Challenge to UNISON’S Labour links by UNISON general secretary candidate

Challenge to UNISON’S Labour links by UNISON general secretary candidate

UNISON’s forthcoming General Secretary election will see a clear
challenge to the union’s links with the Labour Party
given the
announcement that North West NEC member Roger Bannister has secured
sufficient branch nominations to contest the election.

  • Roger Bannister opposes continued Labour Party affiliation, and
    has pledged to ballot the members on this issue should he be elected
    as General Secretary.
  • Secretary of the union’s Knowsley Branch on Merseyside, Roger
    Bannister has a long record of trade union militancy, including
    leading strikes that have secured agreements to reduce working time
    to 35 hours for local government and other workers.
  • He has stood twice before for the general secretary position.
  • Roger got 32% of the vote in 2000. At one time it was thought that he would beat the eventual victor Dave Prentis, who was at that time deputy general secretary of the union.
  • He also proposed the item at this year’s Local Government Service Group Conference of UNISON which has set the union on a collision course with the Government over attacks on the local government pension scheme.

On hearing of his success in the nomination process, Roger Bannister
said:

"It is great news for UNISON members that they will
have the opportunity to show their opposition to wasting millions of
pounds of members’ money on the Labour Party in this election.

"The other candidates are both Labour Party members who wish
to see the status quo continue.