Nominations have closed for the
Unite-Amicus General Secretary election and the four candidates are Derek
Simpson, Jerry Hicks, Kevin Coyne and Paul Reuter. The fifth candidate who was
nominated, Laurence Faircloth, has withdrawn from the contest and is now
recommending support for Derek Simpson! Faircloth was selected last November at
a meeting of the Amicus Unity Gazette to be the official Broad Left candidate.
As reported in the December Socialist
Appeal the decision was pre-determined at a meeting of the North West Gazette held
a fortnight before. The meeting was held in Preston and the NW members, who had
a majority at the meeting, were instructed to vote for Faircloth or face
expulsion! Faircloth has a record as a right winger and had never attended Gazette
meetings before turning up to the selection meeting.
In the nomination process Jerry Hicks
obtained more nominations than Faircloth with 60 branch and 55 shop steward
nominations to Faircloth’s 44 branch and 51 shop steward nominations. Now that
Faircloth has withdrawn there is only one left candidate standing against three
right wingers. If the Gazette is to retain any credibility as a left
organisation it must now give its backing to Jerry Hicks.
What
part do you believe Unite can play in the struggle for socialism?
I wouldn’t mind
if it was playing some part – any part – frankly. Unite ditched socialism as an
objective at about the same time the Labour Party ditched Clause Four (The
Party’s socialist objectives clause). The call must be for socialism. That means public ownership, not privatisation and peace, not war.
The argument in
favour of socialism are greater now than it has ever been at any other time.
What
is your attitude to the Labour Party and how do you see its future direction?
I left the
Labour Party in the 1990s. I was overjoyed to see the back of the Tories in
1997, as I was to see the end of Maggie Thatcher. I detested Blair and
Blairism. Like many others I was very disappointed that John McDonnell failed
to get enough nominations to challenge Gordon Brown as leader. It seems to me
that the future of the Labour Party is not likely to move towards the left.
Given the most recent opinion polls they are likely end up in opposition to a
Tory government. That will be an extremely sad day but they will have brought
it upon themselves, the way they have let us down.
If
elected General Secretary, what would be your attitude to the present Labour
government?
If you asked me
5 or 6 months ago what my attitude was, not many people would have been
bothered to find out. Now possibly my attitude is regarded as more important
(as I have a serious chance of being General Secretary).
Through this
crisis of the capitalist economy the Labour government has all but nationalised
the banks. My father used to dream about the day a Labour government would
nationalise the banks and i agreed with him. But they haven’t gone far enough.
They haven’t looked after working people and have attacked pensioners and
single parents.
It seems to me
madness that the energy companies that are making millions in profits have not
been taken back into public ownership. They haven’t gone far enough. No wonder
there is so much of a sense of betrayal. Bringing back Mandelson and Milburn is
not a good step. My attitude to the Labour government can be summed up as one
of anger, frustration and dismay.
As
General Secretary, what are the most important political changes you would
campaign for Labour MPs to implement?
The most
important changes I would fight for are the repeal of the anti-union laws in
total. This links in with the first two questions you asked me (About Unite’s
involvement in the political struggle and the struggle for socialism). An
active strong trade union movement would bring about decent pensions linked to
earning, a retirement age that’s not going up all the time so you never get
there, but one that’s coming down; hours worked not increasing but decreasing
so we have a decent quality of life to spend with our family and friends;
decent wages, above all a minimum wage of £8 an hour – and that probably needs
to be higher now with all the bills going up.
The
union’s leadership has been criticised as bureaucratic. How would you make it
more accountable to the members?
There is a
simple solution – the election of union officials. They should be accountable ,
acceptable to and approachable by the members, not appointed by the General
Secretary. Simpson promised election of officials but soon ditched his promise.
Kevin Coyne doesn’t believe in elections – even though he is standing in one (as
General Secretary against Jerry) right now!
How
do you hope to improve members’ living standards in a situation where rapidly
rising unemployment cuts into workers’ bargaining power with the employers?
We need:
-
The repeal of all anti-union laws and a massive
recruitment campaign taking the union into the schools, colleges and work
places. - An education and recruitment programme within the
union. - We need apprenticeships, but unlike current
arrangements on a much bigger and broader school. Every school leaver who
wants and apprenticeship should be offered one.
What
should the Union’s programme to defend workers against unemployment be?
We need:
- A massive increase in publicly owned housing
stock so that people can have a safe, secure, cheap roof over their heads. - A public works programme – building schools,
hospitals and houses that could create jobs for 100,000 workers. - Investment in renewable energy – solar, sea and
wind power providing work for up to one million people.
SA:
Thanks very much, Jerry, and good luck in your campaign.
