Yesterday, the first day of UNISON’s annual Local Government Conference at the Brighton Centre was greeted, in appropriate local style, by the annual naked bike ride.
This helps to demonstrate that Brighton is more fun every week than any conference an…Read more…
Celebrate the Jubilee? Abolish the Monarchy!
I was finally able today to take a call from “Labour for a New Democracy”, who are lobbying for UNISON conference delegates to re-prioritise motion 102 at National Delegate Conference, which only stands any chance of getting debated if it is reprioriti…Read more…
If you knew your history…
More than 31 years ago, in March 1991, Labour Briefing carried the report above about goings-on in what was then the single Brighton Constituency Labour Party, which had been suspended six months beforehand..
There is nothing new about the Labou…Read more…
Trade union membership: plus ca change…
Whilst everyone else is waiting for the publication of the Sue Gray report, your blogger has noticed today’s annual publication of the official report on trade union statistics.There’s not a lot of change, although the recent trend to small increases i…Read more…
Labour Briefing – Rest in Power
I am indebted to Mike Phipps and Labourhub for publishing my memories of involvement with Labour Briefing, alongside those of other comrades more centrally involved in the project over 40 years.The occasion for our trip down memory lane was the news th…Read more…
How can Labour win?
Today I have completed a course of palliative radiotherapy on the secondary tumour in my upper right arm. I hope not only that this will reduce the pain I have been experiencing, but also that comrades will accept this as a good reason not to h…Read more…
Twelve years ago on this blog – trade unionists must support our Labour Party though it does not support us
12 years ago to the day, I wrote a blog post here in the run-up to the 2010 General election in which, with a more or less heavy heart, I advocated support for Labour under the leadership of Gordon Brown.After four General Elections, and four Labour le…Read more…
Ten years ago on this blog – exposing today’s UNISON hypocrites
10 years ago to the day I blogged here about the failure of our trade union satisfactorily to assess the equality impact of proposed settlement of the public sector pension dispute which had led, five months before, to the largest strike action of my w…Read more…
Unions must fight racist Government policy
The Tory government’s plan to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda is, of course, the most appalling racist dog whistle imaginable in the run-up to the May local elections.It almost certainly isn’t intended that this will ever actually happen, it is a device t…Read more…
Marching to the beat of a different drum
I’ve been on very many demonstrations since the late 1970s.
In particular I have marched against war. I marched against war in Iraq in 2003 when we were in a majority and I marched against war in the Falklands in 1982 when we were in a minority.
Unfort…Read more…
Don’t Invite Them In!
This is the last, for the time being, extract from my memoirs (which you can purchase at https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/an-obscure-footnote-in-trade-union-history). This concerns a little remarked upon overlap between vampire lore and UNISON …Read more…
Trade Union Bully Boy
Once again, here is an extract from my memoirs (which you can purchase at https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/an-obscure-footnote-in-trade-union-history). This explains how I came to be described in the national press as a “Trade Union Bully …Read more…
The Great White Elephant of the Euston Road
Just when you thought it might stop here is yet another extract from my memoirs (which you can purchase at https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/an-obscure-footnote-in-trade-union-history). This concerns the UNISON Centre, a large erection on the Eu…Read more…
Practical International Solidarity
In response to popular demand (from regular readers of this blog, Sid and Doris Blogger) here is another extract from my memoirs (which you can purchase at https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/an-obscure-footnote-in-trade-union-history), an excursio…Read more…
Democracy in UNISON
Continuing the series of extracts from my memoirs (which you can purchase at https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/an-obscure-footnote-in-trade-union-history), here is a recollection of the debate about UNISON democracy back in 2008 during which it wa…Read more…
A new hope…
Here is this week’s final extract from my memoirs, available at https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/an-obscure-footnote-in-trade-union-history. This concerns a meeting called, almost 16 years ago, by the best leader our party never had;
“On the da…Read more…
A setback for bigotry
Here’s yet another extract from my memoirs, available at https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/an-obscure-footnote-in-trade-union-history.
This concerns a case which was one of the first in which an employment tribunal had to consider the interactio…Read more…
Care connect learning – when UNISON lost a lot of money…
Here’s yet another extract from my memoirs, which are going for a song at https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/an-obscure-footnote-in-trade-union-history.
This refers to my first (of seven) term of office on the National Executive Council (NEC) of …Read more…
Culture change in Lambeth?
Here’s yet another extract from my memoirs, which you can purchase for next to nothing at https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/an-obscure-footnote-in-trade-union-history.This concerns changes made to Lambeth council’s Human Resources function, dur…Read more…
An off colour remark…
Here’s yet another extract from my memoirs, which you can purchase inexpensively at https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/an-obscure-footnote-in-trade-union-history.
This concerns a staff conference held by Lambeth Council on the Southbank in 2001;
…Read more…