I've been getting a few questions lately, so wanted to post an update.
As I'm not in a workplace at the moment, I stepped down from the various Unite committees I was on. I'm still active in Unite (though the machine doesn't make this easy!) but am contributing more via Unite Rank and File rather than posting here - this site is now largely dormant.
I'm also being asked about the long-anticipated Unite General Secretary election, as few expect McCluskey to manage a full term for the first time. It's noticeable that there are various rule changes up for discussion next week which aim to increase or close down democracy. If there is an election any time soon I won't be standing again. I stood as a rank and file candidate. I hope there will be a strong rank and file voice in any election, but given that I'm not currently active in a workplace I don't think that should be me.
I was also elected President of Manchester TUC earlier this year.
I've made a video about how workplaces can get involved with the climate strikes, an issue which we should all be getting more involved in, and where Unite should be doing much more - fighting for good climate jobs rather than backing destructive and unsustainable projects while jobs continue to be slaughtered. UCU and BFAWU have already adopted policy backing the climate strikes. The silence from McCluskey and our Executive Council urgently needs to end.
This is my personal report, not an official one. It omits most of the industrial business, as this is often confidential. Other than that, if you are aware of any errors please let me know.
This was the first meeting of the new National Industrial Sector Committee (NISC) elected by the Regional Industrial Sector Committees (RISCs) for the 2018-20 term of office.
Steve Garroway was re-elected as chair.
It was agreed that as there were a number of new delegates, the election of deputy chair would be postponed until the next meeting, and for now Charlie Shieber would continue as deputy.
A number of corrections were agreed to the previous minutes
There is now a template for NISC minutes with an action plan as a spreadsheet at the end
Louisa Bull, the National Officer, has been working on a charter setting out where we are as a sector, subsectors, key areas of future work etc. The future work will include a full audit / mapping exercise of the sector, identifying membership density, areas of growth, combines, European Works Councils and experts etc. One of the aims will be to use the Work Voice Pay data to identify projects we want to do and extend collective bargaining, enhance subsectors and combines.
A draft of a booklet on apprenticeships was circulated for comments by 1 July.
The NISC's Organising Strategy Subcommittee was elected: Charlie Shieber, Gareth Lowe, Ronan Turley, Ian Allinson, Steve Garroway, Claire Lees
The joiners and leavers data provided to NISC members had gone from too much detail, not showing trends and changes, to not enough detail to be useful. Louisa explained that things like this were in flux following the GDPR data protection legislation. Louisa will produce a new template and email it out.
There was discussion about the fact that there are 170 different officers covering workplaces in the sector, most of them with only a small piece of GPM&IT in their allocation, and how this prevents focus or expertise. There are examples of different officers covering sites belonging to competing companies right near each other.
The issue of the Labour Party and even parts of Unite using non-unionised printers was discussed yet again. Louisa reported that she had raised it with Jennie Formby, now the Labour Party General Secretary. Louisa will forward to the NISC an email from Jennie confirming the policy on this set by the Labour NEC. Louisa has asked Regional Officers to produce a list of half a dozen small print shops they would happily recommend. It was agreed that this list should include what types of work the printers can do and that it should be circulated to RISC chairs and branch secretaries and Unite Political Officers as well as the NISC.
A team to work on content for the sector's web site and social media profile was elected: Helen Kerr, John Stuttle, Ian Allinson and Jamie Messent. Louisa reported that the web site was being revamped and she ws unable to get it updated. The NISC can still consider what it wants in terms of structure, sector and company pages, toolkits etc ready for when the site is usable again. Unite recommends that all RISC and NISC members have unitetheunion.org email addresses, which can be put up on the web site too.
The Unite briefing on the Gender Pay Gap (GPG) had been sent to all reps. A 5-day course covering this in Eastbourne is coming up, with the deadline soon. Delegates felt this was an important issue to raise, recruit around, and use as leverage to tackle the issue, even when there is no pay bargaining or transparency. A tool is being developed to show the GPG for every employer in the sector. There was also discussion about a successful equal pay case and the need to publicise such wins. Louisa will circulate a template grievance questionnaire for discrimination cases developed after the government scrapped the statutory questionnaire.
One area for potential growth is into the white collar staff and technical workers in workplaces where there is already shopfloor bargaining. In many workplaces the proportion of shopfloor workers is shrinking.
All activists should have received the activist briefing on the new GDPR data protection legislation and the document explaining how to report data breaches. The Executive Council have had training and all branch secretaries and chairs will get training via their regions in the next couple of months. Legal have been invited to do this at the November NISC as well. Some amendments had been made by the EC to the Unite Rulebook in response to GDPR. There was discussion about the fact that some officers and staff are refusing to share information with RISC members on grounds of the GDPR, unless specific consent is obtained each time. I pointed out that the Unite GDPR Guidelines make clear that reps and branch officers can have access to membership information for legitimate union activity and that the officers and staff were breaking rule 18.7 which requires RISC members to be given the identity, constituency and contact details of reps covered by their RISC. A situation where committee members can't even communicate with each other is absurd. Update: this still doesn't seem to have been resolved, with Unite legal advising officers and staff to break union rules on the pretext of GDPR. In the meantime, NISC members agreed to share their contact information with each other, and those absent would be asked to consent to this too. There was a discussion about how to ensure our use of data is GDPR compliant at branch and workplace level, and the risks of communicating or keeping information on employers' systems.
Barckley Sumner from the Unite Campaigns & Communications department gave a presentation about best practice for media content, producing content, use of photos etc.
Gareth Lowe was elected as editor of the GPM&IT quarterly newsletter which goes to all activists in the sector. Each RISC is asked to elect someone to liaise with him, to help ensure a good mix of content from round the UK and Ireland.
The NISC discussed ideas for content for the next newsletter, for which the deadline is 31 July. The newsletter will be shorter and more industrially focused, with the hope that activists will circulate copies in workplaces.
Work on the idea of piloting the "industrial hub" approach to organising in the corrugated subsector continues. Communication is being improved, and coordination around bargaining. The international union federations (IndustriALL and UNI) can help with research, and AGS Steve Turner has resources for the hubs strategy, which may be helpful as the sector isn't getting resources from the organising department.
Work to update the Stratum membership system records for GPM&IT workplaces to include subsector, national agreements, and which bits of workplaces are covered by agreements continues. Some Regional Officers are working on it, and some RISCs. Some NISC members volunteered to help too. Where possible, government codes for subsectors are being used. Louisa has a short description for each subsector which she will circulate. If the population isn't finished, the spreadsheets will be sent to RISCs to complete.
Louisa had attended 6 of the Regional Industrial Sector Conferences. She hadn't been invited to one (which clashed with another anyway), two were not quorate, and Wales is still not working. Reps from Wales who wanted to be on the RISC and NISC have been invited to the NISC as observers while this is sorted out. Most of the meetings were good in terms of attendance and participation.
Information wasn't cascading from the National Officer through the officers who act as secretaries to the RISCs to all the reps, so Louisa is now sending stuff directly to all officers who cover GPM&IT.
Louisa wants the NISC to produce a sector plan, then RISCs to work from that and identify how they can pick up those areas of work in their region, what actions they can take.
We hope to get NISC minutes finalised quickly so they can get to RISC members in time for the following RISC meetings. Louisa is emailing the RISC officers to ask them to put the NISC minutes onto their agendas.
There was discussion about the latest developments in the ongoing Fujitsu dispute.
The Print Futures award has been widened to include paper and packaging.
Ronan Turley, Steve Garroway and Claire Lees were elected as 2 delegates and a substitute to the Unite Manufacturing Combine.
Delegates were reminded that if they can't attend a NISC meeting, they should ask the RISC to send a substitute.
There was discussion about the push to "paperless meetings" in some organisations (e.g. UNI World Congress) and the fact that not everyone has the facilities or skills to engage effectively without printed material. Unite's policy is that individuals should be provided with printed copies of documents for meetings if they prefer that. For the NISC, documents will be emailed out, with printed copies posted to delegates who request it. Printed copies of the agenda, minutes and anything being debated rather than provided for background information will be provided on the day.
An emergency motion on Gaza for Policy Conference was agreed.
Louisa undertook to provide GPM&IT policy conference delegates with a list so they could communicate with each other.
Louisa will circulate a report from an IT delegation to a recent conference in Mumbai.
The NISC needs more women and BAEM members to join it, and there was a discussion about how to achieve this. Louisa will go back to the regions who have not sent a proportionate delegation.
The EC was asking the NISC to remit its motion on allocation of officers to sectors and it was agreed how this would be handled at conference.
The experiment with holding the NISC over one long day had caused problems for a number of shift workers. It was agreed to move back to a meeting split over two days.
Jonathan Hayward from the Unite International Department gave an update
around European Works Councils (EWCs) and UK Information &
Consultation (I&C) bodies. He said the main issue for EWCs at the moment was Brexit, which also has implications for the I&C regulations. The recasting of the EWC directive in 2011 has improved EWC functioning, particularly after Unite did a lot of training for reps and officers. There was still a need to push for more consultation and engagement, EWCs represent an opportunity to hold companies to account, e.g. they had delivered safeguards in the GKN/Melrose takeover battle. The European Commission says that from 29 March 2019 UK employee numbers won't count towards the thresholds for EWCs. Unite is advising reps to push for amendments to agreements now to ensure continued representation post Brexit irrespective of what happens - and has a document with suggested clauses. Employer responses are varying, often based on HQ country.
Jonathan explained that the UK government faces a dilemma over EWCs. They have promised that no employment legislation will be diluted by Brexit, at least in the short term. On the other hand they don't want the ECJ to have jurisdiction, so EWCs operating under UK law wouldn't be fully enforceable, even for EU citizens. Unite has proposed that the UK repeals most of the legislation that allows EWCs to be covered by UK legislation, but retain the right of UK employees to participate in EWCs based elsewhere. This would require some agreement with the EU, and EWCs currently based in the UK would have to move. German and French are best, while Irish is worst. Some EWC agreements have clauses saying it is under the law of the country with most employees, but companies usually want to choose. Sometimes the agreement allows the employer to choose from the top three countries by employer number. An update on all this will go in the sector newsletter, and Louisa will send something to our EWC chairs and NISC members.
Most companies are making contingency plans for various Brexit scenarios, and EWCs should be part of that debate. EWC reps should raise this now - though you don't always get good news. There is a document with questions you can raise.
The Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) made a useful recent ruling against Oracle over a failure to consult about a transfer of work. Oracle had held a phone conference with the EWC and then answered some later questions, and claimed that was adequate consultation. The CAC ruled that information and consultation is a process with more than one stage, and that the EWC had been unable to consider the information, discuss it with management and submit an opinion. They also ruled against the blanket confidentiality imposed by Oracle on the grounds that the information might damage the business by upsetting people. Since the wording of the I&C regulations on information and consultation is the same as the EWC regulations, the same arguments can be used there. This is potentially very useful for countering the talking-shop / focus group way of working that some employers favour.
NISC members discussed the idea of trying to incorporate the protections in the EU Social Chapter into collective agreements now, to retain them even if the Tories worsen the legislation.
The Unite materials were (again) criticised
for not addressing the rights of non-UK citizens, many of whom are
members and feel the union hasnt' focussed on them. My own branch had submitted Motion 13 to Policy Conference and another GPM&IT branch had submitted a supportive amendment. Jonathan explained that the International Department had picked
up much of the work around Brexit, but the Equalities department had said they would deal with the issues raised. NISC
members felt Unite needed to be more joined up to avoid such problems. Louisa agreed to write to Simon Dubbins (head of international department) to ask for a European migrant workers to have a focus group or their own committee.
There will be an update on European Works Councils and Information &
Consultation bodies on Friday 5 June.
It was agreed to submit a second Emergency Motion to Policy Conference highlighting the demonstration against Trump on 13 July, the Unity demonstration against the far right on 14 July, and the need to do more to stop the FLA/DFLA using football links to build a racist movement.
We agreed to mobilise for the NHS demonstration on 30 June
The next meeting will be 4-5 October at Moreland Street, London
This isn't an official report, but is accurate to the best of my knowledge. If you spot any errors or omissions, please let me know. I have also uploaded the official "progress of business".
You can refer to the conference agenda (the pack of motions prior to compositing (merging motions), emergency motions and most Executive Statements). EC statements on Brexit and Gender Identity are available on the conference page of the Unite web site. UniteLive carried reports on several debates, though some (including on an Emergency Motion I moved) appear to have been well hidden.
The mood of conference was positive. In particular, the involvement of young members continues to grow. We've had young member observers for several conferences now. It was striking that we appeared to have more young member delegates this time. Certainly they played a more significant part in debates. Many had been involved in or leading campaigns and disputes, and young members significantly influenced debate on several questions, succeeding in getting the top table to respond.
Less positive was the continuing excessive use of Executive Statements. The Executive Council (EC) can issue statements at any time, for insertion into any debate. Votes on EC statements are taken first, and if one is passed all the motions on the same topics fall. They have a legitimate role - effectively enabling the EC to put forward an alternative motion on a topic where they would otherwise have to oppose motions and leave us with big gaps in policy. But they are now prolific, and rarely used for this purpose, instead enabling fudge and preventing clear debate and decisions. They often help create a mood of unity in conference, but this is illusory if it is unity around a fudge which hinders coherent action in workplaces and communities.
Jargon:
M: Motion
ES: Executive Statement
C: Composite (merged motions)
EM: Emergency Motion
Carried: Agreed by conference
Fell: Not voted on by conference, e.g. because it conflicted with an ES or M that had already been passed, or nobody moved it
Withdrawn: the movers agreed to withdraw the motion, which was not debated. In many cases motions are withdrawn in favour of Composites that include most/all of their points.
Remitted: not voted on, but sent to the EC for consideration
Lost: put to a vote and rejected
Substantive: a motion including one or more amendments
C6, Industrial Strategy (M 26, 27, 28 & 29) - Carried
M30 UK steel and manufacturing post Brexit - Carried
C7 Public ownership (M31, 33, 34, 35) - Carried
M32 nationalisation - Carried
M36 public ownership - Carried
M40 Change in UK law for companies ceasing trading - Carried
M41 Mergers and acquisitions legislation - unwanted & hostile takeovers - Carried Speaker: Frances O'Grady, TUC General Secretary
C8 Public transport (M37, 38) - Carried
M39 East Cost Rail bailout - Carried
Defence Diversification
ES1 Defence Diversification - Carried Comment: though this remains a fudge, it represents a step forward for Unite in trying to implement our longstanding commitment to diversification
M21 Defence Diversification Strategy - Remitted
M22 Defence Diversification - Fell
M23 Defence Jobs - Fell
M24 Opposition to Trident Nuclear Missile System - Fell
M25 Nuclear disarmament - Fell
Political & Labour Party
M102: Against the Football Lads' Alliance - Withdrawn in favour of EM2
EM2: Opposing Racism, The Football Lads Alliance and the Democratic Football Lads Alliance Note: this was actually a (rather mangled) Composite of two Emergency Motions and M102. I moved it on behalf of the GPM&IT NISC. The text was:
Conference notes the Football Lads Alliance (FLA) is attempting to organise football supporters in demonstrations against 'extremism'. It is taking legitimate concerns around terrorism and then using Islamophobia to stir up fear, division and racism. It represents a dangerous development on the right of British politics.
Whilst claming to be against racism, within their ranks they seem happy to harbour known and organised racists and fascists many who have previously or still are active in groups such as EDL, BNP and the likes. On one demonstration Diane Abbott MP was picked out as a target by one of their leaders where they disgracefully said "Diane Abbott we are coming for you".
Some from within the FLA marches have abused and threatened anti-racists from Stand Up To Racism campaign (SUTR) who were leafletting their demonstration. The FLA Facebook group moderators tolerate hate speech from their supporters against women; against Muslims; against Black and ethnic minorities.
It would be wrong to identify all those who are attracted to FLA or who have marched with the FLA as racists and Islamophobes, however there is a danger that if the group goes unchallenged that those elements within it who are pushing a racist agenda are able to mobilise a new far right street movement.
This conference notes that:
1) The racist march of about 15,000 in London on 9 June, was the largest mobilisation of the far right in the UK since the 1930s and the counter-demonstration called by Stand Up To Racism was small.
2) That it followed large racist demonstrations in several cities in previous weeks, which were followed by racist attacks.
3) The rise in mainstream Islamophobia from politicians and the press and the scapegoating of migrants for problems in employment, housing and public services.
Conference resolves to instruct our Executive to:
Support, publicise and mobilise attendance at the demonstration called by Stand Up To Racism on Saturday 14 July against the next major far-right mobilisation in London, and any future far-right marches in our towns and cities and that trade unions should provide stewarding instead of relying on the police to keep people safe.
Educate our members about the rise of Islamophobia and the racism of the FLA and DFLA and other similar groups, and by distributing information to all our branches and members.
Run a campaign to encourage all football clubs, football fans and supporters' clubs to take a stance against groups such as the FLA and the DFLA and encourage and provide resources to Kick Racism Out of Football and Show Racism the Red Card.
Redouble our work with all appropriate anti-racist organisations to build strong local organisation capable of opposing racist mobilisations in our communities
Write to the TUC to demand it launch a 'jobs, homes not racism' campaign to unite the wider trade union movement and to campaign effectively against the far right. This should include workers taking all legal steps (up to and including strike action) to disrupt all attempts to organise for hte purposes of extending the rhetoric of the FLA and DFLA or any similar organisation.
Note: the importance of it became even clearer on 14 July when RMT and Unite trade unionists were physically attacked after a demonstration in support of "Tommy Robinson" (Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) and Donald Trump.
M104 Restore clause 4 in the Labour Party - Lost
M105 Extension fo the franchise - Carried
Improving Health & Safety
C15 Mental Health - a union matter (M76, 77, 78, 79) - Carried Comment: This was a very moving debate with delegates recounting their own experiences
M72+A Workplace health & wellbeing representatives - Carried
M73 Shift working and its impact on our members - Withdrawn
M74 Classifying stress as a reportable occupational disease - Carried
M75 Occupational health in the workplace - Carried
Global Solidarity
M68 Yemen - humanitarian aid and ceasefire - Carried
EM3: Latin America - Carried
M70 Mexico - Carried (Amendment withdrawn)
EM5 Brazil - Carried
EM4 Turkey / Kurds and progressive forces - Carried
M71 Israel / Palestine - Carried
EM6 Gaza - Carried Note: this was from the GPM&IT NISC
Brexit
ES2: Brexit - Carried
C1: Brexit and working people (M2, 3, 10 & 11) - Fell
C2 Brexit - a vote on the final deal (M4 & 5) - Fell
C3 The Future of Brexit (M6 & 7) - Fell
C4 Brexit and Free Movement (M12 & 14) - Fell
M8 Brexit - Fell
M9 Leaving the EU - Fell
M13 Workers' rights to move freely and be treated equally - Fell Comment: I moved M13, from my own branch, and was disappointed that the EC knocked out what was primarily an equalities motion using its Brexit statement, which failed to clearly defend the rights of workers and members who may have travelled or decide to travel. When Unite materials talk about workers' rights under Brexit, the rights of current and future members who aren't UK citizens barely get a mention.
M1 Brexit and Ireland - Carried
EM1 Brexit and Gibraltar - Carried
Pensions & Retirement
M96 the future of state pension - Carried
M97 How do we improve the quality of life for our ageing population - Carried
M100 Challenging the mass media portrayal of older people - Carried Speaker: Jeremy Corbyn
M98 Fuel Poverty - Carried
M99 Funeral Poverty - Carried
M101 Carers' Allowance - Carried
Industrial
C16 Automation (M80, 81, 82) - Carried
C17 Shorter Working Time (M83, 84) - Carried
M85: 4 day, 28 hour working week - Remitted
C18 Dignity At Work (M88 & 89) - Carried
M86 setting an agenda for excellent apprenticeships - Carried
M87 Future skills - Carried
M90 organising young workers - Carried
M91 worker cooperatives as opposed to workplace closures - Carried
M92 challenging increased workloads - Carried
M93 + A direct labour organisations - Carried
M94 collective bargaining and solidarity action in workplaces, industries and services - Carried Speaker: Ken Neumann, USW
Equalities
C13 sexual harassment and sexual abuse (M60 & 61) - Carried
C14 women's health (M63 & 64) - Carried
M62 menopause at work - Carried
Speaker: Lauren Townsend, TGI Fridays
Membership at TGI Fridayshas rocketedin response to the (highly profitable) company wanting to take a huge chunk of tips off waiting staff to subsidise low pay for kitchen staff. Members at several restaurants were on strike during the conference. Delegates joined a protest at the Brighton restaurant and engaged in a bit of direct action, with Len McCluskey addressing diners to explain the dispute. For more information see #AllEyesOnTGIs.
EM8: Irish repeal the 8th - women's choice - Carried
C10: Brexit and equalities (M66 & 67) - Carried
C11 Rights for people with disabilities (M52 & 53) - Carried
M47 improving the face of our union by increasing employee diversity - Carried
M48 union representation at constitutional committees - Remitted
M49 equality impact assessments - Carried
M50 unconscious bias - Carried
M51 black and asian ethnic minroity activity based budgeting - Remitted
M54 asylum seekers - Carried
M55 migrant workers - Remitted (Amendment fell)
ES3 Gender identification - Carried
C12 gender identification (M56, 57, 58) - Remitted
M59 Gender recognition act - Withdrawn Comment: this was a significant debate, which unfortunately I missed due to industrial business. I am told that young members made a key contribution, particularly in criticising the decision of leading figures in Unite signing a one-sided letter to the Morning Star with notorious transphobes. Len responded with a clarification. Many others signed responses such as this and this from delegates at the TUC LGBT conference. Thankfully, despite the distraction of the letter, Unite now has policy supporting the rights of trans people.
M65 International Women's Day 2019 - Remitted (with assurances that the EC would act on it)
Campaigning against austerity
C5 Universal Credit (M17, 18, 19, 20) - Carried Speaker: Sharon Graham - Work Voice Pay
NHS 70th birthday
Conference marked the 70th birthday of the NHS and recognised the importance of defending and improving it.
Social Action
C24 NHS (M127, 128, 130) - Carried
C25 - NHS 70th anniversary (M131, 132, 133, 134) - Carried
M126 NHS pay parity - Carried
M129 NHS car parking costs - carried
M155 Health & social care - Carried
C23 Housing (M124 & 125) - Carried
M122 homelessness and rough sleepers - Carried
M123 Grenfell Tower - Carried
M121 Community Rights - Carried
M135 Public scrutiny over public money - Carried
M136 Justice in crisis - Carried
EC report and 2017 accounts - Received by conference Speakers: John McDonnell and Ann Pettifor
ES4 local government funding - Carried
M15 local government cuts - a Unite strategy - Fell Comment: M15 from the London & Eastern Local Authorities RISC was calling on Labour councils to take a firmer stance against cuts and privatisation than the EC statement
M16 tackling the impact of austerity - Carried
Rights for workers and their unions
C19 Trade union freedom (M107, 108, 109) - Carried
M106 Campaign for trade union rights - Carried
M111 banning of subcontracting of work during industrial action - Carried
C20 precarious employment (M112, 113) - Carried
C21 precarious employment (M115, 116) - Carried
M114 Gig economy - Carried
C22 age and the National Living Wage (M119 & 120) - Carried
M110 strengthening TUPE legislation - Carried
M117 Direct Action - Carried Comment: this is a significant motion to train activists in direct action techniques to support our campaigns
M118 amendment to the Equality Act 2010 - Remitted
Energy and Environment
C9 atmospheric pollution (M42, 43) Carried
M44+A clean energy - Carried
M45 Backing of UK coal industry - Carried
EM10 Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon - Carried
EM7 National Grid dispute - USA - Carried Comment: the US subsidiary of National Grid has locked out over 1000 USW members
Union Administration and Membership services
C26 Union Learning Fund (M142, 143, 145) - Lost
M144 Sustainable learning opportunities for all Unite members - Carried
M153 Paperless meetings - Remitted Note: this was from the GPM&IT South East RISC
M154 environment - Carried
M137 Regional Officer Allocations - Remitted Comment: this important motion from the GPM&IT NISC aimed to address a situation where sectors are scattered across the allocations of dozens (hundreds in many cases) of Regional Officers. It was remitted after assurances that the issue would be addressed.
M140 Servicing our membership - Remitted
M138 Unite branches - access to Unite resources and support - Carried
M139 Helping Unite activists communication with members - Carried Comment: conference overturned the EC, who were hiding behind bogus GDPR data protection arguments, on this motion, which is vital for effectiveness at workplace and branch level.
M147 bank charges for small branches - Withdrawn
M151 administration - Carried Comment: again conference overturned the EC. The motion was to stop members being moved between branches and regions without branch officers being kept informed.
M141 strike funds - Carried Comment: I moved this motion to help more members benefit from their own strike funds
M146 review of Unite carers' policy - Carried
M148 Lack of respect towards the retired members section - Remitted
M149 Protecting Unite's reputation online - Remitted
M150 safeguarding the union's heritage - Carried
M152 lond worker policy - Carried
EM9 Marc Wadsworth - Lost
Elections:
The following were elected as the Standing Orders Committee for the 6th Policy Conference: Stephen Frogatt, Frances Hourihane, Pat Davies, Dave Allen, Martin McMulkin, Siobhan McCready, Sam Webster-Moore, Agnes Hilditch, Lisa Higgins, Barry Hartshorn
The following were elected as the Appeals Committee for 2018-20: Lorraine Mannion, Jeff Robinson, Jim Kelly, Ian King, Lisa Colquhoun, John Gillespie, Gaynor Worrell, Tracey Blythe, Ivan Monckton, Melanie Sutton
Rulebook:
Though it wasn't discussed at conference, delegates were given copies of an updated Unite Rulebook. The changes are a response to the new GDPR Data Protection legislation.
Fracking:
Delegates were provided with copies of a new Unite Anti-Fracking Toolkit. This should be going on the Unite web site soon. For now I've uploaded a copy myself.
Fujitsu:
As ever, much of the value of attending conference is the informal discussions with other attendees, from which you learn as much as the debates, and can get things done. I spent a fair amount of conference discussing the unresolved dispute at Fujitsu, particularly given that the company sent proposals shortly before conference began. I was dismissed in January (see the "reinstate Ian Allinson" statement) but am still actively involved in the dispute and, as a victimised worker under Rule 6, was still able to attend conference. Reps in Fujitsu post updates on their web site from time to time: tiny.cc/fujitsudispute.
Note: the timetable was changed after this post, which I have updated in red or crossed out.
The detailed timetable of windows for the various meetings for the coming year is below.
For explanation of jargon and acronyms, see my glossary. For more information on Unite's structures, see my structures page.
20 Nov - 1 Dec 2017 and 11-21 Dec 2017: Regional Industrial Sector Committees (RISCs), Area Activist Committees (AACs), Regional Equality Committees (REQCs) and Regional Labour Party Liason Committees (RLPLCs)
8-19 Jan 2018: National Industrial Sector Committees (NISCs) & National Labour Party Liaison Committee (NLPLC)
22-26 Jan 2018: Regional Committees (RCs)
31 Jan - 2 Feb 2018: Equalities Conferences
5-9 Feb 2018: National Equalities Committees (NEQCs) including Young & Retired Members
12 Feb - 2 Mar 2018: RISCs, AACs, REQCs, RLPLCs (continued)
5-9 Mar 2018: Executive Council (EC)
12-16 Mar 2018: more RISCs, AACs, REQCs, RLPLCs
9-20 Apr 2018: NISCs, NLPLC
23-27 Apr 2018: RCs
8-11 May 2018: NEQCs
14 May - 1 Jun 2018: RISCs, AACs, REQCs, RLPLCs (continued)
4-8 Jun 2018: EC
11-15 Jun 2018: more RISCs, AACs, REQCs, RLPLCs
11-22 Jun 2018: NISCs, NLPLC (note risk of clashing with regional meetings in 11-15 Jun)
2-6 Jul 2018: Unite Policy Conference (Brighton)
9-13 July 2018: NEQCs (continued, note risk of clash with regional meetings)
16-20 Jul 2018: RCs
23 Jul - 10 Aug 2018: RISCs, AACs, REQCs, RLPLCs (note risk of clashes with NEQCs in 28-31 Aug) (continued)
3-7 Sep 2018: EC
9-12 Sep 2018: TUC Congress
10-14 Sep 2018: more RISCs, AACs, REQCs, RLPLCs (note risk of clash with TUC Congress 10-12)
17-21 Sep 2018: more NEQCs
23-26 Sep 2018: Labour Party Conference
8-19 Oct 2018: NISCs, NLPLC
22-26 Oct 2018: RCs
5-9 Nov 2018: NEQCs
19-30 Nov 2018: RISCs, AACs, REQCs, RLPLCs (continued)
3-7 Dec 2018: EC
10-21 Dec 2018: more RISCs, AACs, REQCs, RLPLCs
The six-year timetable has also been updated in light of the General Secretary election having been brought forward:
Current Year - 2017:
Election for General Secretary
Unite Executive Council elections
Young Members National Conference
Retired Members National Conference
Irish Policy Conference
Scottish Policy Conference
Regional Political Conferences – 4th quarter (change due to general election in June)
Unite National Industrial Sector Conferences – 12-15 Nov (Brighton)
2018:
Election of Workplace representatives and branch officials 1st January to 31st March
Unite National Equalities Conferences 31st January – 2 February (change due to general election in June 2017)
The union is gearing up for elections to its Executive Council (EC), which is effectively the ruling body of the union between policy and rules conferences.
Members seeking nomination must submit campaign statements by Friday 25 November
Nominations from branches and workplaces must be made 16 January - 17 February
Voting will be 27 March - 19 April, with the result declared on 28 April
New EC takes office 1 May 2017 for a three-year term
The numbers of seats have been revised ready for the election, to reflect the paying membership. The numbers in brackets indicate designated seats to ensure that representation is at least proportionate to the membership. The first number in brackets is the minimum number of women, the second number in brackets is the minimum number of Black, Asian & Ethnic Minority (BAME) members.
Total 71 (19) (7) broken down as:
Regions 24 (10) (2):
East Midlands 2 (1)
Ireland 2 (1)
London & Eastern 4 (1) (1)
North East, Yorkshire & Humber 2 (1)
North West 3 (1)
Scotland 2 (1)
South East 2 (1)
Wales 2 (1)
West Midlands 3 (1) (1)
National Equality Seats 5 (1) (1)
Women 1 (1)
BAEM 1 (-) (1)
LGBT (1)
Disabled (1)
Youth (1)
Industrial Sector Seats 42 (7) (3)
Aerospace & Shipbuilding 2
Automotive Industries 3 (-) (1)
Civil Air Transport 3 (1) (1)
Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Process & Textiles 1
Community, Youth Workers and Not for Profit 1
Construction (Unite) *
Construction (UCATT) *
Docks, Rail, Ferries and Waterways 1
Education 1
Energy and Utilities 1
Food, Drink and Agriculture 3 (1) (1)
Finance and Legal 3 (2)
General Engineering, Manufacturing and Servicing 2
Government, Defence, Prisons and Contractors 1
Graphical, Paper, Media and Information Technology 1
Health 3 (2)
Local Authorities 2 (1)
Metals (including Foundry) 1
Passenger Transport 2 (-) (1)
Road Transport Commercial, Logistics and Retail Distribution 2
Service Industries 1
* The construction seats are dependent on the transfer of engagements from UCATT to Unite going ahead and discussions. The 4 UCATT seats would be taken by members of their existing executive.
Unite has now published on its web site the union rulebook as updated at the 2015 Rules Conference, along with the Executive Council guidance on various rules. The same page has the branch standards and model Standing Orders.
You can find more information on the structures page of this site too.
Note: This report has been updated following receipt of the official record of decisions.
The main excitement of the day was conference overturning the Executive Council over Gibraltar. NR/4 created an Area Activist structure called the "Gibraltar Committee" for elected representatives from companies, sectors and branches based in Gibraltar. The Committee will elect an observer delegate to the Executive Council.
Motion 15/2 introduced fixed 5-year terms for the General Secretary, preventing any repeat of the controversy of the election being called early to re-elect Len McCluskey. (The next GS election is due in 2018).
Motions 12/13 and 13/8 both sought to mandate electronic voting for union conferences. They were remitted to the EC on the basis of a commitment that electronic voting would be used in future for close votes, but not for every vote because it slows down proceedings where the result of clear from a show of hands.
The "enabling motion" empowers the EC to make changes to the rulebook required to reconcile all the motions passed into a tidy and consistent new rulebook. We are likely to have to wait some time to see the result.
Decisions:
13/3 withdrawn
13/4 lost
13/5 lost
13/2 withdrawn
13/10 lost
15/2 carried
15/3 lost
8/1 carried
8/2 lost
8/3 withdrawn
8/4 lost
8/5 withdrawn
4/1 carried
4/2 lost
4/3 fell
4/4 carried
4/5 lost
4/6 carried
NR/4 carried
28/1 fell
12/14 carried
13/12 carried
6/9 lost
12/5 lost
NR/7 lost
12/13 remitted
13/8 remitted
13/9 withdrawn
NR/8 withdrawn
Rule 14 (organising fund) withdrawn
Enabling motion carried
The main excitement on Wednesday was motion 2/1 from the Executive Council, which removed "so far as may be lawful from rule "2.1 The objects of the Union shall, as far as may be lawful, be:". Len McCluskey gave a great speech arguing why it was right to break unjust laws, even when passed by an elected government:
This is not the first time Len has made such arguments, but it is nonetheless very important that he does. Not only do we face further attacks from the Tory government on workers' right to strike, but this forms part of a wider attack on the right to protest, on privacy against surveillance, and on access to justice. His speech will be welcomed not only by many trade unionists, but by many campaigners engaged in direct action who often face vilification in the press and from politicians.
However, we shouldn't get carried away. Given the rarity of effective strike action even when it is legal, it would be naive to expect Unite's leadership to readily lead more if it becomes more difficult. Whether workers respond to new anti-union laws by trying to comply with ludicrous ballot requirements, or with action outside laws designed to make their action ineffective, both require strong workplace organisation.
It's amusing to remember the fierce opposition from Len and the EC when Gill George proposed essentially the same rule amendment at the previous Rules Conference.
Motions 9/1 and 14/1 strengthened the Young Members structures and put the qualifying age back to "up to and including the age of 27" rather than 30 from the 2018/21 electoral cycle.
Motion 6/1 clarified that members who lose eligibility for lay office may continue to serve their term of office and required the EC to establish a right to recall over members holding lay office.
A supplementary amendment to rule 6 added new clauses to bar from lay office members recruiting to other unions or who hadn't paid 13 weeks' subs. The EC assured conference that this would not affect members directing workers to join other unions in multi-union environment or joint campaigns, or members in newly organised workplaces.
17/1 clarified the operation of (the very few) national industrial branches and requires branches to hold at least four meetings a year.
17/8 changes the timescale for branch elections to January to March.
Motions 11/8 and 11/9 both sought to stop the union running its equality conferences in parallel on the same days, which limits activists who might have more than one oppression contributing to more than one conference. Both were remitted to the EC on the basis of assurances that the issue would be looked at. Conference was told that the decision on timing currently rests with the equality committees, who saw benefit of meeting on the same days as this enabled people to meet and discuss across the equality strands.
I was surprised by some of the gaps in the debate. In recent years there has been a new wave of interest among young people, and especially on campuses, in fighting oppression. The concept of "intersectionality" has been central to this revival. Intersectionality is a recognition that multiple oppressions don't simply "add up" but that they interact - for example the stereotypes and prejudices affecting Muslim women are not the same as those affecting white Christian women - and this is not simply "sexism plus racism". So in order to build the strongest and most united movement, it is particularly important to include people whose experience of one oppression is shaped by their experience of others. The concept of intersectionality did not feature in the debate at all - it was framed much more in the older (and less unifying) concept of "identity". Unless Unite finds a way to respond to the dominant ideas amongst young feminists in particular, it will struggle to engage with the vibrancy and radicalism that has been so encouraging in recent years.
Motion 11/7 sought to explicitly include Eastern Europeans in Unite's BAEM structures. This was remitted to the EC with a clear recognition of the racism faced by East Europeans. Latin Americans are already included in the BAEM structures.
Conference rejected a dreadful motion 12/6 from a Rolls Royce nuclear branch which sought to give every sector a veto on union policies that detrimentally impact their members. As one delegate put it, such a rule would have meant we couldn't have opposed hanging if we had members working as hangmen.
DECISIONS
9/1 carried
9/2 withdrawn
14/1 carried
14/3 withdrawn
14/7 fell
14/8 withdrawn
14/9 withdrawn
14/10 withdrawn
6/1 carried
6/3 withdrawn
6/5 withdrawn
6/2 lost
6/6 withdrawn
6/7 withdrawn
6/8 lost
6/10 lost
6/11 carried
6/12 lost
6S carried
14/9 fell
16/9 withdrawn
17/1 carried
17/3 lost
17/5 withdrawn
17/6 withdrawn
17/2 lost
17/4 lost
17/7 lost
17/8 carried
17/9 lost
17/10 lost
17/11 carried
2/1 carried
NR/5 remitted
NR/6 remitted
11/1 carried
11/2 withdrawn
11/3 remitted
11/4 lost
11/5 lost
11/6 remitted
Additional amendment to 11.2 lost
11/8 remitted
11/9 remitted
11/7 remitted
11/10 withdrawn
12/9 remitted
12/10 remitted
13/6 remitted
7/1 carried
7/2 carried
7/3 withdrawn
7/8 lost
7/4 carried
7/5 remitted
7/7 lost
12/1 carried
12/4 lost
12/11 fell
12/6 lost
12/7 lost
12/12 lost
12/15 withdrawn
13/1 carried
After conference closed we were encouraged to join a local protest outside Brighton town hall against the Tory budget. Though Unite's presence added a lot to the demonstration, I was disappointed at how few delegates (and even fewer EC members) took part. We missed a real opportunity to showcase Unite's opposition to austerity to people in Brighton. It was left to a lay activist to provide the posters to ensure we made a visible impact:
Tuesday's business was less contentious than Monday's, but covered a wide range of issues.
In the debate on retired members, Assistant General Secretary Steve Turner clarified that "Executive Statements", if passed, do actually change rules - it is up to the Executive Council to work out exactly how - after Rules Conference. Personally I think this is a strong argument against EC statements - it would be much better if the EC actually put forward the specific rule changes they want so that delegates can consider and vote on them.
Executive Statement 3 means that the Retired Members' National and Regional Committees can each submit one motion to Policy and Rules Conferences. Each Region can nominate one Retired Member as an observer to conference, with speaking rights. Motion 10.1 clarified that triennial Regional Retired Members' Conferences are for "retired members plus" members who are officers in any type of branch. It also gave the National Committee for Retired Members the right to elect a lay chair and coordinator. Motion 15/1 decided that (non-paying) "ordinary" retired members are not eligible to vote in General Secretary elections.
Motion 14/4 means that all EC nominees will have the same access to information about and access to union bodies. 14/6 overturned the EC to say that there must be an audit of sector membership at the September EC meeting and those figures used to determine EC election constituencies for the following year. Conference overturned the EC to pass 14/20 which means EC members can't act as "Stand Down Officers" during their term of office. 14/13 means that EC by-elections only take place during the first two years of a term - any vacancies after that would be filled by an observer elected by the relevant national or regional committee.
Conference overturned the EC to pass 19/4 and set up a national access fund to provide support such as sign language interpreters as required by deaf and disabled members to access branch meetings, national meetings and other union events.
Conference overturned the EC to pass 21/1 which harmonises expenses between constitutional committees, branches, education etc. I think this is likely to mean the EC reviewing the expenses regime generally, to avoid incurring a lot of extra costs.
NR/2 gave significant autonomy to the Scottish region (within Unite Rules and Policy) and created more substantial structures in Scotland to support that. Contrary to some press reports, the motion does not mean that the Scottish region can take decisions on political disaffiliation / disaffiliation.
Gold medals were awarded to John Keenan, Bob Sullivan and Bob Fulton (who wasn't well enough to attend), members from Rolls Royce East Kilbride who had organised the blacking of aero engines from Chile after Pinochet's coup - solidarity which gave life-saving hope to people in concentration camps on the other side of the world.
You can watch the short video about the boycott that was shown at conference.
Rule change 27/1 on member discipline established an Appeals Committee elected from Policy Conference to hear appeals against disciplinary sanctions imposed by the EC. Conference agreed that for the year until Policy Conference, the Appeals Committee will be constituted by one person nominated from each Regional Committee, subject to the usual proportionality requirements.
Decisions:
22/10 lost
23/1 fell not moved
22/12 carried
22/13 withdrawn
22/1 carried
NR/1 carried
3/1 carried
3/4 withdrawn
3/5 fell
3/6 lost
Executive Statement 3 carried
10/10 withdrawn
10/11 fell
10/12 fell
10/13 fell
12/2 fell
12/3 withdrawn
13/7 fell
13/11 lost
14/5 fell
16/9 fell
10/1 carried
15/1 carried
6/4 fell
10/2 fell
10/3 fell
10/4 fell
10/5 fell
10/6 withdrawn
10/7 fell
10/8 fell
10/9 fell
27/1 carried
27/3 lost
27/4 lost
27/5 lost
27/6 fell
27/7 fell
27/8 fell
27/9 fell
14/4 carried
14/6 carried
14/11 withdrawn
14/12 lost
14/14 lost
14/18 withdrawn
14/20 carried
16/1 lost
14/13 carried
16/6 lost
16/7 lost
16/8 lost
16/14 lost
16/15 lost
16/16 withdrawn
16/18 withdrawn
16/20 carried
16/2 lost
16/4 remitted
16/5 lost
16/10 fell
16/20 carried
16/2 lost
16/4 remitted
16/5 lost
16/10 fell
16/11 carried
19/1 carried
19/2 fell
19/3 withdrawn
19/4 carried
21/1 carried
NR/2 carried
NR/3 withdrawn
Interim appeals committee constitution - carried
Most of the contentious business was crammed into day one.
It started lively, with conference decisively supporting my move to reject the Executive Council's undemocratic Standing Orders. Despite knowing in advance that the challenge was coming the leadership had no "plan B" prepared in case they lost the vote. Chaos and confusion reigned and eventually conference was adjourned until Len McCluskey came back with acceptable Standing Orders. This was important not just for this year, but because they will be the starting point for future conferences.
Much of the debate on rule change motions submitted by branches and committees was overshadowed by Executive Statements which conference would have to reject in order to vote on many of the other motions.
There were debates on how some/all officers and senior staff should be elected or appointed. Conference rejected all the proposals, backing the EC's stance that it should continue making all officer appointments, that the General Secretary should be able to move them around rather than being linked to particular constituencies, and the General Secretary should appoint staff.
I'm a supporter of electing officers and making them accountable to particular lay committees. I thought there were two interesting points from the debate. Firstly, a view that frequent contested elections is a distraction and a cause of division and weakness, rather than an opportunity to engage and politically engage members. Secondly, a desire for centralisation of power within the union to allow it to operate coherently despite the centrifugal forces operating in a general union with sectors with different needs and priorities.
The other big debate was on the Labour Party. Conference decisively supported the EC statement which largely defended the status quo. The debate was hugely influenced by Jeremy Corbyn's candidacy and the EC's decision to back him. Some who had felt the general election marked the end of the road for Labour argued this gave Labour another "last chance". To win the EC position, Len had to stress his commitment to recall Rules Conference if the situation with Labour changed, which I argued it will.
Decisions:
Rule amendments made by the EC since last Rules Conference were ratified
1/1 carried
3/2 carried
14/2 carried
30/1 carried
EC Statement 1 carried
7/6 fell
12/8 fell
14/7 fell
15/4 fell
15/5 fell
16/3 fell
14/15 withdrawn
14/16 lost
18/1 carried
18/2 fell
18/3 lost
18/4 carried
18/5 carried
EC statement 2 carried
2/2 fell
2/3 fell
2/4 fell
22/2 fell
22/3 fell
22/4 fell
22/5 fell
22/6 fell
22/7 fell
22/8 fell
22/9 fell not moved
22/11 fell not moved
SOC elected for Rules Conference 2019:
EM: Raffiq Moosa
Ireland: Frances Hourihane
LE: Bruce Swann
NEYH: Dave Allen
NW: Ian Bruce
Scotland: Shirley Johnston
SE: Stewart Dack
SW: Lynsey Wall
Wales: Julie Evans
WM: Barry Hartshorn
Unite's leadership is engaged in an anti-democratic power grab and delegates need to be ready to put a stop to it.
Unite's Rules Conference starts on Monday and delegates have been sent a 160 page book of motions to change our rule book. The sheer number of motions from our Executive Council (EC) is striking. I understand that all or nearly all of these motions were not in fact proposed to the EC by its elected lay members, but rather by the full-time "executive officers" - of which Len McCluskey is the only elected member.
So far, so typically top-down. But things get rapidly worse when you see the draft Standing Orders that the EC intends to propose to the Rules Conference. There's a shiny new Standing Order 8.2 which we've never needed before. It says:
"Should a Motion to amend the Rules submitted by the Executive Council be included in any grouping of Motions it shall be voted upon first and, if carried, all other Motions in that group shall fall. In any reply, the EC speaker shall speak at the conclusion of the debate." [my emphasis]
As the EC have submitted motions to loads of the groups, this means that unless conference rejects this Standing Order or votes down most of the EC's rules motions (most of which are harmless enough) then most of the motions from branches and constitutional committees will be tossed out without conference having the chance to vote on them.
It's worth being clear that this proposed new approach is far worse than the (bad enough) "Executive Statement" ruse that has become so popular for dodging contentious issues at Policy Conference. In the past conferences still got the chance to vote on motions even if they passed an EC statement, unless the SOC and Chair decided that the subject matter of the motion was completely covered by the statement. The old approach already gave the EC massive power over conference, as they can submit EC statements after seeing all the motions, where other bodies have to do it months in advance, and they get the last right of reply and the first vote. The proposed new approach would give the EC the right to knock out motions which are unrelated to their own, as long as they are in the same grouping.
Rule 12.10 gives the EC the right to "draft the standing orders". Delegates will be presented with a draft. If they value their right to decide on motions for themselves rather than having them tossed out by the EC (which all too often means unelected executive officers), delegates should not accept the proposed standing orders without a change. Better still, lobby your EC members to fix this before it is presented to conference. Don't rely on any message to EC members sent via the General Secretary ever reaching them - you need to contact them directly. Does our leadership really want to start conference by getting into a fight with delegates?
Apologies for the long break in updates to this blog. I've been unwell, but hope to gradually resume normal service now.
What does the Labour leadership election mean for the radical left?
Losing the 2015 general election threw Labour into crisis,
having already endured decades of erosion of its base. The leadership
election is deepening that crisis, which is spreading into the
affiliated trade unions and changing the landscape for everyone on the
left – even those who don’t believe that meaningful change can come
through parliament.
It is tempting to be cynical about talk of unions breaking from
Labour – we’ve heard it for years. While the FBU disaffiliated and the
RMT was expelled, the biggest unions have kept funding Labour and still
try to paint a pro-business party red. The unaffiliated unions have not
managed to build any credible alternative, and the dismal votes secured
by TUSC and Left Unity are used by Labour loyalists to continue arguing
that Labour is ‘the only show in town’ and ‘the lesser of two evils’.
Such cynicism would be misguided. Not only because gradual erosion
does, at some point, lead to seemingly immovable cliffs collapsing into
the sea, but also because Labour’s current crisis is more intractable
than ever before for two main reasons.
First, Labour was annihilated in Scotland by the SNP offering mild
reforms, positioning itself to the left of Labour. A few years ago,
nobody would have argued that Glasgow was significantly less loyal to
Labour than Manchester or Newcastle. Labour’s inability to survive the
impact of the mass movement around the Yes campaign in the independence
referendum and a credible alternative to its left shows how vulnerable
Labour’s core vote is across the whole UK.
Labour’s electoral disaster in Scotland came after it had alienated
many union activists by its false allegations against Unite over the 2013 Falkirk constituency candidate selection.
These allegations led to two prominent Unite activists at the Ineos
Grangemouth oil refinery losing their jobs, and helped an unpopular
tycoon screw over the workforce at a major workplace, making many
enemies.
Second, Labour faces a fork in the road. Miliband attempted to fudge
his way to victory by accepting the essence of the Tory agenda – the
free market, austerity, cuts, racism, anti-union laws – while offering a
few populist ‘left’ policies that didn’t threaten the establishment
significantly. After Labour’s defeat, nobody is arguing for a repeat of
Miliband’s strategy.
Most of the Labour machine and the media are pushing the Blairite
line that Labour lost by being too left-wing and now needs to appeal to
Ukip voters and the middle class, oblivious to ample evidence that the
Blairite strategy of ‘triangulation’ delivers short-term gains but leads
to medium-term decline. They ignore the evidence that Labour’s vote
didn’t switch to Ukip in large numbers, but rather stayed at home.
Meanwhile most socialists and union activists think Labour lost by being
too right-wing. Faced with these two apparent paths, Labour’s apparatus
is pulling one way and its social base pulling the other.
These two factors alone would have been enough to force Labour into crisis, but the crisis is made even more acute by changes made to Labour’s rules
following the Falkirk row, which changed the basis of the unions’
affiliation to Labour. Instead of being able to affiliate their entire
membership, unions now have to get individual members to opt-in as
Labour supporters. Only those who do will get a vote for the Labour
leader. While for some unions, such as UNISON, this won’t change much
because only a minority of members paid into the political fund, in
others the change is huge. Nearly all Unite members pay into the
political fund and previously had a vote. Now Unite is trying to
persuade them to sign up as Labour supporters to get a vote. This will
reduce the number of union members voting and make visible the minority
support for Labour amongst union members.
During the previous parliament, Unite’s general secretary Len
McCluskey spoke about what would happen if Labour lost the 2015
election. He predicted that Labour would lose if it failed to move left
and appeal to working class people, stating that the balance of forces
within Labour was such that if Ed Miliband went, he would be replaced by
someone even further to the right. If that happened, he argued, Unite
would have to discuss its relationship to Labour and whether to continue
its affiliation or help create a new workers’ party. The media seized
on this, and one can only presume Labour put pressure on McCluskey to
issue his absurd denial
that Unite is discussing disaffiliation. In fact, at Unite’s upcoming
rules conference in July there are motions on the agenda proposing to
remove affiliation from the union rulebook.
Jeremy Corbyn’s announcement that he is seeking nomination has
changed the election dramatically. Instead of a contest between an
unsavoury collection of New Labour figures, there is now a socialist
option. But Labour’s election process means a candidate needs the
backing of 35 MPs before 15 June just to get on the ballot paper. Corbyn
is currently only on 14 pledges [at time of print]. While many MPs have
yet to declare and switching support is still possible, it looks
unlikely that Corbyn will make it onto the ballot paper unless one of
two things happen. Another candidate with more than 35 nominations could
decide to ‘lend’ backers to him, or unions could put pressure on MPs to
ensure Corbyn gets on the ballot paper so that there is a real choice
for voters.
Unite’s Executive Council, which has the power to decide Unite’s
position, met this week. The meeting opted to urge MPs to nominate
Corbyn to get him on the ballot paper, but refrained from endorsing any
candidate. Aside from a desire to see Labour move left, there is another
reason Labour loyalists within the unions will want to see Corbyn on
the ballot paper: if he isn’t, they will find it much harder to argue
for retaining the affiliation. Already Corbyn’s candidacy is encouraging
union members to sign up as affiliated Labour supporters in order to
get a vote. If Corbyn gets the 35 nominations, unions will be able to
use this to increase the number of supporters right through to the 12 August deadline
for new members and supporters to be included in the ballot. The more
who sign up, the stronger the hand of those seeking to retain
affiliation.
But even if Corbyn does get the required nominations and thousands
sign up to vote for him, it seems almost inconceivable that he would
win. Labour’s membership is not that left wing. If he loses to one of
the New Labour clones, it will demonstrate to millions how deep the rot
has gone in Labour and how unrealistic the hopes of ‘reclaiming’ it are.
In Labour’s heyday, reforms that improved things for working class
people were supported by all the main parties and by business – at the
time, improving living standards were compatible with high profits. In
the neoliberal era that is no longer the case; the ruling class strategy
has been to boost profits by driving down living standards and imposing
‘anti-reforms’. It’s not possible to win reforms without confronting
the establishment: there is no going back to 1945. This is a key reason
why Labour-type parties around the world have gone into crisis.
They used to represent working class people’s rejection of the
unpleasant symptoms of capitalism without rejecting the system itself.
But while they wanted to get rid of the symptoms, they were never about
confronting the establishment to do so. In this century, parties
unwilling to confront the establishment are forced to accommodate to it
as they near office and so disillusion their own base.
Labour’s crisis matters for everyone who lusts after radical change.
Not only is Labour incapable of delivering meaningful reforms, it acts
as a brake on action – union leaders in particular play a role in
mediating between Labour’s pressure against effective action and the
union membership. Labour no longer even performs the function of airing
left-wing ideas in the mainstream, as demonstrated starkly by the
leaders’ debates, when the leaders of the SNP, Greens and Plaid Cymru
brought anti-austerity and anti-racist arguments into the debate in a
way Labour no longer does.
The main job of the British left over the next few years is to build a
mass movement of resistance to the onslaught of attacks coming our way
from employers and the government. But it would be a mistake to ignore
the Labour’s crisis and its ramifications in the unions. A credible left
electoral challenge can’t be wished from nothing. A genuine mass
movement is needed for left electoral success, and for any left
government to successfully challenge the establishment. A credible left
alternative couldn’t just be Unite’s leadership, any more than it could
just be Left Unity or TUSC. But weakening the link between unions and
Labour is a vital part of that process, and will help remove the brakes
from our resistance to the Tories too.
Two important documents have been circulated through UNITE's officers. The first is the schedule of meetings for 2015, which includes dates which have been fixed for some events, and the windows within which other meetings must take place to minimise clashes. The second is the timetable of events for the coming three-year cycle - including the election of branch officers and workplace representatives which forms the foundation of the union structure.
SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS 2015
Executive Council (EC) and Finance & General Purposes Committee (F&GP) Meetings:
15 January 2015 F&GP
12 February 2015 F&GP
9-13 March 2015 EC
16 April 2015 F&GP
14 May 2015 F&GP 8-12 June 2015 EC 16 July 2015 F&GP 3 September 2015 F&GP 7-11 September 2015 EC (NB: may change) 15 October 2015 F&GP 12 November 2015 F&GP 7-12 December 2015 EC
Other major events: 18-20 March 2015: UNITE National Equalities Conferences
7 May 2015: UK General Election 6-10 July 2015: UNITE Rules Conference 13-16 September 2015: Trades Union Congress 27-30 September 2015: Labour Party Conference 23-25 November 2015: UNITE National Industrial Sector Conferences
UNITE CONSTITUTIONAL TIMETABLE
I have a page with information about UNITE's structures which may be useful background.
A lot of UNITE's structures operate on a 3-year cycle.
The existence of three sectors which did not exist in their current for at the time of the last cycle (Automotive, GEMS and GPM&IT), there will need to be changes to the format of committees at national and regional level. This will not only impact on sector committees but potentially also Area Activist Committees (AACs) and Regional Equality Committees. Any group that wishes to vary its composition will need to join the consultation process, with all proposals for change approved by the EC at its June 2015 meeting at the latest.
By 30 June 2015
The bedrock of the union's structure is the election of branch officers and representatives within the workplace. These must be all be elected by June 2015to take office from 1 July 2015. Branch officers serve for a three-year term. Representatives within the workplace serve for a three year term unless a shorter term is determined locally.
Branch officers include:
Chair
Treasurer
Secretary
Equalities
Officer
Representatives in the workplace include:
shop
steward (or "workplace representative”/“father/mother-of-the-chapel”,
etc., where such phrases are the local colloquial term for such representative
as represents members in bargaining and disciplinary and grievance matters)
health
and safety representative
equalities
representative
learning
representative
environmental
representative.
The election of branch officers and reps provides the foundation for attendance and participation in nearly all the union's other structures.
September 2015
Regions
to convene:
Regional
Industrial Sector Conferences
Regional
Women’s Conference
Regional
BAEM Conference
Regional
Disabled Members’ Conference
Regional
LGBT Conference
Regional
Triennial Area Activists’ Meetings
Regional
Young Members’ Conference
Regional
Retired Members’ Conference
To
ensure full participation, Equalities Conferences must not be scheduled to take
place at the same time as the Sector Conferences or Activists’ Meetings;
therefore, Regional Equalities Conferences may run into October if required. The
timetable for these conferences and meetings for each region will be published
on the Unite Website.
Conferences/Meetings
will elect the new RISCs, AACs or Regional Equalities Committees. The term of
office of those elected to these Committees is for three years starting from
September 2015.
Committees
should meet quarterly in September/December/March/June; the last meeting of the
period being June 2018.
Regions
should liaise with appropriate National Officials regarding the scheduling of Regional
Sector and Equalities Conferences.
The
first meeting of the new RISCs/AACs/Regional Equalities Committees should take place
immediately after the Conference/Meeting to elect:
Chair
and Vice-chair
Delegates
and Observers (as appropriate) to the Regional Committee
Delegates
to the appropriate NISC or National Equalities Committee, inc National Young
Members’ Committee and National Retired Members’ Committee
October 2015
First
meeting of new:
Regional
Committees
National
Industrial Sector Committees
National
Equalities Committees (inc National Young Members’ Committee and National
Retired Members’ Committee)
The
term of office of those elected to these Committees is for three years starting
from October 2015. Committees should meet quarterly in
October/January/April/July; the last meeting of the period being July 2018.
2015 NATIONAL CONFERENCES
National Equalities
Conferences
The
National Equalities Conference shall take place at the Winter Gardens
Eastbourne and the Unite Eastbourne Centre on 18 – 20 March 2015.A separate paper will be taken with the
Equalities Report for consideration.
Rules Conference
The Statutory
Rules Conference will be held in the Brighton Centre, Brighton from 6 – 10 July
2015.The December Executive Council
meeting shall determine the scheme of representation at the conference.The deadline for election of delegates and
receipt of proposed amendments to rule will be 3rd April 2015.
Industrial Sector Conferences
The National
Industrial Sector Conferences shall take place from 23 to 25 November 2015 in
the Brighton Centre, Brighton.The
deadline for elections of delegates and submission of motions for the
conferences shall be end of September 2015.
Unite Constitutional
Conferences & Elections – for next 2 electoral periods
Current Constitutional Conferences &
Elections
EC
Elections - every 3 years (elected 2014, next elections 2017)
Workplace
& Branch Rep Elections – every 3 years (next elections 2015)
Policy
Conferences - every 2 years (next conference2016)
Rules
Conference - every 4 years (next conference 2015)
National
Sector Conferences - every 2 years (next conferences 2015)
National
Equalities Conferences - every 2 years (next conferences 2015)
National
Retired Members Conference - every 2 years (next conference 2015)
Regional
Industrial Sector Conferences/Elections - every 3 years (next conferences 2015)
Regional
Equality Conferences/Elections – every 3 years (next conferences 2015)
Area
Activists Meetings/Elections – every 3 years (next conference 2015)
Regional
Retired Conferences/Elections – every 3 years (next conference 2015)
Regional
Political Conferences/Elections - every 3 years (next conferences 2017)
Yearly Conferences/Elections
Timetable;
2014EC Elections (Jan - Inaugural Council
Meeting June)
Regional Political Conferences - Political
Committee Elections (Feb)
National Equality Conference (May)
Policy Conference
(June)
2015GENERAL ELECTION MAY
National Equalities Conferences (18 – 20 March,
Eastbourne) (See separate paper) (National Young Members Conference w/c 6th
April 2015, Eastbourne)
Rules Conference (6 – 10 July, Brighton) (Deadline for
Receipt of Motions and election of Delegates 3rd April 2015)
