Back home after 5 days away at Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. This year I went as a Labour Councillor (self funded apart from the conference fee which is paid out of our ALC subs). Which meant that unlike delegates I could go and see the debates…Read more…
UNISON National Delegate Conference 2024: Day 1 Tuesday
I am at UNISON National Delegate Conference (NDC) as a NEC member for Community (Housing Associations and Voluntary sector). NDC is the “Parliament” of UNISON and decides upon policies, finance and rules for the forthcoming year. In the morn…Read more…
Labour Unions shout out for New Deal after telecanvass
This evening I joined trade union colleagues to take part in a telephone canvass session supporting union activists standing for Labour as MPs across the UK. I rang residents of Harrow East where UNISON Member @PrimeshPatel is standing while other…Read more…
Who wins, You Decide – UNISON SGE elections start Monday 22/4/24
Next week most UNISON members will be sent ballot papers for our Service Group Executive (SGE) elections. Not all, since some seats were uncontested. Now, UNISON is the largest union in the UK, with around 1.3 million members in thousands of…Read more…
Greater London UNISON Celebration : Year of the Black Worker
This evening I was pleased to have been invited to this celebration in the UNISON Centre in Euston. Our General Secretary, Christina McAnea, spoke and took part in Q&A as did our London Regional Secretary, Jo Galloway. There was another great …Read more…
Black Poppy Rose
This evening after our UNISON branch Executive meeting our Chair, Joseph showed me a badge he had obtained from this site. “In Remembrance of the African, Black Peoples, West Indian, Caribbean, Pacific Islands & Indigenous Communities contribu…Read more…
The EastEnders Effect. Episode 28: Representation in the East End
It is a bit long but a fascinating interview by my Councillor constituent Ade Adeyemi of my UNISON comrade, Joseph Ogundemuren. He speaks from the heart of growing up, born and bred, as a working class black male in East London from immigrant parents. …Read more…
“On the knocker” in West Ham (with a little bit of help from UNISON/Hackney)
This morning I had my councillor surgery in Vicarage Lane Community centre in West Ham ward, Newham. One constituent who came, lived close to the centre, with a list of repair issues. I was able to go with her, back to her home in order to identify rep…Read more…
UNISON National Delegate Conference 2023: Tuesday – Day one
This morning I went for a early morning run (aka slow jog) west of the Mersey then was in the Conference centre for the first day of National Delegate Conference, as one of the two London regional delegates with Yvonne Green.There was a bit of co…Read more…
UNISON Greater London Housing Associations Branch e-newsletter: Feb 2023
Welcome to the Branch Newsletter! Last Monday, we all heard the horrible news about the powerful earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria early in the morning. A week later there are still many people trapped under debris, and the ones who ma…Read more…
UNISON Greater London Regional Council AGM 2023: Re-elected as RCO for 16th time (?) in a row
This morning was our Regional Council AGM and I was pleased to have been re-elected (unopposed) as Regional Finance Convenor alongside my comrades, Yvonne Green, as Regional Convenor and Conroy Lawrence, as Deputy Convenor. We were joined on the Region…Read more…
London Labour Conference 23 – Day 2
From my twitter feed as UNISON Labour Link Delegate lead.John Gray @grayee Start of day 2 of @LondonLabour conference. 9.10am start with opening remarks by Chair Maggi Ferncombe @unisontheunionJohn Gray @grayee Proud to ha…Read more…
Homerton Ambulance Station Picket line 23.1.23
This lunch time I went to show solidarity to striking UNISON Ambulance workers, on their picket line in Homerton, East London. I went as a GLR UNISON Regional Council Officer but also on behalf of my branch. My branch Chair (and fellow Labour Councillo…Read more…
UNISON Housing Association Branch Executive Xmas Polish Dinner
After a few very busy days at the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) Conference in Bournemouth (which I will post further on) I came back to London to meet up with colleagues from my UNISON branch executive for a my first ever Polish meal at&nb…Read more…
Clarion UNISON AGM 2022 – Re-elected as National Convenor
I was really pleased to be re-elected (unopposed) this evening as the UNISON National Convenor at our AGM held in person in London Bridge HQ and virtually on msn teams. Our most active steward, Joseph Ogundemuren, was also elected to the new position o…Read more…
Why join UNISON
(hat tip our number one recruiter Joseph and his standard email to potential members)”Hi Fellow WorkerFurther to our discussion, you can join UNISON online via the link below:https://join.unison.org.uk/Signing up is very straight forward. On…Read more…
Greater London UNISON Housing Associations Branch AGM 2022
This evening was our branch AGM held in central London. It was a hybrid, in person and zoom quorate meeting. I was pleased to have been re-elected (unopposed) as the branch Labour Link officer.
Our excellent guest speaker was David Lammy M…Read more…
Croydon Council Governance Referendum 2021
Just back from an evening campaigning with Labour colleagues in Croydon on their Mayoral Referendum.
Voters are being given a choice of staying with the traditional Council Leader and Cabinet Model or an Executive Mayor system.
While I str…Read more…
John Gray Community NEC endorsement by Joseph Ogundemuren
Many thanks. Joseph is the branch secretary of the Greater London UNISON Housing Association Branch. In his personal capacity he endorses me for the Community branch nomination. Joseph has also sent another video supporting my colleague Denise Thomas …Read more…
New UNISON Convenor to Clarion Housing Group: Joseph Ogundemuren
Passing on the baton as the new UNISON Convenor of Clarion Housing Group to Joseph Ogundemuren (middle of picture) following a unanimous decision at meeting of activists last month.
Joseph is a proactive and experienced UNISON steward, member of the L…Read more…