In a wide-ranging report to the first meeting of UNISON’s new national executive council today, general secretary Dave Prentis told members that mobilising for the 29 September rally for the NHS in Manchester must be “a priority” for the union this summer.
He reported that, after a meeting of the TUC Public Service Alliance on Tuesday, the rally that will take place at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester will be “a major event. This is about our National Health Service, in its 65th year, being destroyed by the Health Act.
“We see this as a big event in defence of our NHS, our welfare state and our public services.”
Mr Prentis stressed that it was important that organising and mobilising for it was “a priority,” for UNISON, adding that that process had to start now.
He noted too that the rally would also tie in with the importance for the union to be highly visible in cities across the country.
And he went on to say: “We have to motivate and mobilise our people to stand up and put their heads above the parapet. They’re going through terrible times, but the union must build them up.”
On pay, he said that it “will continue to rise up the agenda for our members.
“It has got to be at the forefront of the work that this union does.”
Mr Prentis said that, under the banner of ‘Britain needs a pay rise’, the unions involved in the Public Service Alliance would be campaigning on the issue in the coming year.
He also explained that, with the casualisation of the workforce on the increase, the TUC is to co-ordinate all the campaigning work around this issue.
Mr Prentis also stressed the need for activists to work on building turnout in all elections.
“There’s a tremendous amount going on,” he said. The general secretary said that organising and recruitment is central to everything that the union does, but added that the union’s legal work is also vital, and he noted that UNISON has now registered a judicial review in the High Court against the government’s attempt to charge people for going to an employment tribunal.
He also informed the council of a submission to the International Labour Organisation on the impact of anti-union legislation on industrial action ballots and, therefore, members’ human rights.
Mr Prentis also welcomed new president Maureen Le Marinel, the union’s first openly gay president, and told the NEC that it was “great that Stonewall sent a big bunch of flowers to Maureen”.
And he continued: “it’s great that the whole presidential team is made up of women too”.
Assistant general secretary Bronwyn McKenna reported to the meeting on the equal pay victory “for 250 members in Scotland”.
She told the council of the “ridiculous arguments being used by employers, using public funds” to avoid “the inevitable”.
The NEC reviewed last months’ national delegate conference and agreed the meetings schedule for the coming year.