Ballot papers are now
hitting doormats in the biennial elections for UNISON’s National Executive
Council (NEC) upon which your blogger has served for the past seven terms
(fourteen years) but to which I am not seeking re-election.
I have done my time – but I
am very glad that good comrades are seeking election to carry on the work of
promoting the interests of UNISON members on our Union’s ruling body (a job
which is as necessary as it is sometimes difficult).
In particular, I will be
proud to vote for Sean Fox (Secretary of our Haringey Branch) to hold the seat
which I have held since 2003. Sean outclasses his opponent and would have my
support even if he had not had the good sense to align himself with the
candidates supporting necessary change in our trade union.
However, Sean does have that
good sense, and along with my NEC comrades Sonya Howard (Kensington and Chelsea
Branch Secretary) and Helen Davies (Barnet Branch Chair), for whom I shall also
be proud to vote, to have stood alongside the other good comrades who have gathered
under the banner of the UNISON
Action Broad Left.
These candidates have a
diversity of opinions, but are united in a desire to see UNISON punch our
weight on behalf of members whom we have been letting down in recent years. Candidates
standing against my UNISON Action Broad Left comrades support the failing
leadership of the Union and are content for UNISON to continue its current
drift.
A trade union should be a
strong voice for working people, and that means that it should be led by
courageous troublemakers. If the leadership of a trade union falls under the
sway of people concerned for their career, or those who believe that loyalty
must be uncritical, then that trade union is neutralised as an effective force.
UNISON members deserve
better – but only if we get out and vote for it. If you are a UNISON member
then vote for the Left – and if you are a UNISON activist make sure that you
mobilise your members to do so (without of course misusing UNISON resources in
the way that some
people have in the past!)
No comments:
Post a Comment