Dear colleague
WE CANNOT AFFORD TO BE DIVIDED
Ballot papers for the General Secretary election are now arriving at members’ homes and I wanted to take this opportunity to write to you about the importance of this election.
This election comes at a time of great fear and anxiety over the Con-Dem coalition’s forthcoming attack on our jobs, pensions and services.
I am not going to rehearse all the threats to us – the plans, hints, and plots are there for all to see every day in our media. What I will say is that this is the greatest threat we have ever faced. It is all the more troubling because we have politicians in power who are determined to push through an agenda of savage cuts, and who are ideologically wedded to the lie that outsourcing and privatisation can offer a way out of the mess created by the bankers.
And we know that they will also be coming for us as a union. Tory politicians and the press have been gearing up over the past year or so for an assault on trade union time-off and facilities because they know UNISON is the major obstacle to their slash-and-burn approach. They know we have the members and resources to mobilise opposition to their cuts agenda.
The leadership I have given as your General Secretary has seen the union grow in size, in influence, in strength, and in unity.
But we can only wage a successful fight if we are staunch and stay united in our approach to this challenge. My priority - UNISON’s priority – is to make sure that our members are properly-equipped and supported by the union. We will defend our members, we will defend our services, and we will defend our communities.
Unity is strength is not just a slogan. It is our only guide to weathering the storm ahead.
A vote for me will ensure strong leadership and a united union.
Yours faithfully
Dave Prentis
UNISON General Secretary