West Hammers play defence then offense on tour for Sadiq & Labour 2024

 

Today I joined my West Ham ward Labour comrades John W, Ash and Varghese on a "GTVO" (Get the Vote out") canvass of key priority routes in our ward and elsewhere in West Ham. 

John & I picked up routes and leaflets from our campaign HQ in the morning. We then fueled up with the full english cooked breakfast at the Plaistow Cafe (recommended) then joined Varghese to finish off Corporation Street and to re-knock on doors that we had no response from last night. . 

In the afternoon we met up with Asheem, as well and "knocked up" our other West Ham ward priority routes. After we finished them we were sent to another route in E7.

There seems to have been a positive Labour response but I am always a little paranoid during elections and I was concerned by the number of voters previously identified as Labour saying they were now "undecided". 

Which is always a little worrying but let's wait and see. Count starts on Saturday.  

It's Polling Day!

 

"On the knocker" for Sadiq and Labour in Corporation Street E15

This evening my ward Cllr colleague. John Whitworth and I went knocking doors in Corporation Street, West Ham, Newham London. This was to remind residents about the election tomorrow and find out when and if they intend to vote for Sadiq as Mayor and for Labour. 

Corporation Street is reputed to be one of the longest residential roads in Newham. It is a mixture of London railway terrace housing and maisonettes. It is made up of owner occupiers, social and private rented homes. Multicultural and multi social economic class. Pretty typical of Newham. 

It was also positive for Sadiq and Labour but we had some respectful discussions with residents on a wide range of real political and social issues. 

While some had reservations and concerns, the majority simply wanted Labour in power and to stop the Tories in London. They understood that voting Sadiq and Labour this was the only way to do so. 

We will be out tomorrow with ward members knocking on more doors (and getting our steps up)

 

May Day - International Worker's Day 2024

 

It's International Workers' Day 2024 #IWD2024 UNISON stands in solidarity with all workers and their trade unions at home and around the world. #MayDay

SAVE THE DATE - Social protection for garment workers, 21 May, 3pm UK / 4pm CET

 

"Please join the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) and IndustriALL Global Union for a one-hour investor webinar on 21 May at 3pm UK/4pm CET, when we will explore the Employment Injury Scheme (EIS) for ready-made garment workers in Bangladesh. Speakers will include trade union representatives, GIZ and signatory brands, who will speak about the EIS and the impact it is already having. 

 

The EIS pilot was created to bring Bangladesh, the world’s second largest exporter of garments, closer to comprehensive employment injury insurance. Such insurance is one of the most fundamental forms of social protection, an internationally recognized labour right central to building social resilience in the face of crises. The pilot is a concrete example of a social protection programme that is up and running: several dozen well-known brands and retailers are participating, and payouts from the pilot’s fund to affected workers are underway.

 

In the webinar you will learn more about this innovative programme, which brings together companies, trade unions, the government, supplier factories and the ILO to solve a sector-wide challenge. We will also discuss why the EIS is relevant to investors, and what they can do to support it. 

 

The webinar will be moderated by John Gray, Vice Chair, LAPFF.

 

You can register here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GTOpIAg7QYqEuCb0mLUuig"

UNISON Service Group Elections 2024: Community & other SGE recommendations

 

UNISON Service Group elections started last week. These are really important elections. Some seats were not contested so not everyone has received a postal vote (and you can vote via email but not do both!)

The list below is of personal recommendations by myself and others. I have not any of these candidates if they want to be on this list. 

Community Service Group:
Northern: Malcolm Gray and Clare Penny-Evans
North west: Joy Ryan

Health Service Group:
Eastern: Ben Matenga
East Midlands: Stuart Hallowes
London: Chris Akaluka, Julie Cunnane, Paula Ward
North West: Iain Mooney and Janice Fennell-Rutherford
Yorkshire & Humberside: Dave Syms, Julie Marsland and Rhian Hawthorn
South West: Alison Evans and Marion Baker
South East: Fatima Kamara
Wales: Dawn Ward and Rhian Edwards

Local Government Service Group:
Eastern: Neil Bland
East Midlands: Richard platt and Clare harwood
London: Sean fox, Sonya howard and Clara Mason
West Midlands: Justin Ashton
Yorkshire and humberside: Kerri Tierney and Joshua Moore
South West: Neil guild and Sharon foster
Wales: Dave Rees and Kim Russell

Higher Education Service Group:
East Midlands: Irvin Hendrickson and Hannah Mee
London: Josie Mangan-Murphy and Sue Parkins

Double West Ham canvass for Sadiq Khan & Labour

 

This has been a busy Labour Movement few days with Workers Memorial Day on Friday, TUC Regional Council AGM yesterday (followed by my first ever visit to the Victoria & Albert Museum - which deserves a future post) and today, campaigning for Sadiq Khan as our Labour London Mayor and all London Assembly Labour candidates in West Ham ward. 

My ward Councillor colleague, John Whitworth and I (both of us UNISON members) did a double morning and afternoon canvass and street surgery in our ward, West Ham. 

The weather was wet in the beginning so we canvassed some of our low rise blocks, which meant lots of up and down communal stairs. Great exercise, who needs to join a gym if you are a Labour Party activist? In the later part of the afternoon the rain stopped and the sun came out which was lovely. The blossom may have largely gone but the greenery is very lush in the sunshine after rain. 

We had full English breakfasts for lunch at the Olympic cafe in West Ham Lane (we sneaked into Stratford ward). 

Highlights of the day was a long discussion with an elderly resident, who was originally from Latvia and by coincidence, I had watched last night a film called "The Rifleman", which was about the dreadful first world war (and aftermath) experiences of a Latvia soldier. The resident was an ethnic Russian, whose father had been a prisoner of war during world war 2. It was unclear due to language difficulties who his father was taken prisoner by.  

I took a wrong turn and got locked into a rear communal garden, where you needed a key to get out (which is a risk in these blocks) and had to be rescued by John W. 

We had 161 contacts and I had some very good political discussions on local and national issues. While I did not win everyone over to Labour, the response overall was very good. The depth of support and loyalty to the Labour Party by so many residents is simply humbling. 

TUC London, Eastern & South East Regional Council AGM 24

 

(Text largely from my twitter account @grayee) "At @The_TUC LESE AGM in Congress House, London (home of the British Trade union movement) which I am attending as a @unisonglr delegate.

After a minutes silence to remember comrades who have died in past year, the AGM starts with a Video message from @The_TUC General Secretary @nowak_paul & now verbal report from @TUC_LESE regional Secretary @GurneySam.

Bit of a shock that TUC Executive Council are considering whether they should remortgage Congress House & refurbish it to modern standards or sell it & move elsewhere.

Next @The_TUC President & GS @fbunational @MattWrack keynote speaker on ""meeting the challenges & organising to win". Matt speaks passionately about 7th anniversary of #Grenfell, the vote winning importance of @UKLabour #NewDealforWorkingPeople & 40th anniversary of #Minersstrike

@The_TUC Women's officer @louloupound gives update on workplan to build union capacity to tackle sexual harassment in workplace. Nikki does not dodge the fact that we need in our own #LabourMovement to get our House in order & address sexual harassment & discrimination.

Next update was by @TUC_LESE officer Adrian Ryan on the London union learning project Unionlearn

Now election results for @TUC_LESE executive council and elections for President, Vice Presidents, treasurer, SOC & auditors. New President @RMTunion Kathy Mazur thanks Jim Kelly & then moves RMT motion 1 "A better railway for London, SE and the East of England"

Motion passed unanimously. Now 2nd RMT motion "No more P&Os: A fair pay agreement for the ferry sector". Also passed unanimously.

Update by @TUC_LESE Laurie Heselden on "New Deal for Working People". Making it clear that this is a trade union policy as much as @UKLabour

Following some rather odd & negative comments from a couple of delegates Our @unisontheunion delegation leader @organiserjo makes the point in Q&A that the relationship of @TUC_LESE &
@UKLabour @labourunionsuk & the positive work that is done. While President @unitetheunion Jim Kelly gave a ringing endorsement of @SadiqKhan for his support 4 workers

Update by project lead Maria McCaul on London Unemployed Strategies

Final update by Daniel Shannon-Hughes on @TUC_LESE Bulletin. Only 3k out of 1.8 million trade unionists are current subscribers'. Scan to sign up! (top left of collage) or click here  https://tuc.org.uk/lese-news\

Final item Finance report. Meeting closed.

Worker's Memorial Day 2024: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends".

 

Today we remembered workers who died in the course of their duties and also those who died trying valiantly to save them. Workers Memorial Day is on Sunday (28 April) this year but we decided to hold our annual event today. 

The venue was beside the "Clasping Hands" statue in Three Mills Park in Stratford, East London. Over a 100 years ago, 4 workers died at this site in a notorious health and safety incident. 3 of them died trying to pull out of danger, a worker who had collapsed due to poisonous fumes at a bottom of a ventilation shaft next to a local Gin factory. 

Even by the standards of the time, basic health and safety rules had been ignored, which resulted in these deaths. 

We had speeches and wreaths laid by representatives of UNISON, Clarion Housing Group and L&Q Group. Many thanks to the professional safety advisors from Clarion and L&Q for attending. 

As well as trade union and Labour movement activists from UNISON and GMB, there was also local Labour Councillors, including Cllr James Beckles, who is standing in the Greater London Assembly Elections and  Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, the Deputy Mayor of Hackney Council (both UNISON members). 

UNISON SGE elections 2024: Community Recommendations

 

Denise and I, as elected UNISON Community NEC members, have no hesitation recommending Clare, Malcolm and Joy as Service Group Executive members.