Union conferences

Unite: industrial advances yet to feed into politics

The big general union Unite has won a string of disputes in the private sector during the 2022-3 strike wave, and is arguably regenerating parts of its industrial organisation. The 11-14 July 2023 Unite Policy Conference — it’s biennial, so this was the first since the end of the lockdowns and Sharon Graham’s election as general secretary (August 2021) — illustrated how that does not automatically feed through into effective working-class politics. One very positive development is the emergence of the Unite Grassroots Climate Justice Caucus . Although it lacks roots in the crucial high...

Unison: after conference, turn to campaigning

The National Delegate Conference (NDC) of the public services union Unison was in Liverpool, 13-16 June. Local Government members are being balloted. Members in Higher Education and the Environment Agency have balloted and struck, and will be taking more industrial action over the next period. In spring, we saw health workers and ambulance workers striking, and a number of hospitals only just missing the ballot threshold to strike alongside their RCN colleagues. Health members accepted the poor pay 2022-23 deal, rejected by Unite and the RCN, but only following a huge campaign for “accept” by...

Israel and Ukraine: both no right to exist?

People who want to see Putin prevail in Ukraine were overjoyed by the recent UCU congress vote against Ukraine having the arms it needs to defend itself. Andrew Murray wrote in the Morning Star that “The University and College Union (UCU) vote to oppose the continuing war in Ukraine, including arms sales, and to support the campaigning of the Stop the War Coalition against British government policy over the war is a beacon to the rest of the movement”. Just days earlier, the PCS conference had passed a resolution supporting Ukrainians’ right to defend themselves and liberate their country. The...

Socialist Worker dismisses pro-Ukrainians as “NATO trolls”

Socialist Worker (SW), paper of the Socialist Worker Party (SWP), is ecstatic. At last it has found a trade union (the UCU, which organises workers in post-school education) that has passed a motion at its annual congress backing the Stop the War Coalition (StW) line on Ukraine. True, the motion was passed by just nine votes. True, the motion contained an antisemitic trope jumbling up Ukraine and Israel as imperialist outposts. True, Jewish UCU members critical of the motion have been targeted for antisemitic abuse. True, another, and far better, motion on Ukraine was passed by a much larger...

After PCS conference

The key industrial debate at PCS conference (23-25 May) concerned the travel of direction of the national dispute. The conference was unanimous that we must continue with the action if we are to resolve last year’s and this year’s pay; win proper job protection; stop overpaying on pension contributions; and protect redundancy payments. That’s where the unanimity ended. Delegates were faced with motions that fell into two broad camps; ones which would give the National Executive Committee (NEC) discretion as to when to call all-members action, if at all, and the others which were more...

Unison Health delegates protest

A fringe meeting on pay, organised by “Time for Real Change”, on the first day of this year’s Unison Health sector conference, attracted 40 delegates (17 April). It decided that we needed an ongoing network of health activists to continue organising on pay restoration. On 18 April the conference passed emergency motion 1 from the top table which noted the vote to accept the offer and which said the union will seek implementation. Speeches have been made against the Service Group Exec’s ballot recommendation to accept the offer, but we have been unable to get a vote on any wording about that...

Motions to Unite policy conference

Unite the Union’s policy conference takes place in Brighton, 11-14 July 2023. It’s immediately preceded by its rules revision conference (9-10 July), motions at which may include proposals for disaffiliation from the Labour Party – but they haven’t been published yet. However the motions to policy conference have been. Here are some highlights. The deadline for amendments (each branch, etc, can amend one motion) is 21 April. The full motions document from which the page references below are taken is here . Strike strategy There’s not a lot of motions about strike or broader industrial strategy...

TUC: despite the strikes, a flat Congress

TUC demonstration, 18 June TUC Congress finally took place on 18-20 October. The hastily reorganised Congress was both shorter and less well attended, with many unions deep into campaigning mode. Although the mood very much reflected the upsurge in strike action and the imminence of further ballots, the gathering was flatter than ever, with most participants preferring the commodious hospitality of Brighton hotels to actually planning the serious, sustained fightback necessary. Probably the best discussions on Congress floor took place around reproductive rights, sexual harassment and trans...

How to make Unison “strike-ready”

The National Delegate Conference (NDC) of the public services union Unison (14-17 June) was, as we reported , dominated by attacks on the new left majority of the National Executive Committee (NEC). Yet both the NDC and Unison’s local government sector conference (12-13 June) also passed some useful — if sometimes vague — policies, which should given work for the left to organise around. There was also a mood or theme which (perhaps superficially) united all wings of Unison: the union must become “strike ready”. We are understandably cautious when a general secretary who has part of the union...

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