The Green Party Trade Union Group is calling on all Greens to vote for pro-worker, pro-union motions to be heard at the Green Party’s Autumn Conference in October.

Between Friday 12th August and Friday 26th August, Green Party members will vote in a prioritisation ballot to decide the order in which motions are heard at the Autumn Conference.

The Green Party Trade Union Group is asking Greens to prioritise the following four motions by ranking them highly in the ballot:

• E01 £15 Minimum Wage
• E04 Amending Crime and Justice Policies
• E22 Stating Opposition to Anti-Union and Anti-Strike Laws
• E23 Supporting Workers Taking Strike Action

In addition, the Group is calling on Greens to de-prioritise the following two motions, by ranking them low in the ballot and by using all ballot preferences:

• D05 Changes to GPEx
• D13 Pathfinder

The two motions seek to make changes to the Green Party’s constitution, which would result in the Trade Union Liaison Officer position on the Executive being removed – and replaced with nothing.

The Group has produced a detailed briefing on the motions and our position, which members can read by clicking here.

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The Green Party Trade Union Group is calling on members to oppose motions to Green Party Autumn Conference 2022 which would remove the position of Trade Union Liaison Officer from the Party’s structures – replacing it with nothing.

The proposed changes envisage trade union liaison work being a ‘collective responsibility’ of the new Executive, to includes seven elected ordinary members.

The Trade Union Group has argued this move is unrealistic, would jeopardise future trade union links and would result in liaison work being neglected at a time when links with the labour movement are increasingly essential to the party’ political voice.

The Group has written a detailed briefing outlining its concerns surrounding motions D05 Changes to GPEx and D13 Pathfinder. Members can view it by clicking here.

The Group is calling on Green Party members to:

• Rank motions D05 Changes to GPEx and D13 Pathfinder below other motions on the prioritisation ballot
• Use ALL prioritisation preferences in the prioritisation ballot
• Oppose D05 Changes to GPEx if heard at Autumn Conference 2022
• Support GPTU amendments to these motions
• Support a GPTU late motion to launch a review of the representation of the trade union movement in party structures

The prioritisation ballot for Green Party Autumn Conference 2022 opens on Friday 12th August and closes on Friday 26th August. Voting details will be sent to party members by email.

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The Green Party Trade Union Group welcomed candidates at 7pm on Monday 18th July for our online hustings for the Deputy Leader of the Green Party!

What is their vision for the party’s relationship with trade unions? What is their offer to workers? How will the party support workers to build power under their Deputy Leadership?

Watch how they responded on Facebook here and on YouTube here.

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Join the Green Party Trade Union Group at 7pm on Monday 18th July for our online hustings for the Deputy Leader of the Green Party!

The Green Party of England & Wales is electing its next Deputy Leader. Voting starts on 1st August and the candidates are making their case to the party membership:

• Shahrar Ali
• Nick Humberstone
• Zack Polanski
• Tyrone Scott

At this event, you will have the opportunity to quiz the candidates and hear their pitch on all things labour movement. What is their vision for the party’s relationship with trade unions? What is their offer to workers? How will the party support workers to build power under their Deputy Leadership?

Sign up to attend and submit your own question for the candidates.

(Note: this event is open to all Green Party members. Please register using the email address the Green Party holds on record for you.)

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Dozens of Green Party candidates have taken the Trade Union Group’s pledge to support trade unions and workers’ rights if elected as local councillors on Thursday 5th May.

The news comes as the workers’ movement globally celebrates International Workers’ Day.

The ten-point pledge includes commitments to work closely with local unions and trades councils, as well as promote voluntary union recognition and fight to reverse outsourcing of council services.

Signers of the pledge include the former Health & Care spokesperson Larry Sanders, as well as sitting councillors in Oxford, Sheffield and London.

Chair of the Trade Union Group, Matthew Hull said:

“These elections could see more Greens elected to local office in England and Wales than ever before. It is heartening to see so many candidates pledge their commitment to the party’s most pro-worker and pro-union policies.

“After over a decade of Tory cuts to local services and ideological privatisation efforts, councils across the country need councillors with the determination to resist. By signing this pledge Green candidates have shown their dedication to amplifying the voices of workers in council services.”

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By Ellen Lees

This article was originally published on Green World on 23 March 2022. It is the third in a series of blogs exploring how Greens in local government and communities can work closely with trade unions.

You might not notice a lot of the services your local council provides. But you’d notice if they stopped! Local councils’ services keep our communities running.

Following successive brutal budget cuts, local councils are desperate to cut costs in any way. And due to the ideology of privatisation dominating public services since the 80s, services are now often outsourced to private companies in an attempt to save money. 

But these companies are selling a lie: that they can provide the same quality service as the council for a lower cost. The truth is that they waste money, quality drops, and the council loses all control and accountability over how the work is done. It’s a bad deal for councils and it’s a bad deal for all of us. 

Here are five reasons to end local outsourcing:

1. We’d save money

Outsourcing services is a waste of money. First, every private company has a cost attached that local councils don’t have. Private companies have to make a profit to appease their shareholders. That means cutting corners and shaving off the council’s money for service delivery.

Secondly, the cost of managing the contracts adds precious pounds to the council’s cost because whenever these contracts need to be changed, local councils have to shell out money to renegotiate and redraft. 

2. We’d be more resilient

Public services are essential – a lot of the time, they can’t afford to fail. So when a private company fails while delivering a public service, local councils have no choice but to step in and pick up the pieces. That’s what happened when Carillion collapsed in 2018 – the directors and shareholders made a profit and walked away, leaving local and national government to sort out the mess.

3. We’d get better terms and conditions 

One of the ways that outsourcing companies can save money compared to insourced services is by undermining workers. All workers deserve decent pay and conditions, but public service staff often do vital but thankless work for wages that are too low and in difficult situations. Local authorities are held to higher standards than private companies when it comes to treating their workers fairly, so by bringing services in house, workers get a better deal.

4. We can keep funds in the local economy

By bringing council services in house, we can keep wealth in the community instead of funnelling it out via shareholders of multinational private corporations. That means more money circulating in the local economy. 

5. We can hold our service providers accountable

People don’t trust outsourcing companies like G4S, Capita and Serco – and it’s no wonder! They’ve been caught up in scandal after scandal thanks to their dodgy business practices and corner-cutting. By bringing our services in house, we no longer have to rely on these companies and we will have democratic means of holding our service providers accountable.

Outsourcing has been failing for decades. It’s time we took control of the services that keep our communities running.

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Written by Lee Booker, a Green Party member and Health and Safety Rep for the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw). The Green Party Trade Union Group publishes an array of different views and perspectives on both Green Party and labour movement topics, which represent the view of the writer and not necessarily GPTU. If you want to write for our blog, please contact us today.

The most recent Labour Party conference saw 80% of its Constituency Labour Party delegates vote in support of adopting Proportional Representation (PR) as a future campaign pledge.  Yet affiliated trade union delegates used their powerful votes to vote in opposition to the majority of CLP delegates and ultimately see off the popular motion.

From a Green Party member’s perspective, and from that of a trade union member, it could not be clearer what we must argue for and where we must organise.

All political parties except the Conservative Party and the Labour Party are committed to campaigning for PR and to replace the undemocratic First-Past-the-Post system (FPTP) that Britain currently operates for parliamentary elections. The Labour Party, historically, was formed by the trade unions as a representative political party for their interests. However, since the Labour Party’s formation in 1900 as the Labour Representation Committee, this historic link has often frayed and on occasions broken down. Today the Labour Party is down by an astonishing 430,000 members since Keir Starmer took over. Not only that, but its links with trade unions are being tested after decades of broken promises, most notably the failure to repeal the restrictive trade union laws during the Blair and Brown era.

Take one of the largest affiliated general unions and Labour’s biggest donor, Unite the union. The Labour Party has faced harsh criticism from its former General Secretary, Len McCluskey, who stated recently that it would be “almost impossible” for Labour to win an outright majority at the next general election. Speaking during her successful leadership campaign to the Green Party Trade Union Group, its newly elected General Secretary Sharon Graham pledged to reorient Unite away from Labour Party internal affairs. While Graham has since taken pains to clarify that a substantial break with Labour is not on the cards, her campaign and conduct since have been characterised by a outward disdain for Westminster politics. Graham seized the opportunity to demonstrate her preference for industrial matters by conspicuously declining to attend the Labour Party’s 2021 Conference – choosing to spend her week on picket lines instead.

In other unions, the breakdown of relations with the Labour Party leadership has been more complete. The party’s recent conference saw the disaffiliation of Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) from Labour after months of outspoken disagreement with Keir Starmer’s behaviour. The BFAWU’s General Decretary Sarah Woolley announced the end of a 119-year affiliation between the union and the party writing that “the decision taken by delegates who predominantly live in what’s regarded as Labour red wall seats shows how far the Labour party has travelled away from the aims and hopes of working class organisations like ours“.

Just as members within the Unite voted for a General Secretary who campaigned to put distance between their union and Labour Party obsessions, and BFAWU delegates voted to disaffiliate from The Labour Party, members can also campaign inside their union to adopt a position of supporting Proportional Representation at union conferences.

It is clear now, that without solid campaigning across the country in our trade union branches and workplaces, the adoption of proportional representation will continue to be blocked and a major barrier for The Green Party to break through in Parliament will be upheld. Many unions are still affiliated to the Labour Party, but many also are not. It is of absolute necessity that Green Party members who are members of their trade unions work to push the rank and file of the trade union movement to vote to support of proportional representation.

We cannot ignore the importance of workplace democracy: after all, it is one of the key areas where we meet and work with people who are not Green Party members. It is an area where we must make the case for proportional representation, ecological justice policies and green transitional programs if we are to create a necessary left-wing alliance in this country that could remove the Conservative Party from power.

For Green Party trade unionists, it is important to seek out and join organised left-wing coalition groups inside their trade unions. These groups often consist of members of various left parties, and members of none; from the Labour Party through to to smaller parties, with members of the Green Party being represented in all of them. They include Usdaw Broad Left, in my union, to Unite’s United Left, and many more besides in all different unions.

Through such groups, many candidates are selected democratically to stand for positions in the unions to represent our shared interests; many proposals to union conferences are drafted and submitted by such groups, to be debated in branches across the country.  If Green Party engage heartily in this key area, we will advance the cause of greater democracy and make PR harder to block in the future.

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Candidates for the Green Party Executive have responded to the Green Party Trade Union Group’s questions, setting out why Green Party members should vote for them.

Voting in the Executive elections opened at the beginning of August, and closes at the end of the month.

Candidates for each role were asked a selection of questions, and given a small space to answer each. They were given one week to respond with their answers.

You can read the answers to the questions by clicking here.

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Our written interview with Sharon Graham, candidate for General Secretary of Unite the Union. Graham currently leads the union’s Organising and Leverage Department. This interview is part of our series of interviews with candidates for Unite General Secretary – you can find our interviews with Steve Turner and Gerard Coyne here.

What is your main pitch – why should Unite members vote for you as the next General Secretary?

I have a very clear programme based on positive but fundamental change. The trade union movement is on life support, more of the same but worse is not an option. If we don’t stem the decline in both membership and collective bargaining coverage, then in 5-10 years it may be too late to turn the tide. It is time to grasp the nettle not fight yesterday’s Westminster battles.

We now need to do two things. First, we must return our attention to the workplace and fully focus on defending jobs, pay and conditions. This is the only way to build real power within trade unions. Influence within the Labour Party is no substitute for building strength within the working population. To earn the trust of working people and to grow the Union we must show that we can win the fights at the workplace on the issues that matter to them.

To this end, I am the only candidate who has fully committed to a serious programme to reform our industrial work. For too long we have been reliant on outdated structures that make no real sense when facing global employers. I will make sure that barriers to activity are reduced not increased and for the first time we will set about co-ordinating collective bargaining. A critical focus of mine will be to rebuild our Reps and Shop Stewards movement. They are critical to any trade union and it is only through a vibrant, radical activist base that we can push back on ‘fire and rehire’, threats to closure and resist cuts to pay and conditions.

Second, we need to finally organise the unorganised. As General Secretary I will make sure that there are no ‘no go’ areas for Unite. We will deliver the biggest organising drive in Europe, targeting ‘under-cutters’ such as Amazon and industries like hospitality. For too long our members agreements have been threatened by non-Union employers and we have shied away from tackling non-traditional sectors. This will change.

What do you think are the biggest issues facing workers in the UK today – and how will Unite fight them under your leadership?

Jobs are under threat, pay is being cut and conditions eroded. Bad bosses are using tactics like ‘fire and rehire’ and we are struggling to win inflation proof wage deals for our members. It is not a pretty picture.

That is why need fundamental change, not tinkering around the edges. Swapping one Labour faction for another is not a serious answer to the issues workers face.

Our obsession with the Labour Party needs to end. The Parliamentary Labour Party is not going to win a wage rise or an industrial dispute. Labour is out of power. The only way Unite members are going to be able to push back is through their Union at the workplace. That is the reality. Talking endlessly to politicians who are in opposition is not going to save one job and neither is sitting on zooms with civil servants . We of course need to engage but also be realistic about where we are.

As General Secretary I will use all of my experience of winning successive crisis campaigns to defend working people. I will deploy Leverage – a comprehensive campaign strategy – wherever it is needed and immediately begin the work of building in the workplaces. There will be co-ordinated bargaining plans for every workplace and our Reps and Shop Stewards will be brought together by employer and industry to agree common agendas.

Key to my programme, will be building Combines – networks of Reps – within every industry. I will plug the Unions resources into each network, so that our Reps whilst working to a co-ordinated plan, will have direct access to the support they need. Bargaining, organising, accounting, research, communications and political resource will all be made available so that we can really start to push up through a planned programme of change.

As Unite’s General Secretary, how will you ensure that Unite is growing support on the shop floor and in communities for a worker-centred just transition to a zero-carbon and ecologically just society? How will you use Unite’s industrial power to lead this transformation?

Climate change is a critical issue for working people. We have to do a lot more than make empty gestures and token commitments. For example, I have heard a lot of hot air in this campaign about candidates claiming the ability to create “millions of green jobs”. That is so obviously ridiculous. It is not in the gift of any trade union General Secretary to create green jobs. Of course we can make it a core part of our political agenda – and I will – but lobbying for someone else to do something is very different from making change yourself.

On a personal level the transition to a greener economy is very important to me and I will take clear, practical action at the workplace to deliver change. There are two things in particular that I will do.

First, our education programme. As part of my pledge to bring education back in-house, I will make just transition a core part of my Reps and Shop Stewards training. But it won’t just be an information exercise. We will focus on how we bargain for a just transition. That is absolutely key for any trade union.

Second, and as part of my plan to deliver a far greater level of planning and co-ordination to our industrial work, just transition will form a core part of our workplace agenda. Every industry combine will have an agreed, shared action plan for bargaining through the transition. This will be supported by expert analysis.

For me, the single most important thing that any trade union can do on this issue, is to bring its members with them. We can’t afford to talk over or at them, because if we do, we will end up in a cycle of positive rhetoric but zero action. We need to do the work to build a convincing majority for change across our Reps and industries. This in itself will not be a simple task and will require hard work, not the dolling out of easily ignored soundbites.

Last year membership of UK trade unions increased by 118,000 overall, but private sector union membership fell by about 110,000. As the UK’s largest union in the private sector, how will Unite begin to reverse this trend under your leadership?

Growing the Union is absolutely critical and the only way we can do it is through a comprehensive, joined up organising programme.

Unfortunately, I am the only candidate standing in this election who is resisting the call for us to retreat into regional apparatus. I had hoped that the argument for organising across local boundaries had been won, but clearly not. How are we going to organise firms like Amazon with small teams directed randomly by various local Unite HQ’s. It offers no more than a retreat from our current state.

Deciding where to take our operational base is one of the biggest issues facing Unite. Do we double down on structures developed for a 19/20^th century economy? Or, do we look out into the world and build operations that increase our power and enable us to better confront global corporations? I know what must be done .

In my day job I have proved that it is possible to organise workers in both non-traditional industries and also to win agreements against hostile employers. As General Secretary I will be using all of that experience to supercharge Unite and create a dynamic, growing Union fit for the economy we live in today.

When elected, I will immediately set about delivering the change we need. Whether that be building a team to take on the hospitality sector and other ‘no go’ areas, executing a wholesale campaign to Unionise the critical national infrastructure or tackling every major non-Union employer in our industries to stop the undercutting of our members terms and conditions. As General Secretary I will deliver the most far reaching, transformative plan for growth yet seen in Britain and Ireland.

How do you understand Unite’s relationship to party politics? How will you ensure that the interests of Unite members and the broader working class are best represented in the political sphere?

We need to move beyond the internal struggles of the Labour Party. Labour will likely be in opposition for most of the next decade and workers can’t afford to wait.

As General Secretary I make no bones about saying that I will not be giving out blank cheques to any politician or political party. Our members need to see action for their money and my political work will extend far beyond the confines of Westminster parlour games.

It is my genuine belief, that for trade unions the route to political influence lies primarily in the workplace. Build a growing, radical Union with industrial power and our political influence will increase at the same time as our ability to take action. That is not to say that I will ignore policy or abdicate from Parliamentary politics – if anything I think we can be more effective by ridding ourselves of the obsession with fighting yesterday’s wars within Labour.

If elected, I will use part of the political fund to develop a non-sectarian progressive platform to do the hard work of organising within communities. For too long we have sponsored good causes rather than taking the lead.

If the left is to earn credibility within the working class, it has to be seen to be alive to the issues they face. Policies are not enough. Shared experience is critical and we will develop our community programme so that we are able to build sustainable organisation within our communities, as well as our workplaces. We do this by identifying and working with leaders in our communities to find answers to the issues they face. My Union will do the hard miles of winning respect and earning credibility. The path to political power requires so much more than finding the next leader of a Party.

Unite members should have received postal ballots, which must posted and received by Civica Election Services no later than 12pm on 23rd August 2021. Members who have not received a ballot paper by 6th August 2021 should contact the ballot enquiry service by emailing support@cesvotes.com or calling 0800 783 3856.

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Our written interview with Steve Turner, candidate for General Secretary of Unite the Union. Turner is currently the union’s Assistant General Secretary. This interview is part of our series of interviews with candidates for Unite General Secretary – you can find our interviews with Sharon Graham and Gerard Coyne here.

What is your main pitch – why should Unite members vote for you as the next General Secretary?

I will be the greenest general secretary of our labour movement. 

The climate crisis is the biggest challenge our society faces. Dozens have died in Canada and the US as temperature records have been smashed, and there are devastating floods in Europe.

Shaping the future of work and greening our economy is the challenge of our generation. I’m determined that Unite will lead a green jobs revolution that will be the backbone of a zero-carbon economy. 

I will establish an Industrial Strategy and Green Transition Team to support our efforts to shape the future of work and leave no workplace or community behind as we transition to a greener, cleaner economy.

You can read my Workers’ Greenprint plan here  or watch my video about my plans to put working people and our communities centre-stage to meet the challenges of the climate crisis. 

I’m the leading negotiator of my generation, with a track record of saving and creating jobs second to none. I am proud that is how our members judge me. 

When this coronavirus crisis hit, I worked night and day to drag ministers to the table, to nail down the furlough programme and keep a wage coming in for 11 million workers. 

I battered down doors and forced this government to get on board to bring the UK’s first Gigafactory creating 6,500 green in Sunderland and support thousands more with the UK’s first electric van plant in Merseyside. 

My demand for a Gigafactory at Coventry airport has been actioned by the West Midlands mayor, and I negotiated with Rolls Royce the creation of a ‘centre of excellence’ training school supporting the development and manufacture of zero-carbon technologies.

No other candidate can claim to have the ambition and the plan to build a greener, fairer economy built on full employment, better pay and conditions, employment rights, equality, education and skills alongside a better environment and future for our kids and planet.

What do you think are the biggest issues facing workers in the UK today – and how will Unite fight them under your leadership?

How we rebuild our economy and our communities out of the pandemic and address the climate crisis are undoubtedly the biggest issues facing workers in the UK today.

We know that the Tories will do what they always do: make our communities pay for their disastrous mishandling of the crisis, with the hardest economic hit and biggest loss of life in Europe. Shamelessly, they’re starting already.

The pay insult to our NHS and local government workers is a disgrace – little over £1 a day, not even enough to buy a loaf of bread – which is why I will lead Unite’s fight to win pay justice and drive the privateers from our public services.

Our sick and elderly will be landed with higher prescription charges, and their life-long retirement savings, their pensions – already the worst in Europe – will be drained by Rishi Sunak as he patches up the economy on the backs of our people.  

Snatching back £20 from Universal Credit destroys a lifeline for low paid workers and the unemployed, cash that put shoes on their kids’ feet, a coat on their back and pays for food and heating.

I am already leading the call to force the government to continue with mandatory masks and will continue to press for massively increased sick pay protection so that our members can afford to stay home.

I intend to get the fundamentals in our union right. My ‘One call that’s all’, freephone number will ensure members get expert support from their union when they need it. I will invest in new technology to improve the way the union delivers for our members, including a Unite Assist app giving members and reps the information they need 24/7.

I will empower our members to fight back against the attacks on their pay and conditions through a massive increase in our education and training programmes. 

As Unite’s General Secretary, how will you ensure that Unite is growing support on the shop floor and in communities for a worker-centred just transition to a zero-carbon and ecologically just society? How will you use Unite’s industrial power to lead this transformation?

No other union will be impacted by the need to tackle the climate crisis as Unite will. From oil and gas to energy generation, steel and automotive plants, construction sites, warehouses, food production, finance, transport and our public services, Unite members are at the core of our economy. They stand ready to deliver the infrastructure that the green economy needs, building everything from turbines to green homes.

My pledge to be the greenest general secretary is backed by my record. I’ve said above that I will establish an Industrial Strategy and Green Transition Team.

I look at the potential of a green manufacturing revolution and I see massive opportunities.  I see the hundreds of thousands of secure and decent jobs it could bring in the short-term, and the millions it will create from 2030 onwards.  I want those jobs for Unite members. I’m determined to deliver them.

My ‘Workers Greenprint’ for jobs sets out how intelligent investment by the government can stimulate green jobs growth, return huge sums to the economy and ensure that no sector or worker loses out.

In construction, Unite members will build the million new homes we need and fit-out existing housing stock so that they become decent homes again. 

Our North Sea assets will convert to capture cleaner energy, our auto sector will build the electric and hydrogen vehicles and our aerospace members will produce greener aircraft. Our NHS and local government workers will work in greener buildings, converted by Unite members – and our children will breathe clean air.

This is not some far-off utopia. I’m developing jobs plans with businesses across the country. Look what I’ve achieved already with Nissan and others. 

The fly in the ointment is the government which wants the plaudits but without the hard work or investment. But I’m banging on their doors and they know I won’t rest.

Last year membership of UK trade unions increased by 118,000 overall, but private sector union membership fell by about 110,000. As the UK’s largest union in the private sector, how will Unite begin to reverse this trend under your leadership?

I will grow our union through organising in expanding sectors of the economy, such as IT, social care, online sales and the gig economy, as well as membership growth in existing Unite workplaces. 

I’ll get gig employers around a table to force them to see the sense in working with us to do the decent thing by employees or face our storm – I’m already in discussions with Just Eat about how we do just that.

I am determined to bring young workers into Unite membership because they need union protection most. 

For too long, Unite’s organising approach has dismissed the importance of organising in the gig economy. So many of these workers are young people and students. If they don’t have contact with a trade union at that stage of their working life then they won’t understand the importance of union membership when they go on to work outside of the gig sector. 

I will also bring union organisation to homeworkers, the falsely self-employed and workers on insecure contracts – giving a voice to millions of working people.

I’ll also freeze subs for two years and invest in ‘one call, that’s all’ access – a single freephone number to a new, well trained, ‘Unite Assist’ team –

easing the financial pressures on our members while ensuring their union is by their side 24/7.

Ultimately, working people prosper when trade unions are strong, and under my leadership, Unite will be that strong, confident union.

How do you understand Unite’s relationship to party politics? How will you ensure that the interests of Unite members and the broader working class are best represented in the political sphere?

I was proud to develop Unite’s political strategy. Its stated aims are simple: elect people to office who understand and will advance working people.

It’s led to some real talent emerging in our nation’s governments and rising stars in local authorities.

If we didn’t do this there’s no chance that someone on an average wage could ever stand for election. A warehouse worker won’t have the ability to simply take 12 weeks off to campaign without Unite’s support.

Voters already look at Westminster, the devolved parliaments and councils and feel disconnected. Too few politicians look or sound like them or understand what their daily lives entail. So, if we want our democracy to stay healthy, we have to do something about that. I want our members to feel their issues are recognised and experiences respected.

What chance do we have of arresting the climate catastrophe unless green activists work alongside organised labour? Anyone who holds social justice dear should work with my vision of a green-led Unite to ensure our kids can breathe.

Our political strategy gives our communities a chance to be heard and to deliver the laws and change that our people need, such as Barry Gardiner’s bill to ban fire and rehire.  

It means that Unite doesn’t hesitate to speak out on attacks on our liberties, like the police and crime bill that will suppress our ability to protest, and the voter ID bill which will make it harder for BAEM and low-income people to vote. 

It also means we deliver top quality political education to thousands of members each year, eager to understand the nature of power in this country.  

I am determined Unite’s political strategy not only continues but goes from strength to strength. Unite members need a strong, experienced leader at the helm for the challenging times ahead, because the Nasty Party never went away.  

Unite members should have received postal ballots, which must posted and received by Civica Election Services no later than 12pm on 23rd August 2021. Members who have not received a ballot paper by 6th August 2021 should contact the ballot enquiry service by emailing support@cesvotes.com or calling 0800 783 3856.

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