May Day greetings final push

Socialist sellers on the national NHS demo, 4.3.17, photo by Mary Finch

Socialist sellers on the national NHS demo, 4.3.17, photo by Mary Finch   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

North West Socialist Party members

We’re really pleased we achieved our regional target this year for May Day greetings from trade union bodies, student groups and local campaigns. If you haven’t yet, you still can!

We were struck by how seriously the Socialist is taking it, with an early start to the campaign, weekly updates, resources to help get greetings and a dedicated webpage. We felt we should respond in the same way, and demonstrate concretely what a wide influence our paper has.

It may sound obvious, but this requires attention to detail.

Has the relevant member got a collection sheet for getting pledges from colleagues? What’s the date of the meeting where we propose a greeting? What message will members want to include about voting intentions or campaigning? And most important: who is going to pay the money in?

The role of the regional paper organiser is very important in working with branch organisers and the centre to assist, chase up, monitor and liaise with the other party structures.

We launched our campaign at the North West regional conference on 4 February and appealed for a member in each branch to take responsibility for a two-month campaign. By and large we achieved that, although not all branches, despite their efforts, were able to attract greetings.

But it’s not too late to start getting those greetings in!

We have done well, but we can still do even better before the final deadline – and next year – with a ‘hit list’ based on successes and failures. We already know of some union branches where the Socialist’s fighting ideas are gaining influence. We will invite them to send greetings.

We haven’t stopped yet, even though the discount period is over. We would urge other Socialist Party members and supporters to keep trying right up to the wire.