Goodbye to Keith Sonnet

After almost 40 years service UNISON Deputy General Secretary Keith Sonnet has left the union. Last night in London colleagues, comrades and friends met in UNISON head office to mark Keith’s contribution to UNISON and the wider labour movement.

UNISON President Chris Tansley joined Kelvin Hopkins MP, Katy Clark MP, Tony Woodley former General Secretary of Unite, Hugh Lanning Deputy General Secretary of PCS and a gathering of UNISON activists and officials (past and present) to acknowledge Keith’s leading role in UNISON's success since 1993 and in promoting the union’s internationalist tradition.

Keith has been UNISON’s representative in the Stop the War Coalition, notably addressing the historic London rally on 22 March 2003 against the war in Iraq. He represented UNISON as Chair of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign and as Vice President of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. In recent years Keith drove forward the organising model in UNISON and served on both the TUC General Council and the Labour Party National Executive Committee. He continues to be active in trade union international solidarity movements and in campaigns on climate change.