- Conference
- 2010 National Black Members' Conference
- Date
- 7 August 2009
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
After the disastrous results which saw the BNP pick up two European parliament seats, there is not doubt that the feeling of the British public has been widely expressed throughout the political process during the Council and European elections. They have delivered damning verdict the Labour government’s proposals to impose a National Identification card to ‘Stop Terrorism’, the new terrorism legislation and the reverting back to stop and search legislation – these practices can only divide our communities making a farce of initiatives such as community cohesion.
Clearly if this government is intent on treating sections of our communities less favourably and dividing communities then members of the public will disengage within the political process. The Black communities are still facing the brunt of the BNP racism and the government’s strategy on terrorism.
When Gordon Brown started to sing about British jobs for British workers he seems to have forgotten that we live in a country with an incredibly diverse workforce that as a labour movement we should be uniting and not dividing – that is why the conflicting messages sent out by the UNITE and GMB trade unions were so disappointing.
The BNP were left with a golden opportunity to make inroads into areas where job losses were being announced and in communities that are less diverse. The racist arguments of the BNP over the use of foreign, Migrant and Eastern European workers taking their jobs and being paid less can seem to make sense to these workers.
The Labour Government has not countered the scaremongering of immigrants and this, coupled with the slogan ‘British Jobs for British Workers’ has given racism a new respectability. It is no wonder that the BNP have been able to appeal to a racist vote to get them into the European Parliament.
UNISON’s strategy calling for our activists to get out and campaign was not good enough as we need to look at ourselves as a number of issues arises from those activists who have been working long and hard fighting against the BNP and Anti fascism not just now but over many years.
Conference calls on the National Black Members Committee to:
1.Support new initiatives surrounding the Anti BNP campaign in line with UNISON’s national policy and aims and objectives;
2.Continue to support Unite Against Fascism and Hope not Hate and other organisations in line with UNISON’s national policy and aims and objectives;
3.Work with the National Executive Council to continue to fund and support Unite Against Fascism and Hope not Hate campaigns and other organisations in line with UNISON’s national policy and aims and objectives;
4.Consult with National Executive on innovative ways to involve the Black community on this extremely important matter;
5.Engage with Branches, Regional Self-Organised Groups, Regions and the wider membership through meetings and publicity;
6.Support collaboration between Regions and Hope not Hate and Unite against Fascism to address future strategy;
7.The NBMC to become more proactive on the political agenda where concerns arise from Black Members, Black Communities and the wider UNISON membership.