The Executive Council and the General Secretary of Unite the union stand in full solidarity with Svitzer tug boat workers in Teesside who are on strike for fair pay. It disgraceful that Maersk…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…
Snap General Secretary election called
Once again Len McCluskey has decided to force a snap General Secretary election, in which he intends to stand for re-election. The announcement is here and the official Unite information is here.
Calling the election now, a year early, with nomination…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…
An attempt to split the United Left
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…
Unite Executive Guidance on Strike Pay
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…
General Secretary’s report from March 2016 Unite EC meeting
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…
Updated Unite Rulebook
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…
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…
UNITE GPM&IT National Industrial Sector Committee, January 2016
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…
Unite Rules Conference – day four
Note:
This report is incomplete as I don’t yet have the official record of decisions. I will update it when I do.
The main excitement of the day was conference overturning the Executive Council over Gibraltar. NR/4 created an Area Activist…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…
Unite Rules Conference – day two
Tuesday’s business was less contentious than Monday’s, but covered a wide range of issues.
In the debate on retired members, Assistant General Secretary Steve Turner clarified that “Executive Statements”, if passed, do actually change rules – it is up…Read more…
Unite Rules Conference – day one
Most of the contentious business was crammed into day one.It started lively, with conference decisively supporting my move to reject the Executive Council’s undemocratic Standing Orders. Despite knowing in advance that the challenge was coming the lead…Read more…
Stop the power grab at Unite Rules Conference
Unite’s leadership is engaged in an anti-democratic power grab and delegates need to be ready to put a stop to it.
Unite’s Rules Conference starts on Monday and delegates have been sent a 160 page book of motions to change our rule book. The sh…Read more…