in UNISON

www.socialistparty.org.uk | Socialist Party UNISON Bulletin | UNISON Health Conference

For a Fighting General Secretary

No to Witch Hunts!
UNISON Health Conference Socialist Party Fringe Meeting
Tuesday 20th April 7:00pm
UMI Hotel, 64 Kings Road, Brighton
(Turn left out of conference centre)
Speakers include (in a personal capacity):
Roger Bannister
UNISON NEC
Socialist Party member
General Secretary election candidate
Onay Kasab
Witch-hunted activist
Socialist Party member
Greenwich UNISON ex-branch secretary

MAIN PARTIES OFFER MORE

PRIVATISATION AND CUTS
W
hichever of the main Both agree that all hospitals should
parties win the General be given foundation trust status.
Election privatisation and
cuts will continue in the health New Labour, the Tories and Lib
service. Dems would all implement brutal As the recession bites then the
cuts and more privatisation in our public sector will be made to
Brown pledges to deepen Blairite Health Service making working pay for the economic mess if the
reforms of the public services with people pay for the bank bailouts. government gets its way. This makes
new ‘rights’ for patients seeking it even more important that we have
treatment on the NHS; private care The last two years have seen a a leadership that is up to the task of
would be offered after a maximum huge increase in the fragmentation defending our members.
wait of 18 weeks for specialist and privatisation of our vital health
treatment. The Tories have promised services as well as the increased Health workers need a union
to give individual patients their own exploitation of staff with rising work leadership with a vision and a
health and social care budgets and related illness, exhaustion and willingness to fight to prevent us
to cut NHS administration. misery. from falling behind.
continued over...
R ather than fight for its members
pay, conditions and rights our
union leadership and full time machine
Witch-hunts
It is clear that the unelected union
bureaucracy is now orchestrating a
from UNISON members and other
trade unionists. Now three of their
branches have been taken into regional
have instead sought to protect their conscious plan to try and rid the union supervision.
positions of power and privilege of any dissenting voices. Senior union
by looking to silence any voices of officials are openly talking about the Labour Link
opposition through wicthhunts, taking need to draw up lists of those branch Handing over millions to New Labour
over of branches and banning the right leaders that they believe need to be whilst at the same time asking
to campaign. removed. In attacking socialists at the members to fight to defend their jobs
moment the union is trying to create wages and conditions from attack from
The Socialist Party has long believed a climate of fear in order to frighten the very same Labour government is
that a serious battle needs to be waged anyone from speaking out. asking members to go into battle with
to reclaim our union. one hand tied behind their backs.
Defend the Four It is clear that New Labour is more
If the union continues to fail to deliver This includes four Socialist Party interested in defending the interests of
for our members they will increasingly members who have faced investigations the millionaires and not the millions of
ask what is the point of being a member. and hearings for almost three years working class people in Britain. That is
That is why it is critical that we organise and have now been banned from office why the Socialist Party is in favour of
a campaign to win a genuine fighting for between two and three years. They disaffiliating from the Labour Party and
democratic leadership. have received tremendous support for the creation of a new mass workers
party in which the unions could and
should play a leading role, and are
fully supporting the Trade Unionist &
Socialist Coalitions election campaign
A democratic UNISON as a step in this direction.
It is now clear that the left and other activists will have to play a key role in
See www.tusc.org.uk to find out more.
order to transform Unison into a fighting and democratic union.
The Socialist Party calls for:
• Genuine Lay member control of all disputes
• The right of braches to have control over the running of their local disputes
and campaigns including the right to initiate ballots for industrial action.
• The right of the annual conference to debate any issue and amend any
rules it wants to.
• For the right of member and branches to campaign without facing attack
from the union.
• Election of all officials who should receive no more than a worker’s wage.
• No witch hunts:
- Re-instate those unfairly expelled or disciplined.
- Drop the current investigations and hearings against the socialists
- For the right of any member to appeal to conference against being
expelled.
• Break the link; stop funding Labour
• For a new mass workers party
VOTE ROGER BANNISTER FOR UNISON GENERAL SECRETARY
Elections run from 17 May - 11 June 2010

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