Unite to defend our jobs and services

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Model Motion

excerpts from the leaflet:

Don’t attack union activists

Three activists in Unison are facing disciplinary investigations by the union following a walkout in protest at Tony Blair’s speech to the TUC in September this year.

Tony Staunton in Plymouth, Mandy Berger in London and John McDermott in Leeds are facing action. This has been followed by a separate investigation over the use of a computer bought for Tony Staunton by his Unison branch.

Most Unison members will be shocked that this could be a priority for our union at a time when we face such concerted attacks from a New Labour government that are devastating public services.

The essential services we provide to the public face continual cuts and privatisation. The implementation of the single status deal is leading to chaos. Even the NHS is on the danger list. Unison is part of the national campaigns to defend these services and nearly every local branch has a battle on its hands.

Tony Blair has announced he is going. But Gordon Brown has already made it clear he is not going to make any significant changes. He seems more concerned with promising tax cuts to big business than serious discussion with the unions about our concerns over privatisation, nuclear weapons or the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The workers who keep public services going also face an onslaught from all sides from this government. Our pensions are under attack - they want us to work longer and pay more for provision in our old age.

Gordon Brown says public sector pay rises must be below inflation this year - and threatens a further pay freeze in the future. In local government, Unison branches face a battle to win equal pay for the lowest paid, and to stop councils using this as an excuse for pay cuts for thousands of other workers.

This all means that we need our trade unions more than ever. Unison’s campaigns nationally and at local level are crucial for our members and the future of our services. We need the strongest union possible - not to be fighting among ourselves.

At the TUC conference in September many delegates from the different unions represented expressed their anger at the visit from Tony Blair. Some walked out, some carried placards, some shouted, some heckled.

Mandy, John and Tony left the room with those who walked out when Blair started speaking. Although some unions had officially organised to walk out, the Unison delegation had not voted on what to do. Subsequently, the Unison presidential team took the view that the three Unison delegates who walked out had acted wrongly, and sent them home immediately.

The anger from trade unionists at New Labour’s policies of war and privatisation exploded at the TUC conference in Brighton in September. Dave Prentis, Unison general secretary, was loudly cheered when he spoke about the union’s campaign against NHS privatisation. Tony Blair’s speech to the conference came at the height of the crisis over the leadership of the Labour Party. Blair was visibly shaken by the scale of the protests when he spoke. Many delegates held up “Time To Go” posters when Blair came into the hall. Members of the RMT rail workers’ union delegation and others then walked out when he began his speech. Other delegates heckled when he spoke about “defending democracy” After his speech Blair was forced for once to answer questions about the issues which affect workers such as privatisation and union rights. His responses received absolutely no applause and his praise for academies and private companies angered many delegates. Peter Skelly of the RMT union told the BBC why many of the delegates chose to walk out when Blair started his speech: “The walkout was unanimously voted on by The RMT delegation. We are walking out in protest to show how he and his government have betrayed us and the trade union movement over the last ten years.”

Whatever Unison members think about the events at the TUC, most would expect that the union would have better things to do than to pursue a formal investigation against the three Unison delegates who walked out.

Even more shockingly, only a month later in what can only appear as a witch hunt, Tony Staunton suddenly faces a further investigation - that he used Unison resources to print a Unison United Left leaflet that contained his phone number.

On November 1st Unison nationally had called on branches to lobby MPs to protest at NHS cuts and privatisation and Tony Staunton went with a delegation from his branch.

Senior regional officials checked that Tony was attending the lobby in London and took advantage of his absence to enter the Plymouth Unison branch office on what appears to be a fishing expedition.

Subsequently they have demanded the computers provided over a period of ten years for the use of the branch secretary in his home, despite the face that these contain confidential and personal information for Tony and his family.

These heavy-handed investigations are very upsetting to those who work hard on a daily basis to organise the union. They can only lead to tensions and divisions within the union.

Ordinary Unison members don’t want to see their union members fighting among themselves. They want a union that stands up over the concerns they find important. This is not a time for internal disputes.

Let’s make sure we have the maximum unity we need to face the crucial battles ahead.

What you can do

TONY STAUNTON e-mail tony.staunton@blueyonder.co.uk

MANDY BERGER e-mail mandy.berger@camden.gov.uk

JOHN MCDERMOTT e-mail johntherhino@aol.com

To get more copies of this fact sheet, email: layactivists@hotmail.co.uk