- Conference
- 2007 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 23 February 2007
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference notes the:
1)rise of the British National Party (BNP) in the West Midlands and across the country;
2)joint work carried out with Searchlight and Unite Against Fascism (UAF) in campaigning against the BNP;
3)positive steps forward in working with other trade unions and establishing local activists and neighbourhood activities to combat the BNP;
4)establishment of a campaign against the BNP by councillors in Sandwell;
5)liaison with the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Trades Union Councils and the Labour Party in respect of this issue;
6)the success of ASLEF in the European Court confirming the rights of a trade union to choose its own membership.
Conference further notes:
a)that the BNP is a rapidly growing organisation. Unfortunately the policies of New Labour of privatisation, National Health Service reforms and cuts in public services have blighted and alienated working class communities and have helped boost support for the BNP who portray themselves as a working class alternative to New Labour;
b)the attempts by the BNP to reinvent itself as a mainstream political party;
c)the BNP’s aspirations to have at least one BNP MP elected at the next general election, and to have elected at least one member of the Greater London Authority in London following the election of 12 local councillors in Barking and Dagenham.
Conference therefore resolves to:
i)liaise with the TUC, Labour Party, Trades Union Councils, other parties commited to combatiing the BNP and other trade unions to explore the feasibility of employing temporary members of staff to work on this issue in the run-up to the next general election ensuring that such work is broad-based, non-party political and works to persuade voters to use their vote against the fascist threat;
ii)work with Searchlight, Love Music Hate Racism and UAF to establish local networks of activists which would be in place before the next general election in BNP target areas providing support for initiatives such as school based Love Music programmes and local gigs;
iii)provide briefings to UNISON members on the real policies of the BNP using, for instance, the series of articles in The Guardian newspaper from December 2006;
iv)provide detailed guidance to branches on the implementation of the European Court decision in respect of membership admission.