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Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/910/23211
From The Socialist newspaper, 13 July 2016
Vote Chas Berry for Napo national chair
Bold leadership and austerity fight needed
Chas Berry on a demonstration (Click to enlarge)
Socialist Party member Chas Berry, currently vice-chair of Napo, the union for Probation and Family Court workers, is a candidate in the union's election for national chair. Ballot papers go out on 15 July and voting closes on 25 August. Chas outlines his election programme:
Our challenge is how to stay relevant to our established members while appealing to the broader, more diverse and generally younger group of staff likely to enter the workforce in future.
Decent pay, quick progression 'up the scale' and manageable workloads are what members tell me they want, and these are the priorities around which we can unite and re-build our union. This starts with defending national collective bargaining and increasing our membership density in existing workplaces.
We cannot stop there, however. In the rapidly changing criminal justice and family courts sectors we can extend our influence by attracting new members with a recruitment strategy that does not limit itself to our traditional base of support.
This will be tough but I think our union is uniquely placed to achieve it.
As national vice-chair for the past two years I have the knowledge and experience to lead the officers group and provide some continuity while
we make the changes necessary to adapt to the new environments. Many activists recognise me as a socialist and anti-austerity campaigner.
I will bring combativeness to the chair, recognising also the full range of views on the most effective ways of promoting our collective interests.
Confidence will be restored when members start to see improvements they can measure.
This requires bold leadership and a willingness to link our day to day struggles with the wider trade union movement in the fight against austerity. I believe I can provide that leadership.
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
In The Socialist 13 July 2016:
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What we think
Step up the campaign to back Corbyn's fight
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Chilcot report
Chilcot Iraq report: More piles of evidence against the blood-soaked war for oil
Socialist Party workplace news
Angry prison officers walk out over reforms
New threat to impose junior doctors contract must be met with strike action
Vote Chas Berry for Napo national chair
Unite policy conference 2016: Blairite coup, Trident and cuts dominate opening days
International socialist news and analysis
Spain: Disappointment for left in re-run general election
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Thousands mobilising to #KeepCorbyn
Why I joined: "I no longer felt isolated from politics"
Fight back is on to save NHS heart services
Sales of the Socialist through the roof since the referendum
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