"Effective working across the Labour movement "

(hat tip London Labour Party - members only) Saturday 7 July 10.30am- 4pm, Labour Party Head Office London 

Join us at Labour's new London HQ to learn how local Labour Parties are working with our Trade Union and Socialist Society partners to campaign and organise in new and innovative ways.

We will be joined by Helen Symons, National Campaigns and Communications Officer for the Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation (TULO) as well as guests from the socialist societies. 

Sign up to:

Find out how to make contact with and buiild relationships with Trade Unions and Socialist Societies in your area

Learn about some great joint campaigns across the country, meet, share ideas and best practice with fellow Labour campaigners 

The training day starts at 10.30am and will finish by 4pm. Lunch will be provided and the cost for the day is £10.

To sign up click here.

(What a good idea to have this training. I hope it goes well.  I would have gone but will be a the UNISON Labour Link Forum at Cardiff that day)

Ken thanks London UNISON for help during Mayoral campaign

This letter from Ken Livingstone was sent to Linda Perks, the London UNISON Regional Secretary and circulated to our regional committee.

"Dear Linda
Thank you for everything you and London Unison did to help with the London Mayoral election campaign.

London Unison has been fantastic - not simply by donating, but through unwavering support, the ideas you contributed and the campaigning you undertook.

Please also accept my thanks for the very excellent work of London TULO, without which we would have been far less effective.

The trade union movement is central to achieving progress in our society.  From the outset I wanted a campaign that worked with the unions, that knitted in the progressive ideas of the trade union movement, and sought to address the very issues faced by our trade union members.  I am proud that we worked so hard to achieve those goals.

Many people wrote the campaign off from the start and could not have expected it would come so close. I am sorry that I was unable to pull off a victory that so many hard-pressed Londoners were depending on.

We didn't win, but the idea of a fairer London should not be lost.  Our policies showed a fairer way forward for the Capital's residents: cutting fares; improved neighbourhood policing; introducing a London EMA; providing better and cheaper housing; helping people with the cost of living from affordable childcare to reducing price of household energy bills.

Please ensure my thanks are passed on to everyone in the union who played their part.

It has been a great inspiration to be part of this London election campaign with you. I very much look forward to working with you again in the future.

Thank you again.

In solidarity

Ken Livingstone

"A Future that Works" : Building for the TUC London demo 20 October 2012

Picture from this morning's UNISON London Regional Council of Laurie Heselden from SERTUC briefing delegates on the demo.

The TUC are planning a major national demonstration in London on Saturday 20 October. The march will be called "A future that works" and its focus will be to end the austerity polices that have sent the economy back into recession. Laurie helped organise the successful "March in March" and the demonstration on 30 November 2012.

He believes for it to be another success then we need to get even more than the 500,000 people we got in March out on 20 October.

A communications website www.afuturethatworks.org.uk will be up and running before the summer break. An email group has been set up for union organisers and "...of course (we will use) twitter, both in advance and on the day". Laurie made a plea for more stewards to put themselves forward.

I will probably be marching with my branch but I will be working with Newham Labour Group, TULO and trades council to encourage and maximise the Newham Labour Movement family to march together again on 20 October!

As they say - watch this space as there will be lots and lots more on this event to follow.

A New Direction for the Labour Party

This motion was passed (overwhelmingly) at last week's London UNISON Labour Link Forum. It will now go to National Forum.

"This UNISON Labour Link Forum notes:-

That there is no political alternative to the Labour Party, warts and all.

The last Labour Government despite its faults delivered massive benefits to our members and other working people. Pension credit and the minimum wage put real money into the pockets and purses of pensioners and the low paid. While it invested in the NHS, schools and protecting the vulnerable.

We note this Tory Coalition Government and its policies tn favour of the wealthy, its plans to dismantle our NHS and the slashing and burning public services.

The Labour Party is the only hope for the future of progressive politics and obtaining social justice for our members and all other working people. We must all do whatever we can to ensure that a Labour Party government is returned at the next General election.

Yet we must also ensure that the next Labour Government is brave and decisive in tackling the evils it will inherit. Our economy needs to be rebalanced away from the free market liberalism of the recent past. We need a genuine mixed economy.

The income inequality gap between the rich and the poor in our society will be the key measure in judging the success or otherwise of a future Labour Government.

While we do not want to indulge in the pointless sloganising and postulating of those who do not have any credible alternative, we do want the next Labour Government to take the necessary action to reduce income inequality in our society. 

This forum calls for UNISON Labour Link to carry on its work within affiliates, TULO and the Party to ensure that the next Labour government:-

Commits to reducing income inequality by the end of its term and delivers on this promise".

UNISON London Labour Link Forum 2012

Yesterday evening I Co-chaired with Gloria Hanson, the 2012 UNISON London Labour Link (APF) forum. Which acts as the Annual Regional Conference of 60,000 (ish) London UNISON members who choose to affiliate to the Labour Party. 

This took place at the UNISON HQ in Euston. Afterwards there was a launch event with Ken Livingstone which I post upon later.

After opening remarks and introductions, we discussed our financial report and the work plan for 2012. This has been dominated this year by the London GLA and Mayoral elections. Next we debated motions.

The first was a motion from my Housing Association Branch on "A New Direction for the Labour Party" which I will also post upon later. This motion was passed overwhelmingly apart from one Toy Town Revolutionary who obviously does not believe in greater equality nor that the Party should move to the left since that would prevent him from braying betrayal politics at every opportunity. While from Waltham Forest Local Government, my good comrade, Alan Griffiths spoke on "Renewable Energy". Unfortunately we were not able see his PowerPoint presentation.

Next was our first guest speaker Keith Birch who gave a report on National Labour Link. Followed by Helen Symons, the Campaigns and Communications Officer for TULO (Trade Union Liaison Organisation" (see picture above). Finally Julian Cooke (who use to be a member of Forest Gate North Labour Party), who is a Labour Link Organising Officer, he spoke about the "Political Education Project" which is is trying to get ordinary members to recognise how important "politics" is and to encourage them to get involved. 

Save Our NHS Rally 7 March 18:00 Central Hall London

Check out details about the NHS Rally next week at Central Hall, Westminister. 6pm to 7.30pm.

Sign up here to attend. If you cannot make it in person then you can join in via a live webcast.

"Together, we’re going to send the strongest possible message to Cameron and Clegg that they need to start listening, and drop this Health Bill".

Hat tip TULO.

#Lab11 TULO fringe

My first event of conference (Sunday) was the TULO fringe.  TULO is the organisation set up by trade unions who are affiliated to the Labour Party. It was packed out with trade unionists who listened to speeches by trade union leaders and MP's.  I had only just arrived from Cardiff and I missed Labour Leader Ed Miliband speech to the meeting which ended just as I walked into the hall.  However, there was tremendous applause for his speech.

I wondered if the media will report this rather than the misrepresentation they made of the last speech he made to trade unions that I heard at this year's TUC Congress?

As he walked out of the room his PA kindly offered to take "a picture". Afterwards I met up with the Unison delegation and some of us went off to the Co-op/SERA/Labour Housing Group fringe.

"The Tory-led Health Bill is a deadly threat to the NHS that we know and love"

This has been the "Big NHS Weekend".  Up and down the Country the Labour movement has been out campaigning against the Tory led Health and Social Care Bill.  It comes back to the House of Commons this week for its 3rd reading.  Yesterday we had Labour Party and affiliated trade union street stalls in Stratford and East Ham. 

We handed out leaflets produced by TULO that the "NHS is not safe" in the hands of Cameron and Clegg.

Colleagues in East Ham reported that people were reticent to accept this leaflet at first since it had Cameron's face on it!

Picture is of our local City and East GLA member, John Biggs, handing our leaflets in Stratford High Street.  West Ham MP Lyn Brown was also out collecting signatures for the petition calling for the defence of the NHS.   Today there was door knocking canvass teams out delivering the leaflets and asking residents to fill out the petition. 

On Wednesday evening there will be a candle light vigil in Old Place Yard, outside the House of Commons from 9pm to 10.30pm.

Finally on the reverse of the TULO leaflet there is one of my favourite quotations "The NHS will last as long as there are folk with the faith to fight for it" Aneurin Bevan 1948.

Big NHS Weekend

This weekend has been designated as the BIG NHS Weekend.  Up and down the country the Labour movement will be campaigning - street stalls, door knocking and petitioning - to save our NHS.

We have to let the public know that the Tories are planning to destroy our National Health Service.  Next week the Health Bill comes back to Parliament. In Newham, West and East Ham Labour Parties are planning to help TULO (Trade Union Liaison Organisation) run campaigning events.

UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis makes it clear what he thinks the Tories are up to:-

“Our health service is under siege. If anyone thinks that the NHS is safe in the Coalition’s hands - they better think again.  The Health and Social Care Bill is a Trojan horse bringing in private health companies to take over our health service. In Tory-ward, money talks and if patients don’t have the cash they will find themselves waiting at the end of a very long queue.”