My UNISON NEC 2013 Ballot Paper for Greater London & Community

Vote for the forces of light and reason!

Greater London UNISON WEET Seminar April 2013

Picture is from the Greater London Regional Water, Energy, Environment and Transport (WEET) seminar last week in Glorious Croyde Bay (UNISON's very own award winning holiday resort).

I was there to lead on a workshop on "Communications and social media". Many UNISON branches in WEET have similar organising challenges as in the Housing Association and voluntary sector.

We share the problem of a fragmented work force spread over a very large geographical area. Members and activists can feel isolated and "out of the loop". Non members are not aware of the union and all the things that the union can do for them. Traditional means of communication are difficult to carry out and very resource intense.

In the workshop we looked at the pros and cons of setting up branch Websites, blogs, FaceBook groups, Twitter, Video conferencing and mobile texting (amongst other things).

This is to supplement and not totally replace traditional trade union communications such as face to face meetings, newsletters or telephone calls.

London WEET are a great bunch of dedicated union activists and I really enjoyed the workshop and their questions, ideas and general enthusiasm (even from Sid who had been banned from speaking to me or anyone else about pensions!)

Chuka Umunna MP at Joint London & Eastern Region UNISON Labour Link Forum

Picture of the joint meeting with UNISON Labour Link Greater London and Eastern Regions.

At first each region had held their separate annual meetings then we met up to hear the first guest speaker Richard Howitt MEP. Next was Chuka Umunna MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Chuka gave his usual very polished and competent speech ripping into this Tory led government.

As a former employment law solicitor he pointed out how the Tories are rolling back basic protection for all of us at work. They have already raised the limit for claiming unfair dismissal from one year to two years; introduced fees to take out an employment tribunal claim; got rid of independent lay judges; capped compensation awards and attacked TUPE as well as 3rd party harassment claims.

In the Q&A he dismissed a question from the miserablist who was rabbiting on about some silly nonsense that Chuka was supposed to have said (and had clearly not).

I asked Chuka about a recent interview with Ed Miliband during a visit to Denmark when he was reported to have been asked does he support the high public spending and taxes they have in Denmark being replicated in the UK? (obviously a trap question). Ed was quoted as saying that no he doesn't, but he is interested in copying their high skill base and training. My question was how can you have a high skill base and training without high public spending paid for by higher progressive taxation?

Chuka replied by saying he wants people to have more skills and training and a more equal society but he thinks that people in his constituency simply don't have the money to pay more taxes at the this moment. They are struggling to survive.

Save Lewisham A&E March this Saturday 26 January

"UNISON expresses bitter disappointment that TSA Matthew Kershaw has chosen to ignore the unprecedented response to the recent consultation exercise in respect of his health proposals across Lewisham and the South London Healthcare Trust.

In doing so he disregards a number of compelling clinical arguments in favour of the retention of emergency and maternity services on the Lewisham site.

Whilst the political arguments are taken to the heart of government by our local Labour Party MPs, and the Secretary of State deliberates on the final decision, UNISON is urging all of its members to join in the march and rally on Saturday 26th January.

Come and march with your local UNISON branch and join with UNISON colleagues from across South London in demonstrating against the proposed down grading of our local emergency and maternity services.

The march will pass by the hospital and terminate in Mountsfield Park around 14.00, with live music and various speakers, including UNISON Greater London Deputy Regional Convenor (and Lewisham's very own) Conroy Lawrence.

Assemble under the UNISON Greater London Regional banner on the roundabout by Lewisham Station from 12.00 on Saturday 26th January.

In the meanwhile UNISON will be making a further submission to the Secretary of State drawing attention to the powerful arguments made in our consultation response previously submitted to Matthew Kershaw.

As others have already commented, we need to maximise turnout at this march and rally in order deliver a resounding statement to the Secretary of State before he makes his final decision.

Please make every effort to support this event and I look forward to joining with you all on the 26th".

Mike Davey
Lewisham Hospital Branch Secretary

Affordable, Safe, Adequate, Secure Housing for All

I know following the riots last year in the UK we have nothing to be smug about. Yet I honestly do dread the impact on our society of this Tory led Coalition housing policies. This motion has been passed by my branch and submitted to our UNISON London AGM next year. 

"This Regional Council AGM notes:-

1. that the housing policies of the Tory led Coalition government is leading to the cleansing of ordinary working people from London and other areas of high rents across the Country.

2. This process was started by a local area housing allowance benefit cap which deliberately ignored actual rent levels. While the imposition of a total benefit cap will finish the cleansing.

3. Families and communities will be split as people have to move hundreds of miles across the country to find cheap private sector accommodation. Soon there will be concentrations of poverty and deprivation in suburbs that circle middle class city enclaves as they do in the divisive and polarised “Banlieues” that are a blight and a disgrace upon Paris.

4. This will not just affect the sick and the unemployed but also the working poor who rely on Housing Benefit to top up their poverty wages.

5. Due to the absolute shortage of social housing, rents for everyone in the private sector are becoming more and more unaffordable while overcrowding and insecurity of tenure increases.

6. There are now more UNISON members who live in the private rented sector than in social housing. Many members have grown up children living with them who are unable to afford to leave home due to high housing costs.

7. The underlying reason for this housing crisis is the failure of the market and successive governments to ensure a sufficient supply of low cost public and private housing. Instead of investing in building homes, housing benefit has been squandered on subsiding high rents. Often going into the hands of criminal Rachman landlords.

8. At the same time that we have massive under capacity and unemployment amongst construction and development workers.

This Regional Council calls for

1. A mass housing investment programme. Building new, refurbishing and retro-cladding older homes. Paid for in the short term by increases in progressive taxes and in the long term by reductions in housing benefit and the Keynesian multiplier effect of an increase in the government finances from building workers paying taxes rather than claiming benefits.

2. The compulsory Licensing and regulation of all landlords, social and private - and strict enforcement of minimum environmental, management and repair standards. Rents levels for all regardless of tenure must be fair and reasonable to tenants and landlords.

3. In the meanwhile local housing allowances and benefit caps should reflect the reality of living in high rent areas.

4. Calls on Labour Link to consider advocating such policies on a regional and national level.