A Socialist Party member at the conference
Workers from across the not-for-profit and charity sector assembled for the Unison Community Service Group Conference, including housing, social care, advice workers and more.
This is the third-largest and fastest-growing service group in the union, yet it struggles to get even a hundred delegates at its annual conference. Although lack of union recognition, hostile employers and low pay in the sector are all factors in the general lack of engagement from members, the year-on-year failure of the union to lead serious battles and offer a fighting programme on pay, terms and conditions all play a part.
Conference opened the first day with a series of workshops and seminars on a variety of key issues, including how we can get better funding for public sector charities, how Unison is campaigning on the cost-of-living crisis, and the campaign for a national care service. There were sessions on making pensions simple, Unison’s ‘Year of the LGBT+ worker’, tackling violence at work, and digital organising.
There was clearly a serious mood amongst delegates, looking for answers to the situations facing them at work. Running like a thread through most of the sessions was the need for a political response to all these issues. This was not coming from the union leadership, which just constantly promoted Starmer’s Labour and encouraged delegates to ‘wait for a Labour government’.
The conference was opened with a speech from Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the Labour Party. Although giving her own example as a ‘working-class girl made good’, she said nothing other than reiterating again and again that only a Labour government can improve our lives. During questions, a number of delegates, including members of the Socialist Party, stood up in silent protest at the Labour Party’s position on Gaza, and walked out.
The 21 motions up for debate called for action on many of the issues facing the community sector, but most fell short of demanding a real fightback against cuts and outsourcing, including strikes and demonstrations. We should be demanding of Angela Rayner and Keir Starmer that they commit now to fully fund services and underwrite any debts incurred by councils to stave off cuts.
If the Community Service Group is to really play the role within the union and in the thousands of not-for-profit workplaces across the country that it could and should play, we need to develop a significant broad left in the union within this important sector, and elect a service group leadership with the programme and confidence to lead a real fightback.
The following Socialist Party members are standing for election in the forthcoming Unison service group elections:
- Community: Helen Couchman
- Local Government: Mathew John, Angie Waller
- Health: Steve Bell, Adrian O’Malley
