Workers' Liberty

Unison elections

25 Apr 2008

Members of the public service union Unison should have already received ballot papers for the Service Group Executive (SGE) elections being held now. The activist left is standing on a platform of fighting the pay cuts now rather than at some date in the future. A vote for the left might make all the difference to how much money is in members’ pockets during the next three years! For once, there is a decent degree of left unity in these elections. There is only one definite clash, in the London local government general seat. Glenn Kelly of the Socialist Party is standing against United Left...

Our Reps Should Be Elected In Our Workplaces

08 Dec 2007 | Blog post

Tubeworker is well in favour of elections for union reps taking place in the workplace, so we are pleased to see that two RMT branches have decided to introduce this system.

Morden & Oval branch held workplace-ballot elections last week, and around 160 of 300 eligible members cast a vote. That's...

RMT Executive election

27 Mar 2007 | Blog post

RMT members are now voting for our Executive representative. The choice is beteen Olly New and Brian Munro.

When the two candidates went round the branches asking for nominations, Brian generally came across better, with more passion, more focus on rank-and-file workers, and more 'fighting talk'...

Just Don't Call Me The First Lady

25 Nov 2006 | Blog post

John Leach has won the election to be National President of the RMT for the next three years. John is my partner, but RMT activists will be aware that I don't subscribe to the Tammy Wynette school of trade unionism, and regularly refuse to stand by my man on industrial issues. But I am convinced he...

John Leach wins RMT president

19 Nov 2006

John Leach has won the election to be National President of the RMT for the next three years. AWL thought John Leach he was the best candidate in this election, and we are delighted to say that he romped home. The members voted for a representative who would fight the employers rather than cosy up to them. Here are the scores on the doors: Jimmy Corbett 843 Trevor Jordan 933 Ray Knight 3651 John Leach 5649 Michele Rodgers 2035 Jimmy Corbett eliminated Trevor Jordan 1092 (+90) Ray Knight 3874 (+223) John Leach 5781 (+132) Michele Rodgers 2226 (+191) Trevor Jordan eliminated Ray Knight 4134 (...

RMT President: vote John Leach

13 Oct 2006 | Blog post

RMT members will soon get their ballot papers in the election for National President.

Tubeworker’s vote will go to John Leach, because we believe that he has the most commitment to rank-and-file members and to fighting the employers. He has a record of doing this, including leading unofficial...

USDAW elections - vote Broad Left!

15 Jan 2006

By Gerry Bates From 23 January members of the shop and distribution workers' union USDAW will be receiving ballot papers for the election of our union executive and president. This is one of the most important trade union elections in years. USDAW is perhaps the least effective union in the British labour movement. Its leadership have signed away the right to vote on their pay and conditions for nearly a third of its total membership in Tesco. They have blocked a united front with the TGWU against low pay in Sainsbury's, and throughout the industry USDAW officials are happy to stay warm and...

A fighting union or a job club?

15 Jan 2006

This article was wrongly attributed to Tom Cashman. To read an apology click here . As we go to press, elections are taking place for the General Executive Council of the TGWU. The contest is a battle between genuine trade unionists trying to build a serious working-class organisation and faking bureaucrats concerned only to secure their own future and keep the union rolling as a gravy train and job club for their mates. There is no need for illusions about the T&G Broad Left. It is not a militant rank-and-file grouping. It is primarily an electoral machine whose majority politics can be...

Matt Wrack wins FBU General Secretary election

07 May 2005

Fire Brigades Union press release 6 May 2005 Matt Wrack has been elected General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union. He defeated Andy Gilchrist in a secret postal ballot conducted by Electoral Reform Balloting services in which over 40% of members voted. The result: Votes cast: 20,663 Spoilt 571 Matt Wrack 12,883 (63.9%) Andy Gilchrist 7,259 (36.1%) Matt Wrack said: “I am enormously proud to be elected and thank everyone who participated in the ballot. I congratulate Andy Gilchrist on a hard fought campaign. “We now need to unite and face the challenges ahead. The FBU is the only union in...

Vote for a fighting UNISON

20 Apr 2005

By a UNISON member The National Executive Committee elections in Unison are now underway. The left in Unison has been split recently. Last year the Socialist Party walked out of the Unison United Left. In the recent election for the union’s General Secretary current General Secretary Dave Prentis won comfortably, as the left fielded two candidates, Jon Rogers backed by the UUL and Roger Bannister of the SP, who between them managed only a quarter of the vote. In these NEC elections, the two left camps have managed to avoid standing candidates against each other, but more by default than design...

Union elections