Now -read the book!

Here is a link to my memoirs which, if you are a glutton for punishment, you can purchase online at https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/an-obscure-footnote-in-trade-union-history.
Men fight and lose the battle, and the thing that they fought for comes about in spite of their defeat, and when it comes turns out not to be what they meant, and other men have to fight for what they meant under another name. (William Morris - A Dream of John Ball)

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

UNISON's London Regional Committee - to infinity and beyond?

I understand that there is a point of view that, since there are an infinite number of numbers it follows that there are an infinite number of realities.



If this is so then there must be a universe in which the London Regional Committee of UNISON, which met this morning, makes sense.



Mathematically, there must be a reality in which a Committee which doesn't care that it has failed to organise a quorate Regional Council (other than its AGM) since 2005 is nevertheless a paragon of labour movement virtue.



In this universe however, a Regional Committee the leadership of which is happy not to have a functioning Regional Council, is a sorry creature.



We need effective and vigorous unity to confront the attacks from the Coalition Government. Such unity cannot be built on the basis of dereliction of duty such as that shown by our Regional Committee, which has failed to arrange a quorate Regional Council (other than an AGM) in eight years.



Trade union democracy - which requires well attended decisionmaking meetings - is not an "optional extra". It is essential to an effective response to austerity and to the defence of workers' interests more generally.



Given the infinite possibilities of the "multiverse" there must remain hope that the Regional Committee will rise to this potential occasion and ensure a quorate Regional Council after this year's AGM.



Or perhaps not.

Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

its the members that fail to turn up!