Socialists put forward strategy

April Ashley, Unison NEC (black members female seat), personal capacity

Unison National Black Members’ Conference took place shortly after the council elections which saw the right-wing populist Reform UK gain hundreds of councillors and win control of ten councils.

Therefore, the main discussions were about how the rise of Reform would affect Black workers in the workplace, especially migrant workers, and how to fight Reform. It was estimated that possibly 12-15% of Unison members voted Reform.

The mood of the conference was also sullen anger against the Labour government’s welfare cuts.

When the Standing Orders Committee refused to put emergency motions on trans rights and ‘no sexism and racism in the police force’ onto the agenda on the first day, conference angrily rejected their report and voted to hear the motions. Members were up for a fight!

Migrant workers

Of the first few motions, conference heard of the appalling treatment to which migrant workers on work-based visas are subjected. They are often super-exploited by unscrupulous recruitment gangs who promised full-time work in the UK. Once in the UK, often the work is part-time or on an ‘agency’ as-and-when basis. Many relayed how they often put up with this rather than complain, as these unscrupulous gangs would sack them, leaving them open to deportation.

Unison has won many campaigns in the care sector to back migrant workers and to win their rights to decent employment practices. After the conference, Keir Starmer’s new immigration announcements will be a slap in the face to these workers. There would have been open hostility to Labour expressed at the conference had this taken place in the run up to it. Unison must continue to fight for migrant workers’ rights and fully oppose Labour’s plans with a campaign of mass action involving the whole union.

Strategy for workers’ unity

The Stand Up to Racism workshop was full as members looked to fight against Reform UK. But unfortunately the only strategy on offer was just to call Reform UK a racist party and hope that members would no longer vote for them.

At workshops, fringe meetings, and regional meetings, members displayed anger at Labour government cuts to welfare benefits and the winter fuel allowance. During the local government discussion, fighting for this year’s pay claim was high on member’s minds. Many delegates wanted to know how the union was going to fight against the cuts and what to do as more councils are issuing Section 114 notices, with the desperate state of local government funding.

Again, no strategy was put forward on this crucial issue by the union leadership. Members also raised how the union would fight the Reform councils’ cuts and the attacks on equalities. What was the union going to do about it? Again, no strategic response to these questions from the leadership.

Socialist Party members from the floor raised the need for branches to be linked together, for both those under section 114 and in Reform councils, to discuss how to fight that agenda. Socialist Party members argued that the union must deal with Labour’s continued austerity by supporting needs-based, no-cuts budgets, politically backing councillors that vote against cuts, and preparing for national industrial action to fight for the money our councils’ services need.

The presentation from an Assistant General Secretary of the benefits of the Employment Rights Bill received a muted response. Members were keen to know when the Trade Union Act 2016 would be repealed, so that the Tory 50% turnout threshold for strike action would be ended. Again we were told ‘by the end of the year’. The thresholds should be repealed immediately!

The key-note speech of general secretary Christina McAnea against Reform and supporting migrant workers also described the positive benefits of the bill. However, with the mood of members clear, she had no choice but to also declare that Unison opposes many of Labour’s policies and would fight the welfare benefit cuts and the cuts to the winter fuel allowance – unfortunately without saying how. 

The only strategy put forward was by Socialist Party member Hugo Pierre, who outlined that we can actually beat Reform UK by campaigning on an anti-austerity, left-wing programme against a Labour government that is attacking working-class people, instead of supporting councillors or MPs who put forward austerity. We need our own political voice!

Unison has to develop a militant industrial strategy alongside this political strategy.

Hugo explained that Jeremy Corbyn won a million votes from Reform UK’s predecessor UKIP by putting forward left-wing policies.