Ian Allinson, grassroots socialist candidate for Unite General Secretary
Ian Allinson, the grassroots socialist candidate in the Unite General Secretary election, talks about how his campaign is already helping shake things up and preventing the debate drifting rightwards. One of the aims of my campaign is to strengthen the networks of activists who want to see a more vibrant, bottom up, union that is … Read more
Ian Allinson, the only candidate for Unite General Secretary to oppose Trident, argues that the union’s support for weapons of mass destruction is part of a wider partnership agenda which hinders effective campaigning for sustainable jobs, including the million climate jobs campaign.
Opposition to Trident and its renewal was growing even before the latest debacle where the government appears to have tried to cover up a failed test launch before a crucial vote in the House of Commons.
Unite General Secretary candidate Ian Allinson had asked Len McCluskey for a copy of the report into women officers in Unite and asked for it to be made available to members before nominations opened. The union refused to release it. Ian Allinson has now been sent the report anonymously, and has published it alongside this … Read more
On Saturday Ian Allinson, the grassroots socialist candidate for Unite General Secretary, spoke at campaign meetings in London and Cambridge. Below you can watch his speech at the London meeting. If you’d like to support the campaign to elect Ian, please leave your details, and get in touch if you’d like to invite Ian to … Read more
Ian Allinson, the grassroots socialist candidate for Unite General Secretary, argues that equality issues have to be better integrated into our industrial agenda. That requires putting our own house in order, which can’t be done secretly.
Perhaps the strangest thing about the campaign so far is the failure of the other candidates or their supporters to engage with the ideas I’m putting forward for making Unite more effective.
Do they agree that we need fortnightly email bulletins to all activists, not filtered through officers and committees? Would creating case studies of members’ successes to save us wasting so much effort trying to reinvent the wheel be a good idea? Do we need to restructure the union to provide better support for the 80% of workplaces in employers that span multiple regions, and where our organising is currently so much less effective? Do we need to build a civil rights movement to challenge an increasingly repressive state rather than fighting anti-union legislation in isolation? Do we need to integrate our equality work better with our industrial agenda?
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.
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.
This week Unite should be sending out letters and forms to branch secretaries to enable them to organise branch nomination meetings for General Secretary and the Executive Council. Where a branch covers more than one workplace, the workplace can also make a nomination, but the rep needs to contact the Regional Secretary to request the necessary paperwork now.
Nomination meetings must take place between Monday 16 January and Friday 17 February 2017.
Ian Allinson, the grassroots socialist candidate for Unite General Secretary, argues that McCluskey’s fudge on free movement stops him effectively defending members from the damage caused by Coyne’s attack on workers’ rights to free movement and equal treatment.