Unison united left are supporting the following candidates in the UNISON NEC by elections - ballot open now.
http://unisonunitedleft.blogspot.com/2010/09/united-left-candidates-in-nec-by.html
• Local government - Hugo Pierre
• Young members - Chris 'Kit' Leary
• Northern region - John Malcolm
• Higher Education - Max Watson
I don't necessarily share the politics of these candidates and they may not share mine (in fact my politics - as a socialist in the Labour Party - are just too good to share with too many people!)
However all four of these candidates are genuine rank and file activists who don't just want to take on the Government (which is vital) but also want our union to become a fighting and democratic organisation under the control of its members. The larger and stronger the left is on our NEC the more effective we can be in encouraging our leadership to act in the interests of our members.
It's tough to tell who's a leftwinger from just reading election addresses in internal union elections since everyone writes to the left (except when they can't resist red-baiting).
We don't need any more NEC members supportive of the soggy and complacent status quo which has seen our Union's ruling body fail even to meet since Conference through the busiest three months for trade union activists in years - so UNISON members should vote for these good rank and file candidates.
I know some comrades think that national UNISON elections are a diversion from building rank and file activity. If you're of that view you're wrong. It matters who runs our Union and how they run it and the results of internal elections make a material difference to that.
That's not to say that elections are the most important thing - they're not. The key task of all activists right now is to rebuild our unions at the rank and file level.
However, if we want to turn our trade unions into the organisations our class requires we need to keep in mind "The Miners' Next Step" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Miners'_Next_Step) as well as the Clyde Workers Committee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_Workers'_Committee). We need to move forward with a placard in one hand and a ballot box in the other.
Please circulate the information about candidates to UNISON members in your own time and not using any UNISON resources. (Some lucky souls have no action taken against them even when the Certification Officer rules against them - http://unionfutures.blogspot.com/2010/02/bedale-v-unison-full-decision.html - but I certainly wouldn't advise counting on such generosity!)
If you are a UNISON steward or activist please ensure that members cast their votes!
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
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