pension scheme with a vastly inferior CARE (career average) scheme. Trouble at Mill – I am certain that my members will not be happy with accepting what amounts in the long run as a massive cut in their terms and conditions. Watch this space.

Gordon and my bottle of red, red wine

Tonight I am busy polishing off a bottle of House of Commons “Pinot Noir”, allegedly signed by Gordon Brown (see picture). In 2005 I went to the general election campaign launch of Poplar & Canning Town MP, Jim Fitzpatrick, in Trussler Hall, Poplar, E14. There was of course the inevitable Labour Party raffle. I think it was Jim who called out the tickets. To my surprise my raffle ticket was pulled out and Jim announced that the prize was a choice between either a bottle of House of Commons white wine, signed by Tony Blair or a bottle of red wine, signed by Gordon Brown. There was a momentary silence while I made up my mind.

At the time I pledged to only drink the bottle when Gordon became Prime Minister. The bottle is now being rapidly drained with my better half as I blog (real time).

BTW – there was a huge cheer when I chose Red

Tower Hamlets joins Local Authority Pension Fund Panel

This will not be very thrilling news to most folk. Please bear with me. For the past 10 years or so, as a scheme member and staffside pension’s rep I have been trying to persuade the Council to join the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF).

I’m just back from the Pension & Accounts committee and I am really pleased to report that tonight the committee decided to sign up for the LAPFF. Now most people would have clicked off this post as soon as they saw the words “committee” and “pension”. Never mind “LAPFF” (which is a bit of a mouthful). However, the local government pension scheme (LGPS) is not only about paying members retirement benefits it is also probably the biggest collective funded pension scheme in the Country (3.5 million members and £100 billion plus investments). It is therefore a major investor (and owner) in almost all British and major international companies. It is split into 99 locally administered schemes.

By “funded” I mean that workers and employers’ pension contributions are invested mainly in the stock markets (shares in companies), bonds (loans to companies or governments), property (usually collective trusts) or cash (deposit accounts, money markets). Some pension schemes to not invest their contributions but operate a “pay as you go” system. Benefits paid to current pensioners are funded by the contributions of current workers and employers e.g. the NHS pension scheme.

Most of the money invested in funded pension schemes such as the LGPS is invested in companies, if you own shares in any company this makes you an owner of that company. If you own part of a company you therefore have a responsibility as an owner of that company to make sure that this company is properly run. This responsibility does not conflict with any legal duty to ensure that investment returns are maximised since it is accepted that companies which are run properly and have responsible investors perform better than companies which do not. This is just commons sense.

To my mind “properly run” means for example making sure that the companies we own do not exploit child labour, are not anti-trade union, ensure their employees (and sub-contractors) work in safe and healthy conditions, do not damage the environment and are open, honest and transparent organisations. See previous posts.

The Tower Hamlets LGPS is worth over £700 million at the moment. A huge amount of money, but in pension terms it is a minnow. To exercise your right of ownerships effectively with that amount of money is not really feasible. You simply do not have enough shares to be listened to by company bosses. However, if the Tower Hamlets scheme was to collectively combine with other LGPS schemes (via the LAPFF which represents some £40 billion of assets) then we would have potentially a significant degree of influence to try and ensure that our companies are properly run.

I would urge all LGPS join LAPFF (41 now out of 99). Not only is it a campaigning organisation and runs well respected training events but it is an opportunity for Councillors (and member nominated representatives) to meet up with other LGPS members up and down the country to share experiences and improve their schemes.What I feel is positive is that my pension scheme will be able to join up with other LGPS schemes and use its collective strength to try and make sure that our duties as owners are carried out in accordance with our legal obligations, accepted good practice and our social responsibilities.

Thanks to (Labour) Cllr Bill Turner (Chair), Cllr Joshua Peck, Cllr Shafiqul Haque and Cllr Waiseul Islam.

West Ham plays away at House of Commons

Last night we held our monthly West Ham CLP campaign meeting but instead of the usual venue at Party HQ in Stratford, E15 (a.k.a as the “Pie shop” since in a previous life it had indeed been a traditional East End "Pie & Mash" shop). Our MP, Lyn Brown, kindly offered to host the meeting on the terrace of the House of Commons.

The weather held, and it was really pleasant. The terrace was quite packed, obviously the evening before a New Prime Minister takes over and the defection that day of Tory, Quentin Davies, to Labour meant that there was a lot to chat about. I saw Hazel Blears who seemed tired but otherwise unaffected by her deputy leadership result.

The campaign group has been formed to get the local Party active and campaigning all year round, not just at elections. Newham may have 2.5 out of 2.5 Labour MPs, 54 out of 60 Labour Councillors, a Labour mayor, a Labour GLA member and a Labour GLA Mayor. However, we face threats (of a sort) from disRespect (3 councillors) a fundamentalist so-called “Christian” Party (3 Councillors) and a growing Tory threat due to developments in the Newham Docklands and Stratford.

Lyn had invited some researchers to come and advise us on possible ways forward for the local Party. Sarah McCarthy-Fry MP Portsmouth North, a close colleague of Lyn (and UNISON member) who holds a marginal seat also shared her experiences. The meeting was as usual, robust with strong and passionate views expressed on the right ways to go forward. The meeting ended very positively with a number of agreed strategies and campaign events to take back to the GC for approval.

The views from the terrace as dusk fell was fantastic. Somewhat different than that of the dual carriageway immediately outside the Pie Shop.

Gun Crime in London and Manchester. A Trade Union Response.

At the UNISON conference (see post) last week there was a well attended joint fringe event with North West Region, chaired be London Regional Convener, Alan Jarman, with guest speakers David Michaels (Lewisham Police Consultative Committee) and Mick Hurley from MMAGS (Manchester, Multi Agency Gang Strategy—a group made up of criminal justice statutory agencies)

This was a thought provoking, intelligent and quite emotional fringe as delegates from both London and the North West, who live and work in communities overshadowed by gun crime, shared their experiences with the speakers.

Conroy Lawrence (left), London Lewisham Health, shared his family’s pain of the loss of his son, Justin Morgan, to gun crime in 2004. No-one has yet been brought to face justice for his murder. As a victim, Conroy pointed out that support for families devastated by gun crime, tails off after time. Only the media continue to contact him.

Peter Daley, Wandsworth LG, reminded everyone that tackling gun crime is a UNISON imperative—following an act of violence it will be UNISON members in the police and civilian staff who will receive the emergency call and send help. The paramedics, first on the scene, will be members, as will the nurses and hospital workers who will try and save the victims. The aftermath will often be dealt with by UNISON members in Social Services.

Raz Dowdall also pointed out the positive role of UNISON members in tackling this problem as youth workers in after-school clubs and as teaching assistants in local schools. The meeting agreed that UNISON members need to participate personally with their community but they should also campaign as members for more and better preventative facilities to include marginalised youths. UNISON should, with its campaigning skills and political connections with governments and councils, work to bring about change.

It was pointed out that this is not solely a "black issue". The black community did not invent "gun crime". Even nowadays, 40 years after the Krays, there are numerous white criminals carrying guns and using them to murder and harm in London and the North West.

The meeting closed in a very positive and constructive mood, not least due to the contribution by Khi Rafe (Lambeth LG) whose 12 year old son Ishmael “her baby” spoke so eloquently about growing up in the city and how gang membership was not for him despite the pressures that his fellow young people feel.

The Regional Convener in closing the meeting, challenged all present to go back challenged all present to go back to their localities to ensure that they campaigned for more cohesive communities including the issues raised by Ishmael about the lack of children’s and young people’s services.

Congratulations to Gordon and Harriet – Commiseration to Alan

Still , a winner is a winner. Well done Gordon, well done Harriet. Nearly there Alan. Only 0.8% short. Overall, a good result for the Labour Party and the affiliate trade unions (Particularly UNISON Labour Link – who I think can show that they can deliver, not enough this time obviously, however we need to build on how we communicate with our Labour Link members). I am convinced that Gordon and Harriet will be a winning team for Labour.

I haven’t seen a proper breakdown yet on how the MP’s, unions and Party members voted. There are already some bizarre interpretations of the results. I think that the polite term for this is “wishful thinking”. The Ultra Left (stress “Ultra”) has been completed marginalised and it has been demonstrated that is it has no meaningful support in the Party or its affiliate’s.

Last Day of UNISON Conference 2007 – Wreckers seen off.

Sorry this is a bit late. The last day of conference is always a little fraught. Your morning "routine” has to cope with the additional tasks of checking out of your hotel and finding somewhere to put your luggage for the day. Cumulative late nights (and hangovers) don’t help either.

Thanks to excellent trade union history blog Timemachine for NALGO (UNISON founder union) annual for 1939 (yes, it was called the "Beano"). I missed the traditional Friday “tongue in cheek” Standing order committee report. I hear that its chair, Clytus Williams, was on form and very funny.

There then was a good emergency debate on pay campaigns. Looks like it will be our first row with Gordon as Prime Minister (...and not our last). The scheduled order of business was finished off, then after lunch we had the start of the remaining order of business (the “snake”).

In 1 hour 45 minutes there was an attempt to debate 30 odd outstanding motions and amendments. First two motions which had been prioritised were health and safety motions. Sickness Absence Procedures and Attacks on Public sector workers: Violence against staff. Excellent news, real core trade union issues being prioritised and discussed. It was a pity that certain delegates prevented proper debate on such issues by raising a point of order and calling for a vote when only a couple of speakers had said anything. But no real surprise there.

Very pleased that Motion 101 “Pension Funds and Capital Stewardship – Toward the Citizen Economy” was the third prioritised motion (see Peter Gaskins, Cambridge UNISON pension rep

and new NEC member speaking in favour) and it was overwhelmingly passed. In fact I only saw one delegate vote against (by raising his yellow A4 voting card) and he was promptly hit on the head by a female colleague with her voting card for doing so. Quite right too. I’ll post something on 101 with a full account of the “Are we the New Capitalists” fringe. However, at the risk of sounding over enthusiastic, it appears that Capital Stewardship is coming of age in UNISON at last. Related issues came up time and time again during conference such as over the arms trade, Israeli, international solidarity, health & safety issues and the danger of “Private Equity”.

In the closing session the UNISON President for the year (Malcolm Cantello – elected by the NEC it is the most senior lay trade union post in UNISON) was thanked for his work not only in the past year but also for his entire trade union service. I always find this quite emotional and nostalgic. It is a shame that some delegates immediately leave as soon as formal business is finished and do not wait to listen.

Overall, a very good week. Real trade union business debated and moved forward. Pity that some nonsense crept through every now and then, but there you go.

Next year in Bournemouth….