John C. on Tue 16, December 2008 @ 00:57

John C. — 2008-12-16 00:57:22

Certainly in UNISON at least we need to start by building "effective links between militant activists" within the same union before we can establish them accross "the various unions", as for too long the left has been split amongst itself resulting in two candidates of the left standing for General Secretary last time round. Whilst this hasn't stopped the various groups from working together on the ground it is not a very attractive prospect for other rank and file activists to encounter. A move in the right direction has taken place however with the recent "What's Going Wrong in UNISON" conference in Birmingham, where all the various left groups and non-aligned activists at least got together to discuss opposition to witch-hunts and a commitment to restoring democracy within UNISON. A follow up meeting in the North West was also fairly well attended. It is still largely at the stage of a temporary alliance to campaign for the NEC elections, but it's a start. Let's hope we can turn it into something more.

Permanent Revolution

John C. on Tue 16, December 2008 @ 00:57