The post of UNISON General Secretary is one of the most important jobs in the whole of the Labour and trade union movement in Britain and the north of Ireland. UNISON is a decisive force in the public sector and is potentially extremely powerful. UNISON is also one of the biggest unions affiliated to the Labour Party and the leadership of the union is intimately tied up with the Labour Party. As such this election is as important as the UNITE General Secretary Election, and in the public sector perhaps more so.
The UNISON NEC has decided to call for a snap General Secretary election. The nomination period opens on 4th February and closes on 1st April. The election comes at a crucial point for hundreds of thousands of workers in the health service, local government, colleges and Universities and the wide range of other services that the union organises. The bail-out of the banks and the cost of mass unemployment mean that savage cuts will be imposed on the public sector regardless of who sits in 10 Downing Street after the election.
UNISON organises 1.3 million people and, as well as being the decisive trade union in the NHS and local government, it is also a major contributor to the Labour Party. The union leadership are intimately connected with the Labour Party leadership. A major factor in the current economic and political situation in the public sector has been the tendency for the union leaders to “hold the line” for Labour, even at the cost of the members. Indeed much of the leadership’s and the full time officers’ time has been spent in “policing the membership”. There have been a number of expulsions of important left activists in the union and a number of disciplinary hearings are in progress.
With these factors in mind, and the imminent arrival of swingeing cuts throughout the public sector, attacks on pensions and wages and conditions, it is no surprise that there will be a left challenge to the incumbent Dave Prentis, who is associated by many of the active layers of the union with the union’s industrial strategy and also with the attacks on the left in the union.
The history of the left in UNISON hasn’t been one of harmony and goodwill to all men and women. In fact the biggest concern among the left has been the risk of failing to agree a unified campaign around a single candidate. The last time that Prentis stood for election he faced two candidates; one was Jon Rogers, an active member of the Labour Party and the Labour Representation Committee and the other was Roger Bannister from the Socialist Party.
In recent years the left organisation split and then last year a joint “Reclaim the Union” slate was agreed for the NEC election. UNISON Socialist Appeal supporters are keen to support a single unified candidate, but we also recognise that the differences between Paul Holmes and Roger Bannister, the two main left candidates in the union, will make that very difficult. On January 30th a meeting of the UNISON left took place where each of the left tendencies in the union were represented as well as the left NEC and Service Group Executive (SGE) members. The debate perhaps inevitably centred around the issue of Labour Party disaffiliation. The meeting agreed that, in the event of more than one left candidate receiving the required 25 nominations, a meeting of left activists could be called to vote on a single left candidate. However, it was agreed that this would only work, in the event that both candidates agreed to abide by the decision of the meeting and stand down if they lost. We have to say, that the Socialist Party’s confused sectarian attitude towards the Labour Party means that this is very unlikely to happen. Meanwhile they support Len McCluskey (a Labour loyalist) in the UNITE general Secretary Election, against Jerry Hicks a genuine left winger.
With all of these factors in mind it was a very easy decision for us to make to recommend support for Paul Holmes as our preferred candidate for the General Secretary position. Paul is secretary of Kirklees branch of UNISON; the branch has 10,000 members and a membership density of 80%. Paul has been a steward for 35 years and is a committed socialist who has agreed that he is prepared to accept only the wage of a skilled worker rather than the £127,000 salary currently enjoyed by Dave Prentis.
Paul is committed to a ballot for one political fund for the union and for the whole union to affiliate to the Labour Party instead of the partial affiliation and two existing political funds. As a member of the NEC who was elected by the entire Local Government membership Paul has demonstrated that he can turn his obvious popularity in the union into votes. He has a clear understanding of the connection between the working class and the Labour Party and would be an important factor in helping the union to reclaim the Party after years of right wing misrule. The Labour Link structures should be democratised and the union affiliation should be used to transform the Labour Party from top to bottom.
The key task for the next period has to be to maximise the number of nominations for Paul. To get on the ballot paper he needs a minimum of 25 nominations. We call on all of our supporters and readers in UNISON to campaign for Paul in their branches and in the regions. Meetings should be called in the various regions and Paul should be invited to attend, with a view to reaching the maximum number of UNISON members and activists. Every UNISON branch should be contacted and we must ensure that we help get Paul’s programme and ideas over to the maximum number of UNISON members. We think Paul has an excellent chance of winning and laying the basis for a fighting and democratic UNISON.
One left candidate
Back Paul Holmes
We reproduce below the letter being sent out by Paul in order to request nominations:
Request for nomination for General Secretary
Mr P Holmes
Wakefield
West Yorkshire
Dear Colleague,
Paul Holmes
Nomination for General Secretary
For a General Secretary on a worker’s wage, in touch with the branches and their members.
I
am seeking your Region’s support in the forthcoming General Secretary
election. I am Branch Secretary of Kirklees Unison (a branch of 10,000
plus Unison members) and a National Executive Council member. I have
been a steward for 35 years. I am also a member of the Local Government
Service Group Executive and the National Joint Council for Local
Government. I have much experience in service conditions, organisation,
representation and negotiations.
Where I stand:
1. Budget cuts
– Whichever party wins the forthcoming general election – budget cuts
in the public sector will lead to attacks on pay, terms and conditions
and pensions. We need to know who will fight with us against those in
Government and the Employer. As a UNISON Branch activist I have always
stood up to employers making cuts – and as your General Secretary you
could count on me to stand up for members
2. Organisation
– Kirklees Unison has a union density of over 80%. There is no reason
why this can’t be achieved in every branch. I have spoken in branches
all over Britain . The issues everywhere are the same – cuts, pensions,
terms and conditions and pay, stress etc. We need to organise the
activists at the grassroots. You must inspire the activists in order to
advance the cause.
3. Pensions
– I led the campaign in Local Government for a special conference on
pensions to ensure that our members decided how we defended the LG
Pension scheme. There is no doubt that there will be further attacks on
public sector pensions as the Employers/Government/Bankers seek to raid
our pensions to pay for their banking crisis. We need to prepare our
members for a massive campaign to defend pensions. The General
Secretary campaign is an opportunity to send a "shot across the bows"
of those who seek to attack our pension schemes. We need a united
campaign across the public sector to defend our pension schemes As
General Secretary I would work to ensure that members again take the
lead in deciding how we fight to protect our pensions.
4. Resources
– The resources of the union need to be devolved to the branches –
money, full-time officials, printing etc. The majority of the resources
need to be nearer the members.
5. Democracy
– I support the election of the General Secretary. I also support the
election of the Deputy General Secretary, Regional Secretaries and the
Heads of the Services Groups.
6. Opinions
– there are a wide spectrum of opinions in the union – this is healthy.
Anyone should be free to express their opinions – unless they are
sexist, racist, homophobic etc. Difference of political opinion should
not lead to disciplinary action. The rules of the union should be
changed to allow appeals from disciplinary hearings to an appeals panel
that is elected by the National Delegate Conference.
7. Anti-Fascism
– there is no place for racists/ fascists in our union, Members of
far-right groups should be ‘kicked out’ of the union. There should be
no climate of fear for any of our members.
8. Labour Party – we are a trade union not a political party. I have been a Labour Party member for 30 years (joining the party straight after Thatcher was elected). We
need to change our relationship with the Labour Party to one where the
union’s policies are pursued in the Labour Party and not vice-versa.
For too long Unison has largely been a source of finance for the Labour
Party. Unison delegates should be taking Unison’s policies into the Labour Party and promoting them. We should have one
Political Fund. There should be a wide-ranging, unrestricted debate at
Unison National Delegate Conference on the Political Fund and a
member’s ballot on affiliation, with a recommendation from the National
Delegate Conference.
The
union and its members must be placed first in the priorities of all
representatives of the union. The members come first – not the union
bureaucracy, not the Labour Party or the Employers. I ask for your
nomination, I promise my every effort and my honesty in return.
Paul Holmes
Branch no: 13325
Membership no: 1787781
