Towards the end of a long meeting today of the UNISON NEC, under the General Secretary's report, the NEC considered how UNISON had intervened at this year's TUC and Labour Party Conferences.
The Chair of Policy reported from the TUC and defended the running of the delegation from critics (myself included) who were unhappy that we had learned of our policy to abstain on a statement from the General Council when it was announced from the platform – and that three delegates had been sent home for walking out on Tony Blair although there had been no delegation decision about what to do when he spoke. The President announced that the latter was under investigation and we could not discuss it (which seems to me regrettable and unnecessary).
The Chair of Labour Link reported from the Labour Party Conference at which we and other unions had won a number of important victories, crucially on the National Health Service. I asked the General Secretary to comment on reports that he had welcomed the speech by Gordon Brown and pointed out the far more critical comments made by Kelvin Hopkins MP, co-Convenor or our Parliamentary group. Dave told me I had misquoted him. My mistake obviously!
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I think Dave probably said what he did because it was a bit more interactive than the presidential style of Blair. I.e. the unions look forward to working with Brown but accept that you will have your disagreements. Gen Secs like Prentis are there to get the best deal for their members and that will always involve a degree of compromise.
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