This is a blog post about an obscure section of a trade union rule book. If that is not your thing then please, look away now.Although it is now more than three years since I last held any office in UNISON, I do like to keep abreast of the latest editi…Read more…

This is a cross-posting of a piece I wrote for Labour Grassroots (a site well worth a visit).
Last month, the Labour administration on Brighton and Hove City Council stepped aside, making way for the City’s second Green administration. To understand th…Read more…

 Nominations open today in the election to replace Dave Prentis as UNISON General Secretary, presenting quite a conundrum to serious socialists in UNISON’s ranks. My starting point is that serious socialists want to see UNISON achieve its potentia…Read more…

This is a cross-posting of a blog post I wrote for LabourHub (a site which is well worth a visit); UNISON General Secretary election – continuity or change? UNISON was twenty-seven years old last month (too old now to be a “Young Member” unde…Read more…

Almost six months ago, I returned here to the vexed question of the “exit payment cap”, noting that the Government’s response to 2019 consultation was then awaited. The Government have now responded to the consultation, confirming their intention …Read more…

Although the nomination period for UNISON General Secretary does not open until 10 August, various candidates are emerging. Although I have been told on social media that I have already made my mind up whom I am supporting, I am taking a little time, a…Read more…

UNISON has today published the election procedures for the forthcoming General Secretary election. There are a number of changes since previous such elections, some of which will are clearly in response to the findings of the Certification Officer…Read more…

With the timetable for the UNISON General Secretary election set to be released to activists on Monday and several candidates already having declared their actual or potential candidacy, I have already been told online who I support (even before having…Read more…

I recently broke my own rule, by being drawn into an argument with someone I barely know on social media (which is invariably a waste of time). This was an individual who took issue with my critical comments on correspondence published online by some L…Read more…

As ever on this blog, these are my personal opinions. Over the past few weeks disciplinary action has been initiated by the Labour Party against three members of the Labour Group on Brighton and Hove City Council, in two cases this involved (or wo…Read more…

The announcement yesterday of the forthcoming retirement of Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary for the past twenty years, will be the occasion for much praise. You won’t be reading this blog expecting to see more of that. Those who want to consider…Read more…

It is official then. Having served four terms as UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, now in his 70s, will not seek a fifth. There’s a fair bit to be said about Dave’s time at the helm, but that is not the purpose of this post. Nor do I intend …Read more…

Having spent many years as a socialist activist in our movement (all of them as a Labour Party member) I have encountered from time to time those who do not appear to agree with the view, which I have seen attributed to Lenin, that “spitefulness in gen…Read more…

The sacking of Rebecca Long-Bailey as Shadow Education Secretary casts a light upon the state of our Party in these times. For a start, the actual offence for which she was apparently dismissed – tweeting a link to an interview with a prominent ac…Read more…

Yesterday I looked in on an online meeting of my UNISON Branch (quite appropriately as I am a retired member) and heard Assistant General Secretary Roger McKenzie speaking passionately and persuasively about Black as the colour of politics rather than …Read more…

Today’s news that trade union membership in the UK is inching upwards (an increase of 1.4% or 91,000 to 6.44 million) is hardly grounds for (even a socially distanced) party to celebrate – but it does tell us something about the resilience of our movem…Read more…

I have been blogging here now for almost fourteen years.
In that time I have sometimes gone back to amend – or delete – posts after they were originally posted.
There are all sorts of reasons why one might do that and it wouldn’t necessarily be wrong (…Read more…

I spent most of my working life, about thirty years, as a union representative. Over those years I represented workers at many hundreds of disciplinary hearings.
Obviously (I hope!) it is the role of a union representative in those circumstances to rep…Read more…

Ninety four years ago tomorrow, on 11 May 1926, a mounted force of volunteer special constables (such as those pictured at the time outside the Town Hall) attacked a peaceful crowd of working people outside what was then Brighton’s Tram Depot (now Lewe…Read more…

As a retired trade unionist I have been helping out my union branch by commenting, from time to time, on risk assessments which have been prepared by the employer to deal with the hazard posed by covid-19 in the work environment. Union activists need t…Read more…