Months after Branch Secretary
Michael Gavan was sacked from Newham Council, after he was victimised
for undertaking trade union activities, the left have taken control
of the branch. This is an indication of the way things are moving.
However, Yunus Baksh, an SWP member and exemplary class fighter, was
sacked by the mental health trust he worked for last week. The UNISON
bureaucracy chose not to represent him. For them this is no doubt a bit
of a coup.
If the highly-paid Unison bureaucracy, feeling the ground begin to
shake under their feet, think bureaucratic victimisation of union
members is the way to go, they are clearly delusional.
We have political differences with our comrades in the SWP, particularly
over the issue of the Labour Party. We maintain that the class
struggle in Britain will express itself through the traditional
organisations of the working class. However, we would never deny the
self-sacrifice and class consciousness of comrades like Yunus and
Michael, and stand shoulder to shoulder with them.
