UNITE's
Executive Council (EC) is responsible for the "government, management and
control" of the union, which includes everything from taking policy
decisions between conferences, setting subs rates, appointing officers to
interpreting the union rulebook.
Thought
EC can seem pretty remote to most members, its composition matters.
Alongside the election of the General Secretary, EC elections shape the
direction and effectiveness of our union.
The whole
EC is up for election now. Nominations have now closed. Voting
will take place from 26 March to 23 April. The new EC will take
office from 1 May 2014 for a three year term. Given the importance of the
election, all of us should encourage members to read the election materials
and take part in the ballot.
Already
the Returning Officer has reported that 22 candidates have been elected
unopposed:
- Sean McGovern, Disabled
Members
- Phil Entwistle, Aerospace
& Shipbuilding
- Tam Mitchell, Aerospace
& Shipbuilding
- Sharon Owens, Civil Air
Transport
- Nigel Stott, Civil Air
Transport
- Jas Gill, Civil Air
Transport
- Mark Lyon, Chemicals,
Pharmaceuticals, Process and Textiles
- John Storey, Chemicals,
Pharmaceuticals, Process and Textiles
- Dave Williams, Road
Transport Commercial, Logistics and Retail Distribution
- Garry Hillier, Road
Transport Commercial, Logistics and Retail Distribution
- Ivan Monckton, Rural and
Agriculture
- Barry Knowles, North West
- Francesca Sullivan, North
West
- Tony Woodhouse, North West
- Steve Hibbert, East Midlands
- June Shepherd, East Midlands
- Jayne Taylor, South West
- Mark Thomas, South West
- Lizanne Malone, London &
Eastern
- Kate Osborne, North East,
Yorkshire and Humberside
- Dawn McAllister, Scotland
- Wendy Gilligan, Wales
The
following seats remain up for election:
- Ireland: 2 seats (including
at least 1 woman)
- London & Eastern: 3
seats (including at least 1 BAEM)
- North East, Yorkshire &
Humberside: 1 seat
- South East: 2 seats (including at least 1 woman)
- Scotland: 1 seat
- Wales: 1 seat
- West Midlands: 3 seats
(including at least 1 woman and at least 1 BAEM)
- National seat for women
- National seat for BAEM
- National seat for LGBT
- Automotive Industries: 2
seats
- Community, Youth and Not For
Profit: 1 seat
- Construction: 1 seat
- Docks & Rail: 1 seat
- Education: 1 seat
- Energy & Utilities: 1
seat
- Finance & Legal: 2 seats
(including at least 1 woman)
- Food, Drink & Tobacco (3
seats, including at least 1 woman and at least 1 BAEM)
- General Engineering,
Manufacturing & Services (GEMS): 2 seats
- Graphical, Print, Media
& Information Technology: 2 seats
- Health: 2 seats (including
at least 1 woman)
- Metals (including Foundry):
1 seat
- MoD & Government
Departments: 1 seat
- Passenger Services: 2 seats
(including at least 1 BAEM)
Members
in the GPM&IT sector will get to vote for our 2 sectoral seats, BAEM and LGBT seats, the women's seat (if you are female) and (if you are in a region with a contested
election) one or more regional seats.
I'd like
to thank members in my sector for giving me the priviledge of representing them
on the EC since I was elected back in 2003. It's been useful and I'd like
to think I've made a difference, but I haven't stood again as I think three
terms has been long enough. To paraphrase Tony Benn, I'd like to spend
more time on trade unionism.
There are
four candidates standing for the two GPM&IT seats:
- Ged Dempsey (32 branch
nominations)
- Tommy Murphy (30 branch
nominations)
- Raffiq Moosa (20 branch
nominations)
- Dave Lovelidge (10 branch
nominations)
I don't
know all of them well, as the GPM&IT sector is new, but I have served
alongside both Ged and Dave on previous executives.
I'm
encouraging members in GPM&IT to support Ged Dempsey. When we were both on the
executive together some years ago, he was one of the few other people prepared
to stand up to Derek Simpson. There's no point electing people who aren't
going to read the paperwork, aren't going to think for themselves, aren't going
to fight their corner, or aren't going to report back properly and make
themselves accountable. In my experience Ged passed all these
tests. He's a hard working and committed workplace activist. He's genuinely on the left, interested in making things better for members, not just a position for himself. If Ged
is prepared to stand for another spell on the EC, he deserves our support.
There's a
leaflet for Ged here. In campaigning, it's
important you stick strictly to the election rules (see section
2.17). Don't send unsolicited mail, email or text messages to members at
home. You can distribute leaflets in or at workplaces, put up posters
etc, as long as you don't use the union logo or identity inappropriately.
Branches who made nominations can write to their members to tell them who they
nominated.
The rules
do now allow branches to make donations to individual candidates to support
their election campaigns. Personally I am opposed to this - I don't think
it's what members pay their subs for. I've found donations from
individuals and collections at meetings are adequate to fund campaigns, and
this method of fundraising has the advantage of forcing candidates to talk to
members, rather than relying on the "union machine". But this
was one of many votes I lost on the EC!
Official
details of the EC election are on the UNITE web site here. This includes
details of all branches and workplaces that made nominations.