Ian's UNITE Site

Support striking UNITE members at Stansted airport

2012-05-27T23:29:00.000+01:00

A group of UNITE members at Stansted airport are taking strike action over the imposition by their employer, Swissport, of new rosters which mean working 14 more days for no more pay.

HP jobs massacre

2012-05-24T21:08:00.001+01:00

This UNITE press release includes the reaction to the latest jobs cull threatened at HP.

UNITE Executive Council positions for Policy Conference 2012

2012-05-24T17:37:00.001+01:00

Ian Allinson’s report on UNITE Special Executive Council meeting 24^th May 2012

N.B. This is not an official Unite Report; it is based on my notes of the Executive Council (EC) meeting. I believe it to be a fair account of some of the key points and decisions taken (where I give my views about them I make this clear), and I will willingly correct any errors upon receipt of official notification from Unite.

Ian Allinson

UNITE EC member, IT & Communications

www.iansunitesite.org.uk

The special meeting had been called to consider the Executive Council position on motions and amendments to UNITE Policy Conference 2012.

Appointments

The EC approved a number of appointments recommended by panels:

Oliver Richardson, National Officer (Civil Air Transport)
Danny Freeman, Nicky Marcus and Sally Nailard, Regional Officers (London and Eastern)
John Lea, Education Officer (North West)

Policy Conference

The Executive Council agreed recommendations on motions and amendments to policy conference as follows:

Motion number NOTE: numbering is based on a draft final agenda. The preliminary agenda, not including amendments, is here.	Motion title	EC Recommendation
ECONOMY
1 plus 3 amendments	Democratic control of the banks and financial institutions	Support Oppose third amendment
2	Failure by banking executives	Support
3, 4 plus amendments	Feral capitalism	Support
5	Campaign to amend the credit institutions (stabilisation) act 2010	Support
6,7,8	Robin Hood tax / financial transactions tax	Support
9 plus two amendments	Alternative Economic Strategy	Support (but note factual error)
10,11,12,13 plus amendments	Apprentices, practical skills training	Seek to composite removing aspects which are hostile to migrant workers. If not, consider EC statement
14 plus amendments	Offshore skilling	Support (amendments remove aspects hostile to migrant workers)
15	Renationalisation	Support
115 plus amendment	Public sector cuts	Support
ENVIRONMENT
16, 17, 18	Nuclear power	EC statement
19 plus amendment	Low carbon industrial strategy	Support
20, 21, 23, 24 plus amendment	Green jobs/energy, sustainable industry etc	Support
22	Integrated planning regulation	Support
25	Hydraulic fracturing / fracking	Support
EQUALITIES
26, 35 plus amendment	Diversity in the union, equality monitoring of appointments	Support
27, 28	BAEM members at the hear of the UNITE community section / BAEM workers voice needs to be heard now	Support
29 plus amendments	Disability hate crime	Support
30, 31, 32, 33 plus amendment (I think this was meant to include 35 too)	Disability rights, leave reasonable adjustments, employment	Support
34	Adherence to article 19	Support
36	Getting involved	Support
37	LGBT education and zero tolerance to discrimination	Support
38, 39 plus amendment	Organising and young people / young workers – underpaid or unpaid	Ask to remove requirement for external qualification for young people and activists to participate in the schools programme during compositing.
40	Job equality	Support
41 plus amendment	Asylum seekers	Support
42 plus amendment	Gypsy and traveller law reform	Support
42a	Moroccan workers in Gibraltar	Support
GLOBAL SOLIDARITY, PEACE & DISARMAMENT
43	Palestinian child prisoners in Israeli detention	Support
44	Support for Gaza	Support
45, 46, 47 plus amendments	Middle East / Solidarity with Middle East North African (MENA) workers network etc	Support
48 plus amendments	Solidarity with Venezuela – defending the majority, not punishing the poorest	Support
49	Cuba 2012 blockade motion	Support
50 plus amendment	Unite’s procurement of goods and services and purchase policies	Remit
51, 52	Justice for Columbia	Support
53	Workers in Turkey	Support
54	Workers Uniting and European & international federations	Support
55 plus amendments	No to trident	EC statement
HEALTH & SAFETY AT WORK
56	Unite commitment to health and safety	Seek to composite to remove some points, or ask to remit
57, 59, 60	Defending health and safety for members, health & safety, workplace health & safety	Support
58 plus amendment	Long hours culture	Support
MANUFACTURING
61, 63, 64, 65, 66 plus amendment	Re-balancing the UK economy – defend manufacturing / Bombardier / Industrial and manufacturing regeneration etc	Support
62	BAe Systems	Support
MEDIA
102	Morning Star	Support
103	Media	Support
PENSIONS
67, 68, 69, 78 plus amendments	Defending pensions / protection of members pensions / support the public sector and private sector occupational pensions / financial assistance scheme improvements	Support
70, 71, 72 plus amendments	Pensions policy / enhanced retirement provision / pensions	Support NOTE: the amendment to motion 70 from the IT & Comms NISC had gone astray so was not considered by the EC. The SOC will determine whether it is in order.
73, 75, 77 plus amendments	National Pensioners Convention – the dignity code / pensions campaign / senior citizens charter – pensions	Support
74, 76	Second tier state pension provision / state pensions	Support
POLITICAL
79, 80 and 81	Political Fund	EC statement
82	Constituency development plans	EC statement
83	Trade union links to the Labour Party	EC statement
84, 85 and amendments	TULO and Labour Party	EC statement
86 plus amendment	Labour leadership	EC statement
87	A strong voice for our union in the Labour Party	EC statement
88	Cuts and the Labour Party	EC statement
89	Trade union liaison officers (CLPs)	EC statement
90	Relations with the Labour Party	EC statement
91 and amendment	Referendum on Scottish independence	Support with amendment
92	Scottish parliament	Support
93	The possible separation of Scotland from the UK	Oppose
94, 95, 96, 97	The EU / referendum	Oppose
98	European Union	Support
99	CLASS action	Support
100	Unite code of conduct for employers	Ask the SOC to refer it to the CYW&NFP sector
101	National Shop Stewards Network	Remit or oppose
104	Votes at 16	Support
PUBLIC SERVICES AND SOCIAL POLICY
105, 106, 107, 108 plus amendment	Opposition to the health and social care bill / saving the NHS etc	Support
109, 110	Housing / Council housing	Support
111	Rent control to replace benefit caps	Support
112 plus amendments	Public services jobs & pay, the fightback	Support with amendments
113	Shared services / contracting out	Support
114	Campaign against the cuts	Support
116	Wealth tax	Support
117 plus amendment	Benefit cuts	Support
118	Campaign for the reform of National Insurance contributions	Remit
119	Private Finance Initiative (PFI)	Support
120	Yvonne Hossack campaigner against care home closures	Ask SOC to refer to West Midlands region
121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128 plus amendment	Trade union freedoms / law / rights etc	Support
129	Casual and agency labour	Support
130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136 plus amendments	Swedish derogation / agency labour etc	Support
137, 138, 139	Employment rights / equalities	Support
140, 141, 142, 143, 145	Facility time etc	Support
144	Active support for full time lay representatives within the public sector	Oppose
146	Trade union reform	Support
147	Home working	Support
148	The right to collective bargaining	Support
149 plus amendment	Works councils	Support motion Ask branch to withdraw amendment
150, 151	Redundancy pay / closures and redundancies	Support
152	Employment law	Support
153, 153a plus amendments	Blacklisting	Support
153b	Information and consultation regulations – making the best of an opportunity	Support
154	Time off for lifelong learning courses	Support
155	Protection of self-employed workers 2012	Remit
156 plus amendments	Working time	Support
157	Protecting UK standards and qualifications	Support
UNION ADMINISTRATION AND MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
158, 159, 160	No more “golden goodbyes” / inappropriate severance payments	EC statement
161	Industrial representation and accountability	Support
162	Addressing the negative right wing media image of UNITE	Support
163	Outside agencies	Support
164, 184	Updating of contact details / membership	Support
165	Ownership of motions	Support
166	Membership overhaul	Remit
167, 169	Education	Oppose
168	Member education	Remit
170	Affinity partnerships	Remit
171	Gold badge award	Oppose
172	Dedicated local government officers	Remit
173	Standing orders committee advice on motions effects	Support
174	Administration	Support
175	Accountability of full time officers	Remit
176 and amendment	Servicing of members	Remit
177	Unite conference preparation training	Support
178	Future motions	Remit
179 and amendment	Ethical suppliers	Support
180 and amendment	Trades councils	Support
181, 182 and amendment	Improved use of IT / social networking sites	Support
183 and amendment	Lay democracy	Support
185	Conference administration	Support

The Standing Orders Committee (SOC) has not yet met to consider which motions and amendments are ruled out of order.

The EC statements will be agreed at the June meeting. It is possible that in some cases the EC may review its position on motions covered by statements once it has considered the wording.

Executive Council report

The EC agreed, subject to minor changes proposed in the next few days, the EC report to be submitted to the policy conference.

Supplementary reports will be agreed at the June EC on the branch reorganisation and branch financing.

Other Policy Conference arrangements

Each region will have a delegation meeting on the Sunday. Not every body that submitted a motion or amendment will be represented directly at conference, so a delegate must be identified who is responsible for each and who can move it or take any decisions on remittance to the EC.

The SOC will agree arrangements for fringe meetings at the conference.

A video of UNITE’s campaigning, including some of the General Secretary’s speeches, will be prepared for showing at various points during conference.

The EC will consider any motions remitted to it at the meeting following the policy conference.

How to find out which UNITE branch you're in

2012-05-14T22:11:00.000+01:00

With the UNITE branch reorganisation in full swing, patchy communication and elections of almost all reps and branch officers across the union due in June, loads of people are asking how to find out which branch they are in, when it meets etc.

If you go to the UNITE web site and log on to "My Unite" (top right hand corner - you may need to register first).

Once you are logged in, the "My Unite" box in the top right should change to show your name and your industrial sector. If you click on your name you are taken to a page with a number of tabs that allows you to update your personal details, to see the number and name of your branch, who the secretary is, and details of its meetings. While you're at it, please take a few moments to check and update your contact details and the Equal Opps information.

If you don't have your membership number, or if the page doesn't provide the information you need, you'll need to call your Regional Office. This map on our branch web site helps you find your region and the contact details for the regional office if you are in the UK. For the Republic of Ireland see here.

I've previously posted about the process for branch and representative elections, and why they are so important.

Eligibility for lay office (rule 6)

2012-05-11T23:39:00.000+01:00

Updated guidance from the UNITE Executive Council on rule 6 (eligibility for lay office) has been published here.

This mainly deals with who is an "accountable representative of workers", which has been a contentious issue in UNITE.

Is there a "demographic timebomb"?

2012-05-06T18:14:00.002+01:00

In the debates about pensions, much has been made of rising life-expectancy, with scary graphs which show the rapid rise in the percentage of the population over 65. A lot less attention has been paid to far less scary graphs which show the percentage of the population aged 15-65. What this shows is that the proportion of the population who are not of "working age" has not changed anywhere near as fast (even if you allow for the fact that people are older when they start working later now than 100 years ago).

Because the debate on pensions has been dominated by "pensions experts" who look at the issue in isolation, they miss the fact that today's working population is supporting a broadly similar proportion of the population who are not of working age as in the past. More pensioners is offset by fewer children.

Production per worker has risen massively with developments in technology. If society could afford a decent welfare state and pensions in the aftermath of World War 2, we can afford it today - if we're willing to stop the trend of more and more wealth being concentrated in the hands of a tiny minority.

The domination of the pensions debate by institutions that gamble on the markets has been poisonous, obscuring the fact that decisions about what proportion of society's wealth go to look after children, older people and those unable to work are political decisions.

10 May public sector strikes

2012-05-06T08:35:00.001+01:00

After a long gap since November 30th, broken only by UCU & NUT striking in London, there is now a chance to get the fight to defend public sector pensions back on track. UNITE members in Health, MOD and Government departments will be striking on 10th May, as will members of UCU and PCS and a group of RMT members. UNISON health members also rejected the government's proposals in a ballot, despite strong encouragement from their leaders to accept, but UNISON's leadership shows no sign of calling action to win anything better.

The 10 May is important for all of us, not just those in the public sector. If the government gets away with making millions of public servants work longer, pay more and get less, it can only encourage private sector employers to come back for another round of attacks on our pensions. And of course the cuts in pensions are part of the government's wider cuts agenda - pushing the cost of the recession onto working people, tipping the economy into a "double-dip" recession and slashing and privatising our vital services.

We should all build support for members taking action on 10th May, for example:

Sending messages of support
Collecting money for the strikers
Visiting picket-lines before going to work
Joining marches and rallies

Manchester TUC has produced a helpful summary of what's going on in Manchester, where there are marches from the north and south of the city converging for a rally.

General Secretary's report from UNITE Executive Council March 2012

2012-05-01T22:32:00.000+01:00

The General Secretary's report from the last EC meeting is now available and I will send it to UNITE members on request.

Union membership and wage premium for 2011

2012-04-29T17:04:00.000+01:00

This week saw the publication of the latest report from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) on trade union membership - Trade Union Membership 2011.

Overall, the picture on union membership remains bleak, with the number of union members falling slightly (to 6.4m) and the "union density" (the proportion of employees who are in a union) falling slightly (to 26%). There was a slight rise in union membership in the private sector. Union density in the public sector rose slightly as non-members lost their jobs faster than members.

On a more positive note, the "union wage premium" (the difference between average hourly earnings for union members and non-members) continues to rise. In 2011 the premium stood at 8% in the private sector 18% in the public sector. This difference is partly explained by the difference in union density - only 14.1% of private sector workers were in unions compared to 56.5% of public sector workers.

Across the whole workforce, the average hourly earnings for a union member was £14.18 compared to £12.01 for a non-member - a difference of 18.1% which is worth pointing out when people question the value of union organisation.

We're NOT all in it together

2012-04-29T16:48:00.000+01:00

I've come across two sets of information recently which have rammed home the point that we're not "all in it together".

The Sunday Times has published its annual "Rich List". Even their own headline makes the point "The Sunday Times Rich List reveals that Britain’s wealthiest people are richer than ever despite the worst recession since the 1930s". Even The Telegraph, that well-known friend of the poor, highlights the discrepancy between the rest of us and the top 1000 people: "Their total fortune has risen by just under five per cent since 2011, to £414 billion, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List. That exceeds the previous record of £412.8 billion set in 2008, which came just a few months before the financial crash from which the wider British economy has yet to recover".

The second set of information has received a lot less publicity. I found it via the blog of the economist Michael Roberts. In this article on the weak US recovery, he highlights how as profit rates recovered, corporations hoarded profits, rather than reinvesting them, undermining the recovery of the wider economy. The figures are staggering - he explains:

"US corporate profits have recovered dramatically since the trough at the end of 2008. They surpassed their previous peak in 2006 by early 2010. This was achieved by a massive reduction in costs (including labour costs) and a strike in investment. But most of the recovery in profits since the end of 2008 has been hoarded and not spent on new investment. According to these latest figures, undistributed profits have accumulated to $744bn from just $19bn at the end of 2008! Profits are up around $1trn since then, but the cash accumulation is up over $700bn, so only 30% of the increase in profits has been spent on new investment. This explains why the economic recovery has been so weak, with the US economy growing only barely at 2% a year (1.6% yoy according to the latest Q4’11 GDP data)."

So next time some millionaire cabinet minister (and most of them are) tells us that there's no money for decent jobs or for the services we all rely on, let's remember that there are individuals and corporations sitting on vast wealth which could be far better used by those who produced it.

UNITE North-West Regional Committee, April 2012

2012-04-24T22:14:00.000+01:00

1. Regional Secretary Paul Finegan was absent due to illness. His deputy, Mick Whitley, stood in.

2. The chair highlighted the poor attendance by lay members at meetings of many committees in the region and the increasing numbers of complaints from members about full time officers. He was concerned that the north-west had lost its position as one of the best regions in the union. I raised concerns about the lack of management in the region – there should be no need to wait for member complaints if officers fail to schedule meetings or submit reports. Mick said that a tighter rein would be kept on the sector secretaries.

3. I complained about the decision to merge the NW Electrical Engineering & Electronics (EEE) and IT & Comms (ITC) Regional Industrial Sector Committees (RISCs) which had been taken without any communication or consultation with committee members. The chair agreed that a meeting with the relevant officers and members of the RISCs would be organised to discuss the proposal.

4. The Regional Committee approved the proposal to create a Fujitsu North-West branch.

5. The region will not only write to all branch officers about the elections in June, but to all reps as well – elections are required in both all branches and all workplaces and not all are the same or in good communication with each other.

6. The Regional Secretary had written to branches saying that “provided you are a constituted branch and we have received completed signed copies of your Branch returns accompanied by relevant bank statements”...”As per rule – Branch Administration and/or Fund payments due to the Branch will continue to be paid by BACs payment directly into your Unity Trust bank accounts”. Given that payments to some branches had been stopped without any explanation, I had queried what a “constituted branch” meant. The Regional Secretary had responded that “they simply need to have the appropriate elected officials in place and for those individuals to be logged on to our membership system”. I asked why funds had then been blocked to constituted branches, and was told by the chair that this was a national action, not from the region.

7. The regional chair said that they would do a briefing for branches on doing accounts. He suggested that a new handbook for branch officers was needed (in addition to the training courses available) given that new officers would be elected in June.

8. UNITE Political Director Steve Hart explained the union’s political strategy.

9. The Regional Committee pledged its ongoing support for the workers at Mayr Melnhoff Packaging who have been treated disgracefully but who are putting up a great fight to keep the plant open. It was agreed that the weekly schedule of activities would be circulated so that members could join in and show their support.

10. Senior Regional Organiser Mike Thompson gave an update on organising. The highlight was the successful claim for union recognition via the CAC at Eddie Stobart Daresbury.

11. The Regional Committee discussed a number of remits from RISCs and AACs. Due to the way the meetings are conducted, it is hard to tell what decisions (if any) are been taken. These are key ones I’m confident about and that weren’t just noted:

a. A remit from the Manchester Area Activists Committee calling on the EC to immediately adopt a policy similar to that agreed at the 2000 MSF conference (to ban secret payments to union employees) and to bring forward a similar rule change to the next rules conference was rejected.
b. A remit from the Manchester Area Activists Committee on cleansing of membership records was agreed.
c. A remit from the Merseyside Area Activists Committee supporting “Occupy Liverpool” was agreed.
d. A remit from the Merseyside Area Activists Committee calling for a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of militant labour in Liverpool was agreed.
e. A motion from the Merseyside Area Activists Committee opposing the EDL was agreed.

12. UNITE organiser Michelle Smith gave an update on Liverpool Against the Cuts and members are encouraged to get involved.

13. It was agreed to hold open Area Activists Meetings in each area before the public sector strikes on 10 May and to invite PCS to join these, in line with our cooperation agreement.

14. A request from the Manchester Area Activists Committee to appoint a lead office for Greater Manchester who could be the union’s public face, circulate information about campaigns, and liaise with campaigns in the area, will be considered by the regional Finance & General Purposes Committee.

15. Terry Abbot was elected as a delegate to the national Labour Party conference.

16. A replacement female delegate to the UNITE policy conference is required. It was agreed to ask female Regional Committee members who weren’t in attendance.

17. John Lea has been appointed as the Regional Education Officer.

18. The UNITE NW retired members are providing stewards for the Pensioners’ Parliament organised by the National Pensioners’ Convention and are asking for a stall to highlight the union’s campaign on fuel poverty and UNITE membership in return.

19. Pete Gillard has been elected as chair of the Standing Orders Committee for the 2012 Policy Conference. The number of motions submitted had dropped from 330 to 210 for this conference. Five motions (including two from NW branches) had been ruled out of order. Each branch and committee can submit one amendment to a motion.

20. Helen Osgood gave the equalities report. Equality Reps training is still available on 14th May – details are on the UNITE web site. Funding was agreed for a number of important equality events.

UNITE workplace and branch elections 2012

2012-04-22T14:56:00.000+01:00

Every UNITE workplace and branch should be holding elections for reps and branch officers in the near future. This is the first time there's been a UNITE-wide process, rather than different processes for former Amicus and former TGWU members.

This is our chance to renew the activist base of the union, so everyone should put real effort into making sure the process is well publicised and lots of new reps and branch officers are elected.

The UNITE Rulebook was updated following last year's Rules Conference. The main relevant sections are rules:

Rule 6, which defines who is eligible to hold which lay positions in the union (i.e. positions where you're not employed by the union). There's EC guidance on the application of Rule 6, but this doesn't yet reflect the work done on an updated version. For these elections the key points are pretty obvious - members in a workplace can stand to be representatives, members in a branch can stand to be branch officers. The definition of a "workplace" is necessarily flexible.
NOTE: Rule 6 defines the term of office as three years, but this is a maximum, not a minimum. There's nothing to stop a branch or workplace holding elections more frequently if they wish. If membership is relatively volatile or there are new activists getting involved, I'd personally suggest a more frequent election would be a good idea.
Rule 17 covers Branches. Rule 17.7 says "Each Branch shall have for its management a Chair, a Treasurer, an Equality Officer and a Secretary and such other officers as the Branch may elect. They shall be elected at a Branch meeting by show of hands, or by ballot, if so decided by the meeting. The election shall take place and be completed not later than June 30 in each third year, and the elected candidates shall take office the following July for three years. Casual vacancies may be filled at an ordinary Branch meeting, but notice of the impending election must be given to members of the Branch on the notice convening the meeting. The positions of Secretary and Treasurer may be held by the same member if the Branch so chooses".
Rule 18 covers Workplace Representation. It says that "At each workplace, the members employed at that workplace, shall elect from amongst themselves, at least every 3 years, 1 or more of the following representatives": Shop stewards/workplace representatives; Safety representatives; Learning representatives; Equality representatives; Environment representatives
Rule 18.2 adds a new requirement to try to tackle under-representation of women and Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority (BAEM) members: "The election of workplace representatives shall, where practicable, have a gender and ethnic balance at least reflecting the proportion of black, Asian and ethnic minority and female members which they represent."

Members should be notified in May 2012 that the elections will be taking place in June, and asked for nominations. Note that where a new branch has been set up earlier this year and held its elections, those officers remain in place for the coming term of office rather than having to hold another election right away.

The process is complicated by the fact that the reorganisation of branches is still not yet complete, and many of us are still waiting to find out what branch we'll be in. Where there are new branches, Regional Officers are expected to assist with arrangements and notification of members about the meetings and elections.

If you're in a workplace that hasn't had any reps till now, here are a few tips for organising a meeting:

Find out whether you're allowed to hold a meeting in the workplace, and if so whether it can be in work time or not
Book a suitable venue, date and time to make it as easy as possible for most people to attend
Can you get other issues of interest to members on the agenda, to encourage attendance?
Use several means (e.g. poster on a union noticeboard, leaflet, email, letter, text message, word of mouth) to notify members about the meeting (bearing in mind any rules on what you can do in your workplace). If possible, give people plenty of notice and also a reminder near the time
Make sure candidates have a chance to say why they are standing, either by circulating a short election address or by speaking briefly at the meeting.
Get someone to chair the meeting.
Make sure members vote on whether to elect the reps, even if some positions aren't contested - this gives them more legitimacy and authority, and also gets members in the habit of taking their own decisions collectively

You can elect reps even in a workplace where the employer doesn't yet recognise the union. The elections are a matter for the union and its members, not the employer.

Once you've got your new branch officers and reps elected, it's vitally important to inform the Regional Office ensure all the details are correctly recorded on the union's database. The Regional Industrial Sector Conferences are planned for September, and the organisation of these will rely on the information on the union database.

It's important to be clear with the Regional Office as to whether you want the union to notify the employer who has been elected as reps. The norm should be to do so, as this gives the reps extra protection against discrimination. But there could be exceptional circumstances where the union is only just getting going and the employer is hostile where it could be better not to.

Report from CSC redundancy protests

2012-04-20T23:03:00.001+01:00

I've been sent the following pictures and report from the protests against Compulsory Redundancies at CSC on Thursday.

Chorley:

Chesterfield:

Unite members across the country working for IT services giant Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) took to the streets to voice their concerns over the company’s redundancy selection.

Despite the torrential rain, Unite members walked out at lunchtime to blow vuvuzelas and wave banners in defiance of the company's approach. Supporters of the fight against redundancies from the Chesterfield Trades Council, the Labour Group of the Chesterfield Borough Council and the Derbyshire Unemployed Workers Centre also came down to show their support.

In Chorley, over the same period members gathered at the front of the site holding placards protesting the redundancies currently taking place throughout the company, with some members providing real time updates and images via Twitter and Facebook.

Over at the Leeds site, Unite members also staged a protest outside the office, showing their objection to redundancy and solidarity with their colleagues demonstrating at other sites.

While at the Solihull site, angry employees braved the downpour to stage their protest, waving flags and being met with honks of support from passing traffic.

Unite national officer, Kevin O’Gallagher, said: “We will now increase pressure on CSC to listen to its staff and to Unite’s proposals. We have put forward a detailed plan which will avoid any compulsory redundancies in the company.

“However, these plans have not stopped the company hurtling towards compulsory redundancies which are totally avoidable. Our members are now taking to the streets to get their voice heard. As a union, we will do everything in our power to support these workers though this very uncertain time.”

Following several weeks of consultation over a reduction of staff working on the NHS account (Lorenzo contract), CSC is insistent on issuing compulsory redundancy notices despite receiving sufficient number or volunteer requests to leave the company, with a further 640 reductions announced across CSC UK and Irish sites this week.

Messages of support have been received from union members across the IT services industry, and CSC members vowed to continue their fight for fair treatment.

Tony Burke - Unite Assistant General Secretary said "our members can be assured that Unite is fully behind them and we will do all we can to ensure a successful outcome to the dispute we have with CSC.”

UNITE Executive Council, March 2012

2012-04-20T07:25:00.001+01:00

Other than posting the EC statement on the public sector pensions dispute, I haven't yet managed to get a report from the March EC meeting online. In the meantime, Martin Mayer has managed to put a report on the United Left web site - well done Martin.

Jubilee ballot at BBC in reaction to 1% pay offer

2012-04-20T07:20:00.000+01:00

According to the Guardian, the unions at the BBC (UNITE, Bectu and NUJ) have announced a strike ballot timed to allow action coinciding with the jubilee in response to the BBC going over the unions' heads with the announcement of a 1% pay offer - far below inflation.

UNITE members at CSC to protest against redundancies

2012-04-18T20:16:00.000+01:00

CSC's handling of job losses has been bad enough to drive its staff to take to the streets for the first time.

Pensions fight is reviving

2012-04-17T17:53:00.001+01:00

Many people had been frustrated at the long delay after November 30th for further national action. Government concessions had been minimal and few of those who struck on N30 had expected one day to be enough to win. The government had seen the weak response as a green light to press on with cuts and privatisation, adding regional pay to the mix.

Now following the decision of Unite health to strike on 10 May the PCS union has decided to strike on the same day and others are expected to follow.

Everyone should show their support however they can.

UNITE Policy Conference 2012

2012-03-31T11:42:00.000+01:00

The web page about the UNITE 2012 policy conference has now been updated to include a lot of useful information.

The conference is taking place in Brighton 25-28 June. The preliminary agenda including the motions is here. Each branch and constitutional committee can submit one amendment to one motion by 18th May 2012. This includes Regional and National Industrial Sector Committees (RISCs and NISCs), regional and national equality committees, Area Activist Committees (AACs), Regional Committees (RCs).

Delegates to the policy conference were elected via RISCs and NISCs.

Every member should consider drafting an amendment - this is an opportunity to help shape UNITE's policy for the next two years.

UNITE Executive on public sector pensions dispute

2012-03-20T16:17:00.000Z

Illness has prevented me attending the first two days of the UNITE Executive Council (EC) meeting this week. However, I'm told that the debate on public service and the public sector pensions dispute has resulted in the following statement today:

The Executive council notes the health sector ballot result declared on 19th March 2012 with 94% rejection of the pension scheme changes proposed by the government. This consultative ballot reaffirms UNITE members defiance. A day of protest is organised for 28th March and all UNITE members are encouraged to support health workers distribute leaflets and attend lunch time rallies.

Health sector members recognise their fight is part of a wider fight to defend public services and involves not only members working in all the other public and not for profit sectors but all UNITE members and their families who rely on the public services we provide.
The executive council also notes the rejection of the pension proposals by the NUT, UCU and PCS and their committment to taking further industrial action in April.

This union commits itself to maximising its support to the public sector members to participate in further action, including co-ordinated national strike action alongside other public sector unions in April, and to developing and articulating its strategy for a fightback to defend pensions as part of a wider fight to defend public services. The executive council acknowledges that UNITE ia not the biggest union in each pension scheme but has members in all the major schemes and is therefore able to provide a leading role in co-ordinating action.
The executive council welcomes the committment by our general secretary to ask the TUC to organise a national demonstration in support of our NHS.

UNITE recognises this is a fight for the very survival of public services and the key struggle facing the trade union movement today.

Support locked out MMP workers in Bootle

2012-02-25T14:02:00.000Z

UNITE members at Mayr-Melnhof Packaging (MMP) in Bootle took selective strike action after the employer tried to make redundancies and not stick to an agreement on redundancy terms.

Disgracefully, MMP responded by locking all the workers out. Talks with the company restarted after a brief occupation of the plant by workers last Saturday (18th), but the lockout continues. According to pickets, the company is trying to lead customers and workers at the company's Deeside plant that the workers are striking rather than locked out. This has come in for some mockery from pickets:

I managed to get over to Bootle to show support today, and found an impressive picket and spirits high. A picketline stew last week is giving way to a hog-roast this week.

The closure of the plant is already having an impact on MMP customers, including Kelloggs cereals where apparently production of Cornflakes and other cereals has stopped.

MMP is trying to undermine the impact of the lockout by taking advantage of a "banked hours" scheme at the Deeside plant to increase production there. Though the Deeside plant is not affected by the current redundancies, they are covered by the redundancy terms that MMP is breaking, so there is talk of Deeside workers being balloted for action.

Three other UNITE Executive Council members were there to show their support. Len McCluskey addressed a rally late in the morning (locked gate clearly showing!):

Len pledged the union's full support and explained that work had begin on planning a "leverage" campaign, including targeting the supply chain.

Please do everything you can to support the MMP workers:

Visit the picketline at MMP, Dunnings Bridge Road, Bootle, L30 6TR
Send a message of support (contact details at the bottom of this press release)
Invite workers to visit your workplace or meeting to give an update and raise support
Send them money. Contact me or the contact details above for the details.

For those of you in Greater Manchester, they intend to send a delegation to the Unite the Resistance launch meeting on Wednesday.

General Secretary's Report from December 2011 UNITE EC meeting

2012-01-30T22:44:00.000Z

The report is now available and I will forward it to UNITE members on request.

NB: According to my notes Composite 21 remitted from the 2010 Policy Conference (Fighting Back Union) was AGREED rather than NOTED as the report suggests. I have asked for this to be corrected.

Election for the new LGBT seat on the UNITE Executive Council

2012-01-28T12:30:00.000Z

Voting is due to take place from 30 January to 22 February 2012 in an election for the new Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) seat on the UNITE Executive Council. All members (other than retired members) are entitled to vote in the election.

I haven't seen a list of all the candidates who were successful in securing enough nominations to stand, but the candidate backed by the United Left, Harry McAnulty did and his leaflet is here.

The UNITE web site has some very sparse information about the election here.

Alongside the new LGBT seat there is also a new seat for Disability, but I understand only one candidate secured the necessary nominations and therefore no election will take place.

These two seats are important to end the anomaly where two major areas of UNITE's Equalities structures, which have their own regional and national committees, had no EC member accountable to them.

It is OK to distribute leaflets at work or put posters on union noticeboards, but you mustn't use any union resources (including membership information) to support a particular candidate, or directly contact members at home unless they have themselves signed up to receive such communications.

We should all try to encourage members to participate in the election - the composition of the Executive Council (EC) makes a real difference to the direction and effectiveness of the union.

UNITE and Fujitsu settle dispute

2012-01-21T10:19:00.000Z

Yesterday UNITE members at my workplace, Fujitsu Manchester, voted to accept an offer from the company and end the long-running dispute. Details are on our branch web site and there's a UNITE press release. The settlement will benefit staff right across the country, not just Manchester.

Latest on the public sector pensions dispute

2012-01-03T18:18:00.000Z

There's a huge amount of confusion. The government sought to reach separate "heads of agreements" for each part of the public services - Local Government, Health, Civil Service, Education. These aren't full detailed agreements, but set out a framework and principles within which detailed negotiation would take place. The understanding was that unions which signed up would suspend industrial action. Some unions have signed up to some of these agreements, others haven't.

The agreements on offer don't change the position significantly from that which led to the tremendously well-supported strike on 30th November.

UNITE seems to be gradually publishing statements on this page of its web site:

Civil service - UNITE did not sign up
NHS - the link is missing, but UNITE did not sign up
Local Authorities UNITE signed up, then "suspended" its signature

UNISON, whose leaders have signed up to the government's deals, has published rather more information, including the NHS "heads of agreement", the statement signed by UNISON, UNITE and GMB on Local Authority Pensions, and a newsletter which includes the text of the Local Government "Heads of Agreement".

Debate is raging in all the unions. Many members in unions that signed up are furious that their leaders are squandering the potential of November 30th. In unions that have not signed up, members are asking when the next action will be and how broad it can be. This is not the time to give up or sit quiet - there is still the opportunity to recreate and build on the unity that we saw on N30.

The relevant UNITE National Industrial Sector Committees (NISCs) are meeting shortly to discuss the situation and decide on their next steps.

A majority of the UNITE Executive Council (including me) have requested a special EC meeting to:

1) Help ensure the consistent implementation of the EC statement agreed on 7th December 2011 about the way forward following the November 30th day of action

2) Receive reports on, and discuss the major developments in, the public sector pensions dispute since our last meeting

We have also called for copies of the agreements offered by the government in each sector (whether signed by UNITE or not) to be circulated to all EC members as a matter of urgency.

Under rule 14.3, a majority of EC members can call a special meeting. I hope this will take place after the discussions at the NISCs but before the crucial meeting at the TUC on Thursday 12 January.

These are matters that should concern everyone. If the government gets away with dividing and defeating union members in the public sector, where membership is highest, it will encourage every employer to speed up their attempts to further boost profits by squeezing the proportion of wealth going to working people. The pensions fight was also a unifying issue for the wider anti-cuts campaigning which is crucial for the defence of our public services. PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka set out the dangers of defeatism in his recent article in the Morning Star.

What you can do:

If you haven't already done so, sign the statement saying "Don't give up the pensions fight!"
If you're in one of the sectors directly affected, speak to the reps on your NISC and make sure they know your views before they meet
Get along to the open national meeting called by PCS Left Unity for Saturday 7th January which will be an important chance to coordinate pressure against rotten deals
Lobby the TUC meeting on Thursday 12th January
Get along to the emergency Unite the Resistance meeting on Saturday 14th January which will be an important chance to get organised following the outcome of the TUC meeting

Public sector pensions fight

2011-12-16T19:13:00.001Z

Predictably, the government is seeking to divide the resistance to cuts and austerity by trying to bully union leaders into accepting a very poor deal on public sector pensions.

News (e.g. RTW) is coming out in dribs and drabs from yesterday's TUC Public Sector Liaison Group meeting about the union response to this, which doesn't appear to be entirely good news from all the unions.

UNITE's Executive Council agreed an excellent statement on the campaign last week which specifically "calls on all unions to stand together in opposition to government attempts to divide unions and offer terms of settlement to some while continuing the attack on others".

A number of activists in various public sector unions have launched a statement opposing any sell-out which you can sign here and view signatories here. There's also going to be a lobby of the TUC Public Sector Liaison Group at 2pm outside Congress House.