Suzanne Muna, Unite EC member, personal capacity
December’s meeting of Unite the Union’s Executive Committee (EC) was informed that, since the election of Sharon Graham as general secretary in 2021, the total number of disputes the union has embarked on has now risen to 1,551. These have involved nearly 215,000 members, with a win rate of 84%, worth over £480 million in members’ pockets.
That alone illustrates the importance of fighting to retain and strengthen the industrial militancy of the current leadership in the round of elections now starting in Unite. In coming weeks, members will be electing workplace and branch reps; then in spring, regional industrial sector and equality conferences will elect their respective regional committees, which in turn elect reps to the relevant national bodies.
The EC was again informed of the political pressure that Unite has applied to Labour to deliver for working-class people – with the strong showing for Nigel Farage’s Reform an urgent concern. The winter fuel allowance cut has been one of the issues to the fore in Unite’s campaigning.
It was reported that Unite is demanding a move toward green energy production at the threatened Grangemouth oil refinery, and for the government to be the ‘investor of first resort’ on steel at Scunthorpe. Discussions are taking place with government over the Stellantis Luton site.
Demand nationalisation
In all such cases, Unite should be leading the call for nationalisation of these vital industries to save jobs and skills, and to enable planning and investment for a green transition that protects the needs of the workforce and communities.
Local authority debt is still a huge concern with lots of councils having declared or on the verge of declaring ‘bankruptcy’. Unite’s policy for no-cuts needs-based budgets, and to demand the funding needed from government, is therefore crucial.
There have been announcements of the renationalisation of rail and we need to keep up the pressure for full democratic nationalisation, not just piecemeal as contracts expire.
The EC discussed that upgrading the National Grid has to be raised as a priority also – again raising the need to demand nationalisation.
It was raised at the EC that we cannot accept that, with its Employment Rights Bill, the Labour government has fulfilled its promises on repealing anti-union laws. Many anti-union and worker-hostile laws could have been repealed immediately and in particular we must argue for immediate repeal of the Tory turnout thresholds.
Political strategy
We need to consider further our political (and thus economic and industrial) strategy. Reform is attempting to build itself as the voice of the working class and if Labour won’t answer workers’ needs then we have to be prepared to find another political pathway. There was a question at the EC on whether Unite is working with the seven suspended Labour MPs and Corbyn’s group of independent MPs, and a question about when Unite’s plan for Political Forums would be set up. These are urgent steps that would help build a pro-worker bloc in parliament, and could help developments towards a working-class political voice.
