If we shy away no one can help us but if we decide to fight, no one can stop us

#uNDC15 A thumping speech from Dave Prentis, UNISON general secretary, hit all the right buttons with Conference with support for the Glasgow strikers and a pledge that 'an injury to one is an injury to all' as he backed sacked SECC worker Robert O'Donnell.

It celebrated victories, listed the challenges ahead and underlined that trade union rights are human rights and must be protected.

His full speech is below:

We have to get better organised - Glen Williams

#uLGC15 'I have tried not to focus on the doom and gloom, but to give you a flavour of the struggles that take place every day around the UK, struggles and resistance by you and our members that we need to build on. We have to get even better organised; we have to devise and work within the new structures of devolution and combined authorities, working across the usual boundaries of service groups' said Glen Williams, Chair of the Service Group Executive in moving the 2014/15 Local Government Annual Report.
Full speech below:

We Belong To Glesga., Dear Ol..Glesga Toon...

#UNDC15 Well this week we all do. The National Delegate Conference hits the real* capital of Scotland (sorry Embra) where delegates can sample the best curries, the best pubs and the best hospitality that Scotland has to offer. Who needs sunny weather when you can drink all day, dance all night and play at finding the cormorants on the Clyde? And two of Scotland’s finest football teams play here, Celtic and Partick Thistle, while there are also representatives of the lower divisions on the South of the river.

Then there’s what happens in the Conference hall. The SECC itself has become controversial as a result of the policies pursued by its management, so has only itself to blame. And if UNISON were booking its conference now, perhaps we could take those policies into account. But it is worth remembering that the lead time between booking a conference venue and actually using it is about five years.

Early conciliation - only 1 in 8 cases are settled

'The most recent statistics from Acas (April-December 2014) show that nearly 59,000 workers have used early conciliation, compared to just under 2,000 employers and that the number of applications has risen from around 1,000 a week when conciliation was not mandatory to 1,800 a week in recent months' writes Sonia McKay in Labour Research. The new process has secured COT3 settlements in only one in eight cases with another 60% of claims being abandoned before reaching Tribunal.
http://www.lrdpublications.org.uk/publications.php?pub=LR&iss=1774&id=idm19652088&fromopp=y

Public Services are trapped in an EU market straitjacket

A much neglected aspect of the 'European debate' is the extent to which the EU is a driving force for the liberalisation and privatisation of public services. Judith Clifton writing for the LSE's British politics and policy blog, examines how local and national governments have lost power over key areas of public service governance to Brussels. The Council of European Municipalities and Regions has complained that the European Commission 'proclaims to be neutral but in practice veers towards applying internal market rules to public services in an overly-market focused way, eroding local democracy'
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/beyond-hollowing-out-straitjacketing-the-state/

Defend our right to strike

Tory proposals in the Trade Union Bill to impose new industrial action ballot thresholds for turnout (50%) and support (in 'essential services' 40% of all balloted) 'would make almost all strikes illegal, particularly in large and dispersed workforces where postal ballots rarely achieve this' writes Michael Meacher MP. http://www.leftfutures.org/2015/06/tory-trade-union-bill-is-an-attack-on-a-fundamental-human-right/
    The proposals if implemented (without a return to workplace balloting) will severely undermine national bargaining with union's unable to exert leverage in future negotiations on pay, pensions etc.
     The Trade Union Bill is a political attack on trade union rights as vicious as any law enacted during the Thatcher era. A major campaign inside and outside of Parliament is required to resist this draconian legislation.

Power Trio by Vincent P Richardson

A Statesman
once a revolutionary became a politician matures
retires.

A Politician
once a revolutionary aspires
retires.

A Revolutionary
never retires.

Proud, loud and UNISON! Angie Rayner’s Maiden Speech as an MP

Until a few weeks ago the North West regional convenor, and proud of her UNISON background, on Tuesday Angie made her maiden speech in the House of Commons promising to ‘always tell it like it is’ but be in no doubt if the Tories attack the NHS and public services Angie will punch like an ‘angry mother’.
   A breath of fresh air to the stuffy stale, male and pale stereotypes UNISON should be proud of our fantastic advocate in Parliament and the history making Angie; the only former care worker to become an MP. A reality check for the Westminster bubble is our North West firebrand. Get in there girl! http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/9061ea41-3778-4f99-b4bd-39ce38299801?in=15:34:55&out=15:50:00
Anna Rose

Queen’s speech: We may have lost a battle - There is still a war to fight

“Where there is discord may we bring harmony. Where there is error may we bring truth. Where there is doubt may we bring faith.  And where there is despair may we bring hope.” Remember that nauseating quote from a newly elected Margaret Thatcher on the steps of Downing St on her first day in office in 1979?

This was a woman who went on to put troops on the streets of the UK; who declared class war on trade unions and open war on the miners and mining communities; who presided over almost 15 years of police corruption, most of which is just now seeing the light of day through events like the Hillsborough inquiry; and who caused untold damage to British industry and those who worked in it.

Collins Review paved way for Tory attack on union political funds

Yesterday's Queen's Speech included proposals to require an opt-in to political funds (rather than the current opt-out) and the Guardian reports that 'trade union officers and the Labour party seemed to have been caught unaware of the reforms'.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/27/labour-funding-hit-change-political-levy-bill

    No one can say that they were not warned about this scenario as they rushed to endorse the Collins Review which effectively ended collective affiliation to Labour and removed automatic voting rights from union levy payers. In acquiescing to a two tier system whereby levy payers are required to opt-in to affiliate Labour party membership in order to secure voting rights, the pass was sold on opposing the same mechanism for payment of the levy. The consequences were foreseeable and will be disastrous for the Labour party. 

http://unisonactive.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/the-collins-review-slippery-slope.html#more

http://unisonactive.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/collins-review-hollowing-out-union.html