As Unite had long suspected class and race are the biggest factors in determining those that have died or been taken ill by the Covid-19 pandemic – now an undeniable fact borne out the government’s…Read more…
‘Coming home to roost’
The coronavirus itself may not discriminate along race or class lines, but because we live in a deeply unequal society, the end result is the same – Black and Asian ethnic minority (BAEM) communities…Read more…
Pandemic ‘linked to class and race’
A new report out from Public Health England (PHE) this week (June 2) has confirmed what previous studies have found – that people from black and minority ethnic (BAEM) communities are much more…Read more…
‘Our voices must be heard’
Susan Matthews, Unite’s BAME representative on its NEC spoke passionately as a proud black woman in support of having a minimum number of places reserved for BAME candidates. Unite’s political…Read more…
‘Remove race discrimination’ call
Imagine feeling as though no matter how much hard work you put in, hours given and qualifications earned, progression in your company is always out of reach. This week (February 11 – 17) marks…Read more…
NHS pay gap shock
A shocking pay gap between black and white NHS staff – in some cases one of up to nearly £10,000 — has been revealed by new research. The pay gap problem is even further compounded for…Read more…
Taking on automation
BAEM and women workers are often hardest hit by changes to the job market, Unite delegate Susan Matthews highlighted as she moved a motion on automation and how every worker must benefit equally from…Read more…
GPM&IT NISC June 2018
This is my personal report, not an official one. It omits most of the industrial business, as this is often confidential. Other than that, if you are aware of any errors please let me know.
This was the first meeting of the new National Industrial Sec…Read more…
Unite constitutional timetable 2017-2023
The detailed timetable of windows for the various meetings for the coming year is below.
For explanation of jargon and acronyms, see my glossary. For more information on Unite’s structures, see my structures page.
20 Nov – 1 Dec 2017 and 10-14 Dec 201…Read more…
McCluskey in disarray on free movement of workers
When I launched the campaign for General Secretary of Unite on Thursday evening, Len McCluskey’s backsliding on free movement of labour was one of the issues I raised. Little did I know how the issue would explode yesterday, with McCluskey and his supp…Read more…
Unite Executive Council Elections
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 Policy Conference 2016 – Wednesday’s business
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…
Defending Corbyn and Freedom of Movement
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…
UNITE constitutional timetable 2016
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…
Report from UNITE sector conference, November 2015
The conferences were organised over three days, with services sectors on Monday, manufacturing sectors on Tuesday, and transport sectors on Wednesday. The Graphical, Paper, Media & IT (GPM&IT) conference was on Tuesday. This report covers the p…Read more…
Checking for discrimination in selection
There are many situations, from recruitment to promotion to redundancies, where employers make selections between people. You often hear people talking about the importance of doing “Equality Impact Assessments” and checking for discrimination, but I’v…Read more…
Unite Rules Conference – day three
The main excitement on Wednesday was motion 2/1 from the Executive Council, which removed “so far as may be lawful from rule “2.1 The objects of the Union shall, as far as may be lawful, be:”. Len McCluskey gave a great speech arguing why it was …Read more…
Organising strategy – mobilise or organise?
On 8th November I attended four fascinating meetings at the Historical Materialism conference with people from the USA and Canada discussing the plight of the labour movement and ideas for turning it round.
I found the debates really useful and there …Read more…