Strengthen the Union

For years we have seen numbers of workplace reps decline, and the strength of the union is sapped.  It has to be a priority for Unite to rebuild a network of motivated, trained and dedicated workplace representatives to make them the strongest link in the chain.  I will commit major financial resources and the time of officers and staff to ensure that this work is carried out in a planned, tactical way, using the union’s finances to best effect to quickly strengthen the beating heart of the union – its activists. We need to create a collective structure to deal with the deluge of individual grievance and disciplinary hearings which are bogging down officers instead of freeing them up to build the Union of the future.  I will remove the obstacles which prevent workplace reps from operating and offer real power to our activists. We must ensure that the union is the right way up.  Members and their workplace representatives are the union. I will ensure that workplace reps are trained and educated by the union in a strong, regionally based Unite education system.  I believe that our Officer force should be drawn from the rich vein of our activists, promoting people based on ability and merit.  I want a clean union, free from hypocrisy, cronyism and the abuse of power.

We must ensure that equalities are central to our union.  Our country has one of the most diverse populations on earth and women are over 50% of the workforce.  These facts alone mean that we must speak on behalf of every member, fighting discrimination and disadvantage in all its forms. Our Union must support the structures which ensure that those who are faced with discrimination – black and ethnic minority workers, the young, disabled members, women and those who face sexual orientation or religious bigotry – have a strong voice.