Elections for the next general secretary of Unite are likely to take place next year, with Len McCluskey set to retire. Candidates are already lining up to replace him. The union needs to arm itself with a militant socialist perspective.
Delegates from Unite are meeting this week to discuss changes to the union’s rules. Amongst the proposals are several important amendments that seek to increase the democracy, transparency and accountability within Britain’s largest trade union.
At the last Unite policy conference in 2012, Britain’s biggest union marked a shift to the left, with policies calling for the nationalisation of the banks and the fight for trade union policies in the Labour Party. This leftward shift continued at the 2014 policy conference, reflecting the general growing radicalisation in society. The task now is to turn the radical and militant policies passed into action.
Unite’s leverage campaign, which Len McCluskey has organised in recent years in order to put pressure on the bosses, has been under the spotlight this week in the right wing rag the Daily Mail, which has had it on its front page every day. The press have accused Unite of bullying bosses; but these same bosses were not too worried about blacklisting or sacking workers. Alan Keays of the Blacklist Support Group points out the hypocrisy of the bosses.
We publish here a short motion that was proposed and passed at a Unite branch by Socialist Appeal supporters. The motion correctly calls for complete support in the attempts made by Unite to move the Labour Party away from the influence and control of Blairism, and bring it back to its working class roots. We encourage all of our readers to argue for these ideas within their union and Labour Party branches.
Unite – the largest trade union in Britain, with over 1.5 million members – has positioned itself as the leadership of the labour movement against the capitalist class and its political representatives in the Coalition. The radicalised mood developing from below has begun to find an expression in the words and actions of the leadership of Unite, and in particular in the figure of Len McCluskey, the current General Secretary of Unite, who is seeking to be relected.
A Socialist Appeal fringe
meeting on lessons of the Sparks’ dispute at the Unite Trade Union Policy
Conference in Brighton attracted 30 people.
Monday night in Brighton sees Socialist Appeal hosting a fringe meeting at the Unite conference.