Socialist Party members in Unite
This election is of critical importance. Unite members will elect the executive that will work with Sharon Graham, who became Unite General Secretary in August 2021. The ballot runs from 27 March to 25 April.
Socialist Party members in the union campaigned for Sharon because she was the candidate with the industrial programme best equipped for this tumultuous period for workers and their families.
Unite and the strike wave
The Covid pandemic saw workers fighting for safe workplaces and against a brutal offensive by the bosses, particularly fire and rehire. Unite was to the fore, and led the strike wave that grew as the economy opened up.
Workers now face the Tory cost-of-living crisis, but Unite can play a leading role in mass coordinated action, a 24-hour general strike, to break the Tory pay cap and anti-union laws.
Since Sharon’s election, Unite has led over 500 disputes, of which 80% have already brought success, gaining around £250 million in improved pay for members.
Unite’s reps now have more opportunities to get involved in planning for action, for better pay and conditions, and for fairer workplaces. Further democratisation is planned and needs to be supported by the new executive.
These positive steps have alarmed the employers, who now seek to undermine the fighting spirit in Unite. The newly elected executive will need to support a fighting leadership for the union.
Unite policy on Labour councils: no cuts!
Members need a union that takes on employers who attack our members, even when that means Labour councils. Last year, Coventry Labour council spent over £7 million trying to break Unite members’ action on the bins. They won a victory after an eight-month strike.
The union was prepared to suspend Labour councillors who were Unite members and part of this attack on the bin drivers.
After Sharon’s victory, Unite adopted a policy proposed by Socialist Party members, urging Labour councils to refuse to make further cuts to services, instead passing no-cuts needs budgets, supporting struggling communities.
Political strategy
There is growing support among Unite members for the union to support candidates prepared to fight alongside members in industrial struggles and who support our policies, whichever political party they belong to.
They no longer believe Starmer’s New Labour offers a voice for workers. A political alternative is needed with socialist policies.
We call for nationalisation of the profiteering energy, utility and transport companies. We demand fully funded NHS, education and other services, and the end of privatisation. We need rent controls and affordable public housing.
This Executive Council election is the chance to consolidate the advances made in Unite since the election of Sharon Graham. The candidates below, including, but not only, Socialist Party members, are standing as part of the slate of candidates who supported Sharon’s election.
South West region seat: Suzanne Muna
Rep at City of Bristol College; previously secretary of the Housing Workers Branch and five years on the EC
Health seat: Len Hockey
Secretary of Unite Bart’s Health branch in east London, led the victory which returned 1,700 workers, including porters and cleaners, to direct NHS employment
West Midlands region seat: Antony Allen
HGV refuse collection driver, on the strike committee of the Coventry bin strike
Not-for-profit seat: Tanis Belsham-Wray
Campaigned for union recognition in a number workplaces, chair of regional young members’ committee, Yorkshire TUC young trade unionist of the year
- Supporting Sharon Graham’s manifesto
- Active support for Unite members – properly resourced reps and activists
- A member-led, democratic, diverse union
- Collective power and coordinated action
- Strike together against the bosses’ offensive, the Tories’ cost-of-living squeeze, and their anti-union laws
- Socialist policies, for a real political alternative for workers – support candidates who support Unite members and policies
To help in this campaign, contact: [email protected]
For an in-depth article on the situation in Unite read: Unite Elections: Consolidating a fighting union
