UNISON’s Black members’ conference in Brighton set about a packed second day with a packed schedule of guest speakers and debate.
General secretary Dave Prentis told delegates: “Thank you all – the work that you do is tremendous”.
To laughter, he noted that he’d been advised to start with some political jokes.
“The problem with political jokes,” he observed, “is that they keep getting re-elected.
“Which brings me on to the Liberal Democrats.
“What’s the difference between the Liberal Democrats and a supermarket trolley? A supermarket trolley has a mind of its own.”
But the serious content came as he talked of the indictments of “Osborne’s recovery”, with foodbank use rising, the Red Cross handing out food parcels and “seven million [people] refused access to the banks” and “thousands trapped in pay-day loans”.
And he told conference: “Our job is to make our Labour Party stand up for the ordinary people – our people.”
Mr Prentis called for an end to the “market madness in our public services” and said that UNISON’s members need hope.
What they need to hear from “our politicians,” he added, “is that there is an alternative.”
He condemned politicians’ race to be seen to outdo each other on immigration, and warned of the danger presented by UKIP, which has carefully not made much play of many of its policies on such matters as scrapping employment rights.
Also addressing conference was Junior Smart from the St Giles Trust, who told delegates about his work with young people, helping to “break the cycle of offending” with those who have been in trouble, particularly in terms of gang-related crime.
“Learning is the only way we can transcend our social divide,” he said, as he described the difficulties of the challenging work that he and his colleagues undertake.
“We have to deal with the behaviour – not the people,” he added.
Key issue: Challenging racism in the workplace
UNISON Knowledge: Race discrimination (member-only content)
