Four members of Unison were recently banned from
holding office after two years of investigations and hearings. They had been
accused of giving “racist offence to members” after using a cartoon of the
Three Wise Monkeys in a leaflet distributed at 2007 Unison conference which
criticised the “ruling out of order” of resolutions relating to pay and
accountability of full-time union officials and financing the Labour Party.
The four were
found guilty and sentenced to bans of three years for Glenn Kelly (NEC member
and Bromley branch secretary) & Onay Kasab (Greenwich branch secretary),
four years for Suzanne Muna (Housing Corporation branch secretary) and five
years for Brian Debus (Hackney branch chair). This was a political attack on four well known
lefts including one who just so happened to be a member of the left group on
the National Executive Committee!
The accusations could
doubtless be used against them by the employers, since without having the
limited protection that the law allows trade union representatives they will be
exposed, No doubt sections of the employers will have plenty of old scores to
settle. The accusation of racism against the four is ludicrous and potentially
has grave consequences for their jobs and future prospects at work.
Many UNISON
members will be appalled by the results of these investigations. The outcome of this disciplinary could easily
have been predicted two years ago, the reason being that it represented an
expedient bureaucratic ploy to silence opponents.
Unison activists
and supporters of the four organised a protest outside of Unison head office on
Thursday 30th July to make their anger known. The campaign has received a lot
of support including that of comedians Rory Bremner and Mark Thomas.
Rory Bremner: “On
the face of it, Unison are about to make themselves look a laughing stock. They
need to be very aware of the widespread ridicule this will attract to their
union and its leaders, and think again before the papers get hold of this and
make them look foolish and authoritarian. They don’t need this distraction”
Mark Thomas: “I
know Onay Kasab – Kas. I have had the privilege of working with him on the
Ilisu Dam Campaign and on the issue of trade unionist deaths in Columbia. To
accuse him of being racist is utter stupidity and madness… those who brought
this charge need to take a lie down in a quiet room, possibly with whale music
playing and get a rest or they need to acknowledge their actions are motivated
by other factors.”
UNISON has 1.3
million members, potentially it represents an enormously powerful weapon in the
hands of working people, But instead of fighting cuts, job losses and service
cuts sections of the UNISON leadership and the bureaucracy seem to think it is
better use of their time to witch hunt activists. UNISON needs to change if it
is to represent its members effectively.
- Stop the witch hunts
- Fight for a fighting democratic union
