23 May 2024 NEC report

The General Secretary raised the local government and mayoral election results, which she described as positive for Labour, ignoring that many councillors stood as independents in those elections because of Labour’s position on the genocidal onslaught on Gaza.

The General Secretary asked the NEC to invite Angela Rayner or another front bench MP to address the NDC in June, explaining that it would help to strengthen the Labour Party election campaign and get rid of the Tory government. 

In response, a number of NEC members said that we should only have conference addressed by MPs that voted for a ceasefire in Gaza, and are supportive of UNISON policies. 76% of the population support a ceasefire. There were also concerns raised about the Labour Party leadership rowing back from commitments on the New Deal For Working People.

An alternative proposal was put forward by a Socialist Alternative member, detailing that 56 Labour MPs voted to support the SNP motion on a Gaza ceasefire, and that we should invite one of these MPs. The particular MP invited should be decided by the Presidential team.

The NEC voted on the proposals and the General Secretary proposal was defeated; 24 for and 31 Against. The second proposal was successful; 32 for and 21 against. It is important that the NEC asserted democratic control over which speaker addresses conference. Ultimately though, Socialist Alternative argues that the Labour Party has proven itself unwilling to challenge the interests of British imperialism and capitalism - we need a new anti-war left party. 

Other issues were discussed in the meeting. There are two main groups out on strike at the moment, with health care assistants struggling for better pay in NHS trusts and teaching assistants in academy schools fighting over pay. We discussed how we can get more strikers to speak at NDC and to attend this conference. The strikes over the last 12 months have been the life force of the union, increasing membership by 200,000, reducing leavers by 33%, triggering widespread solidarity and raising consciousness about the true potential of a union. 

The officers do not want to include these strikers at conference, citing the costs involved and the time available. Yet again they prioritise the needs of the bureaucracy over the members. These strikers have made great sacrifices and the union should put their struggles at the centre of conference. The increased membership alone would easily cover any extra costs. The true motives of the officers are to try to consign ‘UNISON`s Strike Wave’ to history and prepare members for a Labour Government where they hope striking is superseded by the failed tactics of negotiation and sell out.

NEC agreed to send a solidarity message to the Peace Camps at Universities and colleges. The young people are rallying against the genocidal attacks on Gaza by the Israeli state.

We discussed the state of local government services and finances, and the pay campaign of our members in that sector. The incoming Labour government has indicated that they have no intention of taking the action needed to save local government services nor fund the pay deal that these workers need. 

The rallies in Birmingham against the cuts to services have been good. There are massive cuts proposed on services, but there is no openness or honesty from the council. This is very confusing and upsetting for our members. The union has to be at the forefront of efforts to defend these workers with the other public sector trade unions, building community campaigns and challenging these (mainly) Labour councils.

The Barnett Mental Health Social Workers ongoing strike campaign is looking at nine weeks of strike action. A solidarity message was agreed, as well as branches being encouraged to financially support these workers.

The Organising To Win strategy is producing positive results (as shown in the figures given above). Reports from branches on strikes have indicated a significant increase in membership. Taking strike action is having a positive effect on branches not just in increasing membership, but raising consciousness and solidarity within the workforce.