UNISON NDC 12: Kicking the Far Right out of the Union

During the rules debate on Thursday afternoon I was really pleased that Conference finally agreed to change membership rules that will enable the union to expel existing members of far right political parties and refuse admission.

(It did help on this occasion that members of the People's Front of Judea finally showed enough gumption to publicly tell the Judean People's Front to stop their completely untruthful sectarian scaremongering and squabbling).

Letter from a new union bureaucrat to those he left behind

Guest post from Comrade Eitingon. "Dear John's Labour blog. This letter (see scans left - double click to bring up detail) was recently sent to all members of a trade union branch.

I was surprised to read that it was from its branch secretary, who announced that since his substantive job had been privatised by the Council and he would now not be able to have paid facility time off to carry out his union functions, he was giving up his job and joining a trade union as a full time official.

Now, I happen to think that it is a good idea that a trade union recruits from its lay membership but this branch secretary is a supporter of the ultra left sect SPEW, who has constantly attacked such "unelected" full time trade union officials as "bureaucrats".  Yet he gives up being a lay rep to become a unelected full time official? What is wrong doing a worthwhile job while being a normal shop steward?

Also a trade union rep should be there to protect and defend their members and if a service is being privatised then members need their union rep even more than ever. Surely the union rep should follow the members in order to defend and not just leave them in the lurch?

Did you try and leave your members and get a bureaucrats job when

your job was privatised John?

Finally I understand that this strike ballot he called on his first day as a full time union bureaucrat had to be withdrawn - because he messed up the paperwork.

Yours Nahum Eitingon".

UPDATE: Onay Kasab has claimed that he sent this letter. Check comments.

Debate "Should trade unionists support the Labour Party?"

I have been invited to debate "Should trade unionists support the Labour Party? with the London branch of the Socialist Party (Great Britain).  I have of course accepted (personal capacity only). The agreed invite will state:-

"Bill Martin (Socialist Party Speaker).

John Gray (Labour Party Activist and Blogger -http://grayee.blogspot.com/)

"Should trade unionists support the Labour Party"

Thursday 17th November 1930hrs. @ Resource for London, 356 Holloway Road, London, N7 6PA.   (Nearest Tube Holloway Road.)

I do not know that much about the SP(GB) except some of them have posted a few comments on this blog over the years.  While I would not always agree with all their comments they have usually been pretty thoughtful and intelligent (unlike their evil wannabe doppelgangers).  I was also very fond of the regular East End historical and political columns by the late Robert Barltrop in the Newham Recorder, who was a member of the SP(GB) for many years (he did eventually leave).

I look forward to the debate on the 17th November (which by coincidence is in the same building as my UNISON branch office).   There will also be apparently a YouTube video recording of the debate. 

Picture above is of some of the Labour Party banners that took part in the Labour movement TUC March for Jobs, Growth and Justice on March 26th.  Double click pic to bring up detail.

A Spewful of Lies and Bile

An email was sent out to various London branches this week, full of anti-union bile as well as complete and utter lies, by a former UNISON NEC member (see left) who had resigned after only one meeting. 

These people only want to rule or ruin.  If they cannot rule then they will wreck and split and then go off in yet another childish and pointless huff.  They think that if they keep repeating their newspeak big lies then us proles will believe them. 

We are not all mugs.  No-one, surely by now believes a word that the ultra left toy town revolutionaries SPEW puts out.  They have lost out in an internal dispute within the union.  Their attitude is that they are bigger and better than the union and its democratically elected lay bodies.  They want to rubbish the union in front of the employers at the very same time that the union is trying desperately to defend members.  Sorry, but in my view those who have left don't give a damn about their members only what it will do to further the revolution. 

I was brought up to believe that when you join a union you put the interests of the union and members first and you leave your Party card at home.  Shame on all of them for not doing this.

(Personally Capacity as always).