Hackney council workers striking for better pay on 10 July 2014, photo Paul Mattsson

Hackney council workers striking for better pay on 10 July 2014, photo Paul Mattsson   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Local government unions accept shabby pay deal

The heads of the three local government unions Unison, Unite and GMB, have announced that their members have accepted the pay proposal from the employers.

The proposal from the employers in no way can be seen as an improvement for the living standards of the vast majority of local government workers.

The excellent response of union members to the strike of 10th July was a real opportunity to build a movement that could have inflicted a defeat on the employers. Instead, accepting the current offer represents a squandering of the hard work and sacrifice of members in the run up to 10th July and on the day itself.

Spelthorne borough council Unison picket line, 10 July 2014, photo P Couchman

Spelthorne borough council Unison picket line, 10 July 2014, photo P Couchman   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

The majority of the Unison leadership acted in a cowardly fashion in making no recommendation on a pitiful proposal, simply saying it was the “best that can be achieved by negotiation”. It is not surprising that with such uninspiring leadership those branches that simply relied on official material, delivered up the sell-out required.

However it is interesting to note that those branches and the north west region which openly called for rejection and produced their own material calling for rejection (despite intimidation in some cases by unelected officials) in the main delivered a reject vote. This clearly demonstrated that where a confident lead was given, members were willing to fight.

If the current leadership thinks it is off the hook over the shabby way the dispute was handled then it needs to think again.

It is being reported that for only the second time in the union’s history, branches representing 200,000 members have voted to call a special conference to debate this pay campaign.

In addition, over the next few weeks members will get the chance in the regional and national executive elections to start the process of kicking out the leaders who refused to lead and even the very top in the general secretary election.

It’s time to reclaim our union.

By a Socialist Party member in Unison

This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 14 November 2014 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.