All the union news that's fit to blog...
The union is gearing up for elections to its Executive Council (EC), which is effectively the ruling body of the union between policy and rules conferences.
The Unite web site has a page about the forthcoming elections. This includes a helpful new boo…Read more…
Unite has now issued the call for industrial action – action short of strike and the first three strike days, as part of our dispute over pay, pensions and job security. The first action starts on Monday, with the first strike on Tuesday 1st November.
…Read more…
Unite’s industrial action ballot of members in my own workplace has now opened.
There’s an appeal for support leaflet, and you can also follow us on Facebook or Twitter.Read more…
The next meeting of Unite’s Area Activists Committee for Greater Manchester will be discussing the motion below. It is taking place on Tuesday 6th December at the Unite Salford office. The meeting of the elected committee will be at 5:15pm, followed at…Read more…
The United Left is the dominant faction within UNITE, including both General Secretary Len McCluskey and a majority of the union’s Executive Council. It appears from the letter below that there is an attempt to split the United Left in Scotland, a m…Read more…
I’ve written a report for rs21 which covers the highlights of Thursday’s business. It was a packed day, which included the momentous decision to back mandatory reselection for Labour MPs – something that would not have been supported a few weeks ago.
I’ve already posted videos of Jeremy Corbyn’s speech and Sharon Graham’s presentation on the Unite Industrial Strategy – Work, Voice, Pay.
The liveliest debate of the day was around the aftermath of the EU referendum and what UNITE’s position on freed…Read more…
Jeremy Corbyn’s speech showed how much his own views align with Unite policies. He got particularly strong applause for his commitments to renationalise the railways and repeal the Trade Union Act. He also talked about the Workplace 2020 discussions ab…Read more…
At the end of Unite Policy Conference today, Sharon Graham, who leads the Organising and Leverage Department, gave a presentation about a new database which all Unite officers and reps will be able to access online, giving details of agreements at tens…Read more…
The biggest debate of the day was around local government cuts. An Executive Statement strengthened Unite’s policy, but didn’t go as far as the motions which fell as a result of it passing.
Composite 1 (Motions 1 & 2): Campaigning Against Privatis…Read more…
The main debate of the day was on Trident, where an Executive Council Statement was agreed. It contains stronger commitments to diversification than in the past, but means Unite won’t be calling for MPs to vote against Trident until there is a governme…Read more…
Unite’s National Industrial Sector Committee (NISC) for my sector (GPM&IT) met this week and agreed to submit the following as emergency motions to the Unite Policy Conference this month.
It is likely that the “leadership” will try to avoid either…Read more…
After a campaign marked by racism, fear-mongering and lies from both the main campaigns, the result is now out – a vote to leave the EU. This isn’t the result Unite campaigned for, our union was clearly on the “Remain” side, though (thank goodness) it …Read more…
Our Executive Council has issued new guidance on strike pay and criteria for application for additional payments. I can send a copy to UNITE members on request.
An important point from the EC guidance is that applications for payments should be made v…Read more…
At the start of April I was lucky enough to be part of a small delegation from the UK to the Labor Notes conference in Chicago, which brought together over 2000 activists for an inspiring, stimulating and useful set of plenaries and workshops. The trip…Read more…
The committee, which covers the Graphical, Paper, Media & IT industries, met Monday and Tuesday. This is a summary of some key points. I’ve not included most of the industrial detail (and some other points) in my report because not everything is appropriate to post publicly. For jargon, see…Read more…
I’ve got a copy of the General Secretary’s report from the March 2016 Executive Council meeting and will email it on to Unite members on request.Read more…
Unite has now published on its web site the union rulebook as updated at the 2015 Rules Conference, along with the Executive Council guidance on various rules. The same page has the branch standards and model Standing Orders.
You can find more informa…Read more…
Each year there is a schedule of meetings, intended to ensure key meetings don’t clash with each other. For 2016 the schedule is as follows:
Regional Industrial Sector Committees; Area Activists Committees; Regional Equalities & Regional Labour Pa…Read more…
The committee, which covers the Graphical, Paper, Media & IT industries, met on Thursday and Friday. This is a summary of some key points. I’ve not included most of the industrial detail in my report because it isn’t appropriate to post publicly. For jargon, see here.
NISC members were very…Read more…