Representing low paid workers

One consequence of the unwise decision of my NEC colleagues to press ahead with controversial Rule Amendments for which the necessary political preparation had not been done at this year's Conference is that other Rule Amendments were not reached.

One such was the Rule Amendment that would have changed the definition of low pay for the purposes of election to "Reserved Seats" on the National Executive (and also on Service Group Executives, in Conference delegations etc.) The change (which we did not reach and could not therefore make) would have increased the hourly rate threshold by one pound.

This would have increased the proportion of UNISON's low paid women members eligible to stand for such seats. Given the general lack of competition for the Reserved Seats, and the consensus that the proposed change was sensible, I hope that we can prioritise this change next year.

Although I understand that the proposal to create the Reserved Seats emerged fairly late on in the negotiations which led to the creation of UNISON in 1993, whatever the intentions of those proposing this step, the principle that UNISON should fairly represent the large number of low paid women members in our leadership is now rightly entrenched.

A number of practical problems still need to be resolved (such as those which arise when workers hold more than one contract of employment, with different hourly rates in each, some in unionised areas and some in non-union employment). These issues are not new - they were on the agenda of Women's Conference 2003 for example.

However the main task facing activists in our Union is to encourage and facilitate activism by lower paid members.

Low paid migrant workers are currently bearing the brunt of an employers' counter-offensiive in London, as the bosses turn to the immigration authorities for revenge on workers who have won pay increases (such as June's disgraceful raid on UNISON members at SOAS).

Those who can get to Liverpool Street on Friday lunchtime can support the workers -at a demonstration for the payment of unpaid salaries and holidays of the detained cleaners on Friday 21 of Aug at 1pm at the Willis Building, 51 Lime Street, London, EC3M 7DQ. For those who don’t know the location, protesters will be at 12h30 in front of McDonalds at Liverpool Street station.