#Lab13 One Nation trade unionism: can employees win more by working in partnership with employers?

My first fringe of conference was very topical. I missed the start due to the short but lively conference debate on the Ray Colins report about the link with the trade unions.

It was organised by the IPA, the union Community and Progress (who got a fair bit of stick during the previous debate).

Speakers were Toby Perkins MP, shadow small business minister; Roy Rickhuss national officer, Community; Nita Clarke chief executive, IPA; Maurice Glasman peer and Blue Labour founder Chair: Sarah Veale head of equality and employment rights, TUC

I came in as Nita began to speak. She had worked for unison for many years and later advised Tony Blair on unions. She thought there was no future for unions in the private sector unless they believe in partnership. Some unions seem to prefer to ballot for strike action at the beginning of negotiations not as a "last resort". While 3 years ago a number of employers had said to her that they wished they had unions in their workplaces since they would give employees a voice. They no longer say this. She also thought that "Learning reps" was the most important service that unions can offer. What people want is help to get on in work.  Unions should not retreat into "tigmoo". Its not about structures but about culture and attitude.

Next speaker was Maurice. He believes that it is only labour not capital investment that generates real value. Educating union leaders and building organising in unions is key.  Unions have a problem. In a recent survey 60% of people identified themselves as pro workers but anti trade union. All firms that employ over 100 workers should have employee representation. Unions in Germany have to get their people elected to sit on boards and this keeps unions honest. Regional banks with unions part of the governance are also needed. Personal debt is the biggest issue facing union members.

I asked a question but firstly pointed out that it was considered okay for me to be a staffside representative helping to run a pension fund worth over £900 million yet in the UK staff reps have no right to be on a company board.

I explained that I was late attending this meeting and might have missed something but while I accept that unions should be always looking at themselves and be ready to change you have to remember that some employers are very anti trade union and don't believe anyone has a right to interfere in the running of their business as they see fit.   Also, you won't get employees identifying with companies in the same way they do in Germany because management in Germany don't tend to pay themselves the obscene amounts of money that they do over here. Without pay restraint by UK  management you won't get partnership.

My NEC report to UNISON Community Service Group Executive

In June I was re-elected unopposed as the Community General Seat representative on Unison National Executive Committee (NEC). Isobel (Izzy) McVicar the other Community NEC member was replaced by Janet Byran.

Izzy was the first ever female NEC Community member and had done a fantastic job on the NEC for our members and the union. I have no doubt that she will soon be back soon in a national position.

The first meeting of the 2013-2015 NEC was immediately after the end of our National Delegate Conference in Liverpool. This meeting was to elect our lay President and vice Presidents for the following year. I was really pleased that Maureen Le Marinel has been elected president of UNISON for the next 12 months. Maureen is branch secretary of the Lancashire police branch and is the union's first openly gay president.

Lucia McKeever, a nursing assistant is the new senior vice-president. Lucia is the first woman from Northern Ireland to hold this position. Maureen and Lucia are joined by North Yorkshire County Council branch secretary Wendy Nichols, as junior vice-president - making this the union's first ever all woman presidential team.

The first business meeting of the NEC was on July 3rd at the UNISON Centre building (our national headquarters) in Euston Road, London. At this meeting our general secretary Dave Prentis told us that mobilising for the NHS Rally on 29 September at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester - must be a priority for the union. It is also an event to defend the welfare state and public services. Which are key issues for Community members, both as workers and citizens.

Pay and the casualisation (such as Bank staff or zero hours contracts) of the workforce are the other campaigning issues for the whole union. Community Care and Support members have suffered from direct cuts in their wages while most of us have had “hidden” pay cuts due to years of below inflation pay awards (if any). Many of our members are also still on poverty minimum wage rates.

Assistant general secretary Bronwyn McKenna reported on a recent equal pay victory members in Scotland which will hopefully stop employers using ridiculous arguments to avoid equal pay justice.

The NEC has a number of sub-committees. I had been re-appointed by the lay Presidential team to be a member of Policy and Development sub-committee, an employer trustee on the £600 million UNISON staff pension fund and as a delegate to the TUC Congress. There is a great UNISON motion going to Congress on Fair Pay (not a minimum wage, not a “living” wage but fair wages including terms and conditions such as sickness benefits and pensions) which I will report further about soon. I was re-elected by NEC Link levy payers to the National Labour Link Committee.

Next was a series of elections by NEC members of Committee Chairs and vice chairs. During which I spent an hour stuck in a lift with 12 other NEC members. Which was not a particularly pleasant experience but as a Housing management officer gives me more empathy with my residents when they complain about lift breakdowns! (see picture above from inside trapped lift)

I am planning to make regular reports to Community members on NEC and sub-committees I sit on. The next NEC meeting will be in October. Please circulate this report to any Community members in your branch and let me know of any issues or campaigns that I should be aware of or can offer assistance.

John Gray

NEC Community General seat Member (and Secretary of Greater London Housing Association Branch). If any Community branches or members want to contact me please ring 07432 150 530 or email john.gray2012ATBtinternetDOTcom (personal blog "John’s Labour blog" http://grayee.blogspot.co.uk/ and Twitter @grayee)

UNISON NEC Elections: still 10 days of voting to go!!!

The biannual postal ballot elections for UNISON NEC is still on until May 24th.

If you haven't already voted (and the great majority of UNISON members will have not voted) you still have the chance to vote for the forces of light and progress such as my Community Colleague Isobel McVicar.  Have a look at this site for recommendations. 

So check out the pile of post in the kitchen drawer that you haven't got around to sorting out yet. If you did not receive a ballot paper ring UNISON direct on 0845 355 0845.

Consultation on final pay offer for all on Local Government terms and conditions

This email was sent out by UNISON Community National Office yesterday. Many workers whose pay is linked to Local Government rates (NJC) do not work directly for Councils.

I represent these workers (my pay is also subject to this agreement) at the UNISON NJC Committee on behalf of Community Executive.

Dear colleagues,

Please find below the final offer from NJC employers to joint local government trade unions.

After our rejection of the two ‘options’ in their first pay offer, the Local Government Employers (LGE) came back to us with a final offer in writing on 25 April (attached).

The revised offer is:

·                     1% on all pay points from 1 April 2013

·                     Deletion of scale point 4 (the bottom pay point) from 1 October 2013

There are around 28,000 employees – mostly women working part-time - on scale point 4, who would move onto the revised scale point 5 in October. This would mean a 1% increase for them between April and 30 September and a further 1.4% increase on 1 October. Overall they would move from £6.30 to £6.45 – a 2.4% increase.

UNISON’s NJC Committee will be meeting on the 7 May in the morning to discuss the final offer and agree its recommendation for the branch consultation which will start as soon as possible after 7 May. The Joint Trade Union Side will meet in the afternoon and will hopefully agree a joint way forward.

John Gray is the Community Service Group Executive representative on the NJC Committee.  If branches or regions have the opportunity to take soundings with members on NJC conditions before 7 May, please pass on any comments to John at johnDOTgray2012ATBtinternet.com.

My UNISON NEC 2013 Ballot Paper for Greater London & Community

Vote for the forces of light and reason!

UNISON Eastern Region Community Service Group AGM & Seminar 2013

Last weekend I was in Bury St Edmunds for the Regional SGE Annual General Meeting and Seminar.

UNISON nationally is divided into 13 different regions. Eastern Region comprises the big English Counties of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk.

The Community Service Group is the part of UNISON for the voluntary sector and Housing Associations. Community is the newest but third biggest Service Group in UNISON.

There were 16 Community branch delegates from all over the region. I work in London Region but my employer has offices in 4 different UNISON regions and we had three Eastern region delegates present at this meeting.

First there was the business AGM. Their excellent Chair, Henry Meiklejohn, went through minutes, accounts, elections, work plan, constitutional amendments and motions. Afterwards I was their guest speaker. I spoke on the current state of our sector, which is pretty disastrous, due to cuts in Supporting People budgets, welfare reforms and certain rogue employers leading and cheering this Governments race to the bottom; what we can do about it now to defend members and provide quality services but also where we should be aiming for in the long term to transform our sector.

I will post an edited account of my speech soon.

There was a wide ranging and constructive Q&A afterwards then we broke up for a meal which was followed by even more debate in the hotel lounge and later in the Bury St Edmunds Corn Exchange (which is now by a complete coincidence a Weatherspoons bar)

The following morning the seminar began with a presentation by Simon Watson, who is a UNISON National Officer for Community. He gave a comprehensive overview of our Service Group history, structure and plans for the future. One delegate made a point that he had heard Simon 2 years give a similar presentation on Community but since then a lot of the obvious gaps highlighted have since been filled.

There was a fascinating talk on the history of politics and trade unions by Community SGE member, Peter Todd. He made it clear that trade unions must grow up and stop talking about the past but find new ways of doing things.

UNISON Local organiser in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, Catherine Ward, led a workshop on strategic campaigning. Analyise, identify issues, plan, set targets but most of important to stop, think and evaluate. Be prepared to develop new tactics to fit new strategies.

Next Regional organiser (and Head of Community in Eastern Region), Nalin Cooke, talked about organising and recruitment in our sector. He referred to the key techniques that the Barack Obama campaign used to motivate supporters: Use “Anger, Hope and then Action” to galvanise support.

We then had a role play where we had to interview each other and act a meeting with a non union member and try to persuade them to join using the Obama principles. Afterwards each group had to demonstrate what we had discussed in the role play.

One Group (mention no names) played out this role play:-

Union rep: did you know that your employer is planning to kill your first born son? 

(ANGER)

Non member: NO!!!! OMG what can I do about it? 

Union rep: don’t worry; together we can stop this 

(HOPE)

Non Member: Fantastic, but how? 

Union rep: Here is an AK47 and the home address of your CEO. 

(ACTION)

Now, will you join the union? 

(Joke, repeat Joke)

I really enjoyed speaking at the AGM and participating in this well organised and thoughtful Seminar. Our Community Service Group is finally finding its feet and establishing itself throughout the union.

(Thanks also to Theresa for all her hard work in organising this event). 

Picture credit to Ian Kalinowski

UNISON Community NEC elections 2013: Nominate John Gray & Isobel McVicar

NEC Community Seats Nomination Request
John Gray & Isobel McVicar
RMS 3083288 & 5260001

8 January 2013

Dear UNISON Branch Secretary

We believe that your branch is entitled to nominate candidates to the two Community
seats for this year's National Executive Council elections. We request that your
branch considers nominating John Gray for the General Seat and Isobel McVicar for
the Female seat.

John has been an activist in UNISON for many years and held a number of branch and
regional positions including Treasurer, Health & Safety, Welfare, Labour Link,
International officer and Assistant Secretary. He is now the Branch Secretary of the
Greater London Housing Associations Branch which has nearly 3500 members.

Isobel has also been a longstanding UNISON activist holding positions of Assistant
Conditions of Service Officer, Publicity Officer and Branch Secretary in the Glasgow
City Branch and International Officer in the Manchester Branch

In 2011 we were the first ever elected Community members to be represented on the
National Executive Council. While on the NEC John has served on the Policy and
Development Committee, Trustee on the UNISON staff pension fund and National
Labour link. Isobel has served on the Finance and Resources Committee and the
International Committee.

Community members are facing amongst the very worse cuts in jobs and attacks on
their pay, pensions, terms and conditions by this Tory led Government.

Care and support staff wages in particular are under threat as unscrupulous employers
deliberately underbid to win Supporting People contracts then try and do their up most
to destroy TUPE protections.

While many Housing management organisations are cash rich after years of inflation
plus rent rises yet still refuse to give their staff decent pay rises.

Many Community members belong to the Pension Trust or the Social Housing Pension
Fund. Some employers are using flawed and discredited accounting measures as an
excuse to try and close their schemes or raise contributions to unaffordable levels.

Both of us have been working and campaigning with branches and regions to oppose
these measures. We believe that Community members must play our part in opposing
Austerity and arguing for an alternative economic policy.

We also believe that there are a number of Community specific campaigns that
UNISON should be pursuing such as:-

• Binding Sectoral Pay Boards - Set up to decide the pay and conditions of all
staff by collective bargaining including a living wage minimum for all Community
workers and agency/sub-contractors.
• Better governance and democracy - increasingly many of our employer
management boards are run by highly paid unelected and unrepresentative
"elites". There should be union employee representation on all Community Trust
or management boards, especially remuneration committees (if applicable)
• Access to a decent defined benefit pension scheme for all.
• No public money for anti-trade union employers. Community organisations that
do not have trade union recognition agreements should not be allowed to bid for
grants or contracts from local or national governments.

We both work together well as your Community NEC team. While Isobel's employer is
a small charity, John's works for a large housing association, so we represent and
complement both of the major sectors in Community.

If you would like either of us to come and attend a branch meeting or Hustings (under
UNISON election rules) then please let us know and if we can, we will be delighted to
come and speak.

You can contact John on 07977 285 297/john.gray2012atbtinternetdotcom. Or Isobel on
07876 561 643/izzymcVatbtinternetdotcom
Yours faithfully

John Gray & Isobel McVicar
(I'll be posting on other NEC nominee recommendations during the next few days)