- Conference
- 2016 National Black Members' Conference
- Date
- 24 September 2015
- Decision
- Carried
Conference, the toxic debate on immigration has deep echoes of a past that never seems to leave us. The response of UNISON Black members’ is based on the lessons of the anti-racist movement and principals of self-organisation.
It is said that poverty breeds fear which causes people to look for scapegoats. UKIP and its rhetoric surrounding immigration did nothing more than fuel hatred and the dividing of the nation as we forgot to stand up and state ‘we live in a country with an incredible diverse workforce that has a labour movement we should be uniting and not dividing’.
The Labour Party did not counter the scaremongering of immigrants which gave a new respectability to a party like UKIP with them gaining nearly 4 million votes and one MP in Westminster.
UNISON was very successful in increasing the turn out of UNISON members in the general elections held in May 2015 and squeezing the UKIP vote. From UNISON’s perspective in key marginal areas the UKIP vote amongst UNISON members dropped between the beginning and the end of the election campaign.
Conference, what is worrying though is that some UNISON members voted for UKIP and in the wider community Black people not only campaigned and presented themselves as candidates, but voted for UKIP too. Therefore tackling racism and organising in communities against intolerance will need to continue all year round, as we push back on each barrel-scraping anti-immigration measure proposed by this government and the propaganda perpetrated by UKIP and far right groups.
When Nigel Farage announced his resignation as the leader of the party, the scale of panic that hit the members of his party and the media frenzy was incredible and showed that the UKIP party and any manifesto is nothing without Nigel Farage.
We need to expose this man’s policies and motivations and engaging Black communities is essential for any future positive debate around immigration. We must dispel the myth and tell the truth about UKIP’s sexist and racist policies. We must continue our internal communications campaign letting our members know that UKIP is bad for members both as citizens and as workers.
While the election is over, our work in challenging the toxic anti-immigration debate and the enigma that is Nigel Farage must be a priority, as “the greatest danger is not that we aim too high and miss the mark, but that we aim too low and reach it”.
We therefore call on the NBMC to:
1) Continue to be at the forefront of campaigning and working as part of a wide coalition of groups both nationally and locally to support migrant members in the workplace and people in the community
2) Continue to promote and support UNISON migrant workers networks
3) Continue to promote the help line that is free for UNISON members called ‘Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants’ (JCWI)
4) Continue to highlight the work of Hope not Hate in tackling racism and organising in communities against intolerance and fascism.
5) Organise a fringe meeting or workshop at the 2017 National Black Members Conference of practical support, organising in workplaces and negotiating for better treatment, respect and equality for Black workers in challenging discrimination
6) Ensure the Black vote is a powerful presence in future elections by continuing the campaign of Black voter registration and participation within UK society.