Manchester

Ian Allinson’s statement on the Unite General Secretary election result

28 April 201723 April 2017 by admin

The result won’t be officially declared by the Executive Council until Friday 28th April, but the votes are counted and are as follows: Len McCluskey 59067 (45.4%) Gerard Coyne 53544 (41.2%) Ian Allinson 17143 (13.2%) Spoiled papers 317 (0.2%) Total vote 130071 (turnout of 12.2%, from 1062049 ballot papers despatched) Update: full General Secretary and … Read more

After the Unite General Secretary election – what?

13 April 20175 April 2017 by admin

Ian talking with members

Voting in the Unite General Secretary election continues until 19 April, and most members won’t have voted, so the campaign is not over yet. But it is important to think about what comes after the result is declared on Friday 28 April. Whoever wins members will need to keep pushing to make Unite a stronger union. Grassroots socialist challenger Ian Allinson sets out some initial thoughts.

Many of the ideas put forward in our campaign have gained wide support – not just from those who are supporting me in this election, but also from many who backed McCluskey from fear of Coyne, and even from a few who backed Coyne, seeing him as the best chance of getting rid of McCluskey.

All meaningful change comes from below, and all meaningful change is the result of collective effort. So how can we most effectively take forward our ideas after the campaign? The ian4unite campaign is organising four post-election meetings to discuss this. If you want to push forward the broad agenda I’m campaigning for you are welcome at these meetings no matter who you have supported in the election:

Unite leadership candidate Ian Allinson says “This is a three horse race”

2 March 20171 March 2017 by admin

Candidates in the Unite General Secretary election campaign have today received official confirmation of branches and workplaces that nominated them. Photo of Ian Allinson

Ian Allinson, the only grassroots candidate in the election, received a total of 97 nominations including 21 workplace nominations.

Allinson said:

“This election is clearly a three horse race. The number of nominations I have is very impressive for a grassroots candidate”.

“The other two candidates are well placed in the union machine, Len McCluskey is the incumbent General Secretary and Gerard Coyne has been West Midlands Regional Secretary for fifteen years. Their campaigns have funding and resources to match.”

“We live in an era of political upsets – we should rule nothing out in this election. Gerard Coyne doesn’t seem to be quite the right wing threat that the press have been talking up.”

“My nominations have come from members who want to see a more serious fightback and workplace issues brought forward in the union. They come from members who want brave leadership on issues they care about, green jobs, defending of refugees and migrants, and improving equality and diversity within Unite itself”.

Yesterday Ian Allinson was on the picket line at his own workplace, Fujitsu in Manchester, as part of a national strike over job cuts, union recognition, pay and pensions.

On Saturday Allinson will join the #ourNHS demonstration in central London.

Ian Allinson for Unite General Secretary hits the road

16 January 201711 January 2017 by admin

Nominations open on Monday and the campaign is hotting up. Here are details of how to nominate Ian Allinson for Unite General Secretary.

Ian will be on the picket line at his workplace 7-10am on Thursday 12th, Friday 13th and Monday 16th January as part of the strike for pay, pensions and job security at Fujitsu. The picket is at Fujitsu, Central Park, Northampton Road, Manchester, M40 5BP. There’s more information on the dispute online.

Organising needs experimentation and sharing lessons

6 January 20176 January 2017 by admin

Ian Allinson, the grassroots socialist candidate for Unite General Secretary, argues that the union needs to build on the success of its organising strategy by doing more to involve lay members, support experimentation, and share lessons and successes.

Unite’s organising has been a success, helping to stop the decline in membership and increasing members’ power to win in many workplaces. But our efforts have not yet been sufficient to turn the tide or prevent the balance of power being tilted massively against workers, who generally face downward pressure on pay and benefits, and feel vulnerable to managerial whim and job insecurity at work; while housing, welfare and vital services are eroded outside work.