James Robinson, Unison in Knowsley branch secretary, (personal capacity)
Since the close of the strike ballot of local government members in Unison, Socialist Party members in Unison have campaigned for a fighting strategy. As we go to press, the full results have still not been made public, nor the discussion taking place on leading bodies about the next steps, pending the conclusion of the strike ballot of Unite members on 24 July. The GMB, representing 200,000 local government workers, has also rejected the pay offer by a 64% majority vote, though are yet to move to an industrial action ballot.
Nonetheless, it is clear that there was an overwhelming vote for action by Unison members. As the vote was disaggregated by employer, the union has a mandate for action in all the areas that the Tory anti-union turnout threshold of 50% has been exceeded.
Strategy
Socialist Party Unison members put forward the strategy set out in last week’s Socialist to our regional National Joint Council reps via the union’s consultation exercise. We argued for action in all schools which met the threshold as coordinated action with teachers in the autumn and in the councils that hit the threshold, and for a reballot of any council that got a turnout of 40% or above.
We believe that the Unison leadership should adopt our strategy. National Education Union members are being consulted on the pay offer of 6.5%, and while the leadership is recommending acceptance, many members are campaigning to maintain the battle into the autumn. Unison should seek to coordinate action with Unite where they meet the threshold.
If a fighting lead is not taken, it means a further real-terms pay cut for our members in local government, who have already seen their pay fall by 25% since 2010. This is already showing in recruitment and retention issues for councils across England and Wales, and those who are working are seeing an increase in their workloads as a result.
It will risk undermining support for the Time For Real Change majority grouping on the union’s national executive, which needs to demonstrate a fighting lead if it is to prevent Unison falling back into the hands of the right wing, and that wants to hold back Unison as a fighting union and keep it safe for a Starmer-led Labour government.
