Sean's blog

Good luck Glyn-The End of an Era

2009-09-27T06:31:00.000-07:00

Friday was the end of an era in Haringey UNISON (and NALGO for you oldies!) as we bid a fond farewell to Glyn Rowlands who left his job in Haringey and thus sadly his role in our Branch. Over the years Glyn has been a Steward, a health and safety Rep, a Convener for Education, and Assistant branch Secretary and the Employeeside Secretary(and we all know what a thankless task coordinating joint trade unions can sometimes be!). Aside from this he put in countless and unthanked hours as a Rep for individuals and in campaigning on wider Trade Union issues such as anti privatisation. In all the year's I have been in the Union movement in harigney he has been a constant source of support and a very good listener!

Glyn is one of the quiet people of the Trade Union movement not a shouter or a person to big up his contribution to UNISON over the years so I guess it is left to the likes of me to do it for him. Put simply Glyn is the kind of person every Branch needs, the kind who digests and understands the endless Council reports, writes copious amounts of good quality bulletins on the issues and generally plans and organises campaigns to a tee. I was struck by how much work he has down when he left me his departing gift of the 30 huge boxes of paperwork which were delivered by a removal company! So a little light reading for the next few months!

But in seriousness he was a great asset and it will be very hard to replace someone with such an encyclopedic knowledge of Haringey its history it's policies and its procedures. Many is the time I would open my email at home to find emails sent in the wee small hours with a ready made bulletin on PFI, on our latest dispute or the future of Schools. Very rarely did they need amendment and when suggestions were made they were always taken in the positive light. Many readers outside Haringey will not realise how much he drove our work in particular the model campaign we fought against the Secondary Schools PFI and the work he did to ensure our members (and those of the GMB for that matter) were protected when we lost. The twin track approach was a model we used successfully more than once. Even year's later we would get calls from other Branches who had been referred our way by a Regional or National office. I think the biggest delight was probably seeing Glyn proved right on PFI as the contract was terminated when Jarvis went bust :)

Equally in Haringey's last major local dispute in 1999 he spent countless hours preparing in what Can only be described as a military fashion for all possibilities. (Not that Glyn is a fan of militarism or wars!)

So as he moves onto a new life in Wales I hope he realises how much we all appreciate his tireless work for the members in Haringey and the selfless commitment he showed over 20+ years. The Unions need more Glyn's with politics principles but also an immense amount of modesty.

Oh and a note to our comrades in Cymru/Wales Region if he gets a job in the public Sector make damn sure you tap him up as an assett to the movement!

Thanks and good luck mate I hope you appreciate the gifts which almost selected themselves

a Sad Day for democracy

2009-07-25T03:41:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week democracy in my Union took a backward step as a disciplinary panel opted to suspend four UNISON activists from holding office for three years. Their "crime" was to publish a leaflet at Unison's Conference of 2007 (yes UNISON takes Even longer to resolve disciplinary issues than the average Employer)

The leaflet was deemed to be considered capable of causing offence and questioned the decision making process of the standing orders committee thus questioning their reasoning for ruling motions out of order. I think the latter may once have been described as "deliberately farting in your general direction" or similar.

The content used the old Chinese proverb of three wise monkeys, in these circumstances it was very unfortunate that the Chair of the SOC is a black man and the image may have well be considered offensive by some. But then after this event UNISON officials sent a gorilla handing out peanuts and bananas to the Employers organisation under the slogan broadly speaking of "pay peanuts and you get monkeys" Bare in mind in many Boroughs the Employees are overwhelmingly Black (like my own for example) and that many Councillors are also Black then this image could be viewed in a similar capacity. So did any Senior Employed official get disciplined? Did the Committee authorising this get investigated (assuming one did) So far as I Can tell the answer is a resounding no. If I am wrong on this then on provision of evidence I will be happy to publish a retraction on this point.

Then there is the case of "and then there were four": Four Branches produced the leaflet and initially investigated were Four Branch Secretaries of the branches and One Branch Chair (Itself a bit odd) But when the charges came one of the Branch Secretaries disappeared. I am sure it was mere coincidence that he was not a member of the Socialist Party of England and Wales (which the other four are well known members of)

I am not going to profess to be in agreement with the politics of the SP (E&W) being a member of the Labour Party. But I respect their rights to belong to a political party and to argue their case in our union for policies in keeping with their beliefs. That is a fundamental concept of democratic participation that we all have our right to argue for an alternative approach with the obvious exception of fascists and their ilk

So where does this leave us in the future? While we face attacks on our membership by the Employers (Labour, Conservative, Lid Dem, SNP and the rest), privatisation, pensions threats, cuts on a massive scale and the rest, we are more interested in attacking our own over something for which they were willing to offer an apology for at the same Conference where the leaflet was published.

So at a time when we are desperately trying to recruit new members and activists we suspend four experienced and dedicated activists from holding office who are memebrs of a particular political party.The message many will read if your are anti Labour you are not welcome. I have had the good fortune to work with Glen Kelly and Onay Kasab and Brian Debus many times (less so Susan Moonagh) in London. While we have not always agreed on tactics I have never had cause to doubt their anti racist belief (in fact to the contrary)nor their commitment to the Trade union movement.

It's not to late for UNISON do the right thing chuck out this sanction at the appeal send a message of protest to Dave Prentis and help end this farce (particularly if you are UNISON member)

For updates and more information take a momemnt to look up http://www.stopthewitchhunt.org.uk

Summers Here

2009-07-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

So it must be time for warm beer seaside pre season friendlies and music festivals:) Hmm sounds almost like John Major's idyllic image of cycling maids and I don't mind a bit of cricket to!

So come Friday I am off to the Isle of Man the land of one side of my ancestry for the first time. Of course the trip is entirely cultural and it is a happy coincidence that my football team are playing there in a pre season match :) While I am there I shall be missing Tolpuddle sadly where I have spent a great weekend the last two summers in good company a beautiful setting and more than a touch of political debates. To those who are going again my thoughts are with you as I am sure there will be many happy memories of Malcolm Campbell our dear friend and comrade who particularly enjoyed the event. Raise a glass for me in his memory.

Then two weeks down the lines its off to Cambridge for the folk festival (and hopefully without the rain showers of last year!) The line up contains very few bands I have heard of but discovering new music if half the fun.

August see's AFC Wimbledon's latest coming of age as we kick off our first season in the Conference National with a home game against Luton. it seems mad to think that 20 years ago we kicked off our season as holders of two of the three major trophies in the country(Luton League Cup winners Wimbledon FA Cup winners) yet on the 8th of August we shall be battling for entry to the football League. Football truly is a funny old world but I love it :)

The week after I'm off to the beautiful village of Cropredy for the annual Fairport Convention reunion gig and am very much looking forward to seeing old friends. It shall however be a bitter sweet occasion as those I camp with shall also be missing Malcolm having camped with him for many a long year. One of his oldest Friends has had some t shirts made with Malcolm on to remember him.The last sing of the festival Meet on the Ledge (or a major riot if it isn't!) which remembers those we have lsot will be espcially poignant for Steve his family and many others who knew Malcolm and shared in his love of music

I love the summer in many ways not least there are always load's of short weeks at work and long weekends :)

Malcolm Campbell RIP

2009-05-07T00:04:00.000-07:00

Today is the day I and many others gather to say our last goodbyes to Malcolm Campbell. Thanks to Marsha Jane for setting up to allow us to remember him fondly. It was also lovely to see a very thoughtful piece in the Sutton Guardian about Malcolm's Trade Union work

I found myself thinking of this very apt song this morning Malcolm was a huge fan of folk music and friends remember him singing this at Tolpuddle a couple of years back with another comrade Pauline Bradley

My thoughts are with his partner Jayne and his friends from many different backgrounds who will gather this afternoon to Celebrate his life. As Malcolm would want there will be memories from all his different interests, stories will be told , songs will be sung and glasses will be raised in his honour

Malcolm was also a passionate fan of Chelsea and I am sure I heard him cursing the late equaliser last night that prevented a second Champions League Final appearance! He along with others fought to kick the racists out of Chelsea in the bad old days as remembered by former London Convenor Geoff Martin in his tribute.

Goodbye Malc you were a friend, comrade, and mentor I shall miss you but never forget you.

Goodbye Comrade Malcy

2009-04-29T04:58:00.000-07:00

Its funny how this world of ours has a habit of taking a high moment and then kicking you in the guts. That’s how I felt on Monday afternoon when I found out about the sudden death of Malcolm Campbell. Malcolm was the long-standing Branch Secretary of Croydon UNISON, member of the Regional Committee, London’s Rep on the Conference (LG) Standing Orders committee. He was a dedicated and princcipled Trade Unionist who never compromised in his beliefs and he is a massive loss to our movement. He had so much more to give and was only 56 years old. Having taken a few days to get my head round it I wanted to remember him

To me, and many others Malcolm wasn’t just a Trade Unionist however, he was a friend and someone we looked up to. This job we do can be a thankless task sometimes. In that field people who understand and make time to support eachother are at a premium, Malcolm was such a person. He had been a long standing Branch Secretary when I took over Haringey and was always willing to take the time to offer advice when asked but also to ensure you didn’t think he was telling you what was right to do. That is something I shall miss enormously.

Death at any time is sudden but this was completely out of the blue, after having had a heart attack a few years back Malc had recuperated rested and then thrown himself back into his passions of UNISON, the Trades Council, Music and Football (I’ll even forgive him his choice of team Chelsea!) I saw him for the last time only on Friday when we were planning both for UNISON’s Local Government Conference and our annual trips to our other shared passion of the Folk Festivals.

Malcolm managed to balance his endless commitment to UNISON with his other loves. He loved nothing more than going here http://www.fairportconvention.com/cropredy.php and having been with him it often felt he knew the whole crowd in person. He camped with a group of friends and their families all of whom shall miss his so much as well certainly when we sing this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvtdF0z69io in the Summer year we shall think of him as we all stood together last year arm in arm to remember those that were no longer with us.

He will also doubtless be missed by his many friends at Chelsea and in his local down in Sutton http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/12/12043/Little_Windsor/Sutton. Where he shared many a laugh and enjoyed good company and good beer.

Most of all however my thoughts are with his partner Jane and his family, at this time of this tragic loss. There are many others who were touched by Malcolm and I know there were a lot of shocked and devastated UNISON activists around London and beyond as well as colleagues who are employed by the Union.

Goodbye Malcolm we shall all miss you, I shall remember you in so many different places this year: The Conference Hall, Cropredy, Tolpuddle, amongst them. It was a privilege to call you a friend and comrade

Championes championes oleoleole

2009-04-26T07:54:00.000-07:00

Woke up this morning with the hangover from hell but the still can't take the shitfaced grin off my face :) AFC Wimbledon the Club who according to the F.A. Commission (28.5.2002) were "not in the wider interests of football" have completed their journey to the top of the non league pyramid. It's been a long journey but there was something strangely familiar about the burning sunny day the copious amounts of alcohol and the general fan love in yesterday. It was just like Sanhurdst in 2002 in so many ways.

AFC Wimbledon was formed by ordinary people like me and is owned equally by ordinary supporters like me to this day and run as a fan democracy by our Dons Trust (and Industrial and provident society) with one member one vote. A certain ex chaitrman of a league Club once said football fans couldn't run a bath. well my bath sometimes overflows but so does my footballing cup :D

In seven years since we picked ourselves up from the shameful decision to rob our community of it's club and allow the league place ot be franchised to another town (Not a city as it claims!) we ain't done bad. Four promotions, two championships, a county cup and league cup, an appearance in the first round proper of the FA Cup. The purchase of a ground, the ongoing refurbishment of it (and ensuring we treated our co tenants properly) on and off the pitch the future is bright the future is yellow and blue :)

From a personal point of view I was delighted to present the WISA Player of the Year Trophy at half time to Ben Judge. ( I am the Treasurer of the Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association) I thus got to be one of a select few fans who were allowed onto the pitch yesterday! The award was presented by myself and actor Alun Armstrong who is a long standing Wimbledon supporter. (If you doubt this just watch an episode of New Tricks and see how many times he manages to be in shot with Wimbledon merchandise or works the Club into story lines :) ) He was a very nice and approachable person as it goes and I would take a wild stab he is a good socialist to !

Oh and the day was completed by hearing that the Franchise Scum had lost at home thus ending their chances of automatic promotion. Now Come on Leeds, Come on Millwall come on Tranmere (or Scunthorpe) deal another blow for football and kill their play off chances :)

There will be many challenges ahead not least trying to increase the capacity at Kingsmeadow (the game yesterday was the latest in what I suspect may be a regular line of sell outs) For that matter the small issue of trying to secure a longer term home in our home borough ( albeit we are only 2 miles way from its boundary), turning professional and balancing all this with fan ownership. Still if Hamburg can manage it why cant we :)

We are wimbledon up and at here we go , singing wimbledon wave your colours to and throw, go with wimbledon follow us and see it through, shout and sign for the boys who fear no one , proud to wear the blue of wimbledon etc :) (We are Wimbledon F.A. Cup Final Song 1988)

Well done to Terry Brown and his management team, well done to the players, especially well done to those who give up their time to volunteer for our club. Thank you to those we elect to run it for us and those we employ to help support them.

BNP Smashed In Haringey

2008-10-12T06:32:00.001-07:00

Follwing a very actve campaign led by UNISON, Haringey Trades Council and the Ferderation of Residents Associations the BNP received a grand total of 27 votes (0.9% of votes cast) Thid was almost no better than they received in the GLA elections where they did not stand a candidate or actively campaign in the ward.

The seat was comfortably held by the Liberal Democrats although with Labours vote remaning almost unchanged from 2006 and the Lib Dems 500 down it may show some sign of a revivial for Labour in a seat they previously held.

While the BNP may have bene seen off on this ocassion we are not being complacent and will be continuing to work closely with other anti fascist groups to help in the next real battle keeping them out of the European Seats in London.

Swab & Carthy

2008-09-29T23:55:00.000-07:00

Just back from an excellent gig from the legends that are Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick at Croydon Folok Club. The Club is held at Ruskin house which is owned on behalf of the trade union movement, nice venue excellent gig.

It was nice to see both in a small venue and having them play togehter is something of a rarity, added bonus was getting a C.D. signed by both. Dave Swarbrick is of course the man of legend who had his obituary published in advance of his death by one of the broadsheets and took for a period to selling signed copies!

Music was very much tradtional folk stripped down to the bones,cheery little ditties lol :) As Kate Rusby commented when I saw her at Cambridge " We are going to play ome songs about sailors and death" could have been quite apt for the songs last night. That said some very lively and enjoyable hornpipes and Carolans gave for a lively contrast and the slow ones were played beautifully.

Must admit I was surprised how quiet the audience was in terms of clapping along etc in comparison to many other folk gigs I have been to.

Still all all in a throughly enjoyable evening out and another one of the legendary folk acts to chalk off my list.

STOP THE BNP PUBLIC MEETING

2008-09-25T01:00:00.000-07:00

THURSDAY OCTOBER 2nd, 7.30pm
NO TO RACISM - YES TO COMMUNITY SOLIDARITY!

Speakers:Sean Fox(Branch Secretary Haringey UNISON), Local Residents

@ St Andrews Centre, Alexandra Pk Rd [nr Windermere Rd] N10
Bus 102/299 to the door + bus 43/134/234/184 nearby

Meeting called by Haringey Trades Union Council, Haringey UNISON
and the Haringey Federation of Residents Associations

Stop the BNP in Haringey

2008-09-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

I was shocked last week to find that the British National Party are standing a candidate in Council by election Haringey where I am UNISON Branch secretary. Haringey is one of the most diverse borough's in London having over 52 languages spoken and many prominent immigrant communities and religions.Despite extreme poverty in many parts of the borough I am proud that we had not had a sniff of the Fascists campaigning for their platform or racism, homophobia and religious bigotry in the Borough. The last major fascist activity was the National Front's march at Turnpike Lane in 1977

Having got over the anger I and other Trade Unionists and community activists decided to do something to stop this stain on democracy getting out of the sewer where it belongs, in Haringey. Tonight saw a diverse group of community activists come together to form The Haringey Anti Fascist Coalition to raise awareness of the BNP'S activities and the truth behind their lies. Alexandra Ward where the by election takes place has been a Liberal Democrat ward since 2002 having previuouslybeen Labour (as of course was much of Haringey for many years). While there is no clear evidence of fascist activitiy or support o the ground (in the GLA elections a grand total of 24 people voted BNP in the Ward) we are not complacent. One vote for the BNP is to many just as one seat is to many.

Our campaign kicks off with a public meeting in the Ward next Thursday to build anti fascist support as well as leafleting every house in the Ward in the lead up to the by election.

We are proud of Haringey's diverse make up and will not stand by while the BNP seek to undermine it in this way. After this by election we will be carefully monitoring BNP activity in the Borough and ensuring that we build maximum support for anti BNP work in the upcoming elections for the European Parliament.

Well It's over

2008-09-21T08:58:00.001-07:00

After 10 games my club finally lost their first game in the Conference South losing 2-1 at Hayes &Yeading. With the result we were knocked off top spot and go down to 3rd H&Y taking our place at the top. Still its a great and now the real challenge is to recover from a first defeat by making progress in the F.A. Cup next week.

Ironically we get to go to the edge of our mortal enemies territory playing at Bedford Town which not only has an MK postcode but shares some sort of relationship with the parasites who stole our league place in an act of franchising six years ago. The best way of dealing with this is obviously to beat them out of site on the pitch and ignore any stupidity by fans and hangers on to wind us up.

Three wins separate AFC Wimbledon and a place in the 1st round proper of the f.a. cup for the first time and a potential big money tie against a league side. This year promotion would be an unexpected bonus but progress in both the F.A. Cup and the F.A. Trophy should be a strong possibility as we look to develop and strengthen the rebirth of Fan owned community football a matter of 2 miles from our spiritual home in SW19. Th

Despite this setback things look to be heading in the right direction as we enter the autumn at AFC Wimbledon

Browned Off?

2008-09-21T02:35:00.000-07:00

This week see the latest attempt of Gordon Brown to start off his fightback and secure his position as Labour Leader. To some extent this saga is getting a bit like the Major "bastards" period and I can't help wondering if he might have been better off taking the Major route to resolving it of resigning and standing again.

Fact is the issue for the voters isn't his personality it's his policies and the climate we find ourselves in economically. Ironically his decision to finally do something about those who make money from betting on the failure of other companies is a welcome move to the left. However he must now take similar moves in other key policy areas. The fact is the move of Cameroon to the centre (whether real or imagined) has attracted that layer of voters who New Labour has historically courted. Meanwhile amongst other groups who have historically voted Labour for far longer there is a level of disillusionment at the failure to deliver real social democratic change.

I know some will argue we cannot win from the left but what exactly does that mean these days? For me a government that allowed Councils to build houses, a government that ended privatisation in public services and funded them so that public sectors were not penalised twice for inflation would be popular. A government that continued and accelerated withdrawal from Iraq and began to work an exist strategy for Afghanistan could equally become more popular.

Its time to re-enthuse our traditional supporters not to move ever to the right and onto Tory ground on public services, immigration and other such areas. After all at some point simply saying the Tories are going to be worse will not enthuse our core support to vote. The gap is clearly made more real by the Lib Dems tack to the right and there is space for a mainstream socialist party to benefit advancing policies of redistribution and public ownership is not some sort of Communist manifesto (or as some would view it "Trot dogma") Its common sense its popular and it might just dig Labour out of its hole. Constantly polls show so called "left wing" ideas are popular and this has never been trested to any great extent by Labour. I discount the 1983 election manifesto since cearly it was delivered at a time when the party was riven by the split caused by the SDP. Even then more people voted Labour than did in 2001.

Sadly those who appear currently to be trying to bring about a change seem to think we need to put in a "Cameroon lite" rather than change the policies. Could Milliband be the answer or would he simply deliver more of the same and go further? Those such as my own local M.P. Siobhan MCDonagh (who has voted for every right wing measure brought in since 1997) obviously live in the belief that the answer so more and furhter moves the "new labour" policies not a real break with them. Question is if this is the agenda what is the purpose of winning in any case since in reality that is what Cameroon will deliver? Surely the level of defeatism hoas not reached the stage where such M.P's beleive the answer is to win again and deliver Tory "lite" policies for them?

I want Labour to win the next election but an auction of right wing ideas with the Tories will not do it.

If

2008-09-16T07:41:00.000-07:00

I heard this poem at a leaving do which I rather liked. The author did also give a fulsome apology to Kipling for nicking his masterpiece as a basis:) It might broadly be seen as an ode to the crap Trade Union reps put up with on a daily basis and the destruction of individual styles and thoughts by the endless targets, reviews performance indicators etc that the public sector works under. Welcome to the world of (?) If you recognise the description is it your borough or just one similar ;)

If you can get your managers from British Gas
And Care not what others think
If you can trust yourself when all others doubt
And find new depths in which to sink

If you can turn to an agency at 50 pounds an hour
To hire someone to tickle your balls and stroke your hair
And to do this in an office with glass walls
And act like its completely normal to have them there

If you can talk to the union as if you were their friend
And conduct mock consultations on matters long since decided
If you treat the truth as something for you to bend
And act like its god by whom your guided

If you can start a restructure before the fallout from the last one has touched the ground
And delete jobs at will as if they were numbers not persons
If you can save a measly pound by any means
And really not notice that staff morale worsens

If you think its ok to know virtually nothing of the field in which you work
And never bother to learn
If you can act like everyone else is berserk
For expressing even the slightest concern

If you can lie with a smile and sneer for a living
And demand intrusive monitoring of the sick
If you can forget that Christmas is a time for giving
And favour those who will suck your..toes

If you can worship at the alter of Performance Indicators
And Parrot Jargon that you pretend to understand
If you insist on the terminology of business
And not that of a service offering a helping hand

If there are problems that you can't hide
But you never once feel shame
If you can take all these things in your stride
And Simply find someone else to blame

If you can do these things and hold your head up high
And Act like its a barrel of fun
And never pause to wonder why
You'll be the boss my son.

Strike On 16th-17th JUly

2008-06-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

July 16th-17th will see local government workers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland take strike action in support of our pay claim. I am under no illusions that we do so reluctantly but we must now deliver an effective strike. The arithmetic for the average LG Worker is simple 2.45% wont pay the bills it wont pay for the rising price of food (having gone to the supermarket this afternoon it was a shock how much things have gone up since this time last year) it wont pay for the rising electricity gas and water prices and if you drive one it wont pay for the petrol (or diesel in the car.

So Strike we must and strike we shall : Its time for our Labour Government to recognise that the pay limit is an artificial and blunt tool in combat ting inflation. Ordinary people know what causes inflation and it sure as hell isn't the wages of the local government (or public sector in general) workforce. The vast majority of public services worker are women and a large majority work part time delivering services to the most vulnerable, it was not an easy decision to strike for may of these people but they recognise the need to do so now.

In my own Branch we shall be attempting to ensure those who are striking have access to our
hardship fund to help alleviate the financial difficulties caused by taking action.

This is a strike we simply must win for the good of ourselves but also for the future of the public sector. Year on year pay cuts mean entry to the public sector becomes an ever less attractive proposition for new workers entering the labour market. If this accelerates the recruitment shortages will not be limited to specialisms like Social work and planning. Already people Can earn more working in Tescoes than they can looking after the most vulnerable through homecare or residential care this cannot go on .

We must be prepared to fight for a decent standard of living and recongise that sometiems a short term sacrifice is necessary to secure a longer term gain. This is exactly what resulted from the LGPS dispute in 2006, the National Pay dispute in 2002 and in my own borough a local dispute in 1999 agaisnt savage attacks on terms and conditions

SHROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTT

2008-04-14T03:36:00.000-07:00

Might seem an odd title for an item. It refers to Robin Shroot an excellent young player for Wimbledon who scored a hat-trick in our 4-1 demolition of play off rivals Ashford Town Middlesex on Saturday. To cap an excellent weekend for young Robin he then scored a goal at Womble Stadium no less yesterday. Why were Wimbledon at Wembley you might ask? (if you care) the answer being we were invited to play Corinthian Casuals who were granted a friendly by the Football Association in return for allowing one of the lounges to be named after them! I am sure they will remember their visit to Wembley since they were trounced 8-1 by the Dons. It was a rather good weekend all in all :) At 8-0 up with 20 to go we were pondering what the record margin of victory at Wembley was (it was 9-0 England V Luxembourg) and the creation of another trivia quizz question involving Wimbledon ( who hold the unique record of having a player score 4 goals with his head in a Cup Final at Wembley trivia buffs look up Eddie Reynolds sometime)

Wembley as you might well expect is a victim of rip off Britain where a portion of fish and chips (one mate of mine who had it could not be more specific about the type of fish either !) is £8.00 and a pint of beer is £3.50 a programme coming in at a bargain £5.00. How I miss playing in the top flight so much !

Now onto cheering Folkestone tonight (they are playing our most likely rivals for 2nd place) before easing back to Wimbledon on Saturday in their last home league game of the season against Harlow Town.

Meanwhile is a small non city about 70 miles north the cuckoo's in the nest who stole our league place were denied promotion for at least another week :) Of course the inevitable will probably happen this week but it would be most satisfying if they failed to win the 4th Division (that's its real name oh franny fans) and if they failed to beat our record points total 25 years ago of 98 points. If they want to see the trophy they are most welcome to pop down to its rightful home in the London Borough of Merton at Morden Library. Now just a matter of getting the Club a ground a mile or two north of our current location so we are in the Borough again (or of course persuading the Councils to change their boundaries :) )

Politics & Sport Collide

2008-03-26T02:27:00.000-07:00

In a bizarre fashion on Good Friday my two major interests collided.

I was attending an AFC Wimbledon game only to find myself confronted by leafletters from the new Left List (this being the non Galloway part of Respect) The reason for this unexpected event was that the former Chairman of AFC Wimbledon Kris Stewart is standing as GLA candidate in our local seat (Merton &wandsworth)

Kris is a good personal friend of mine and we share many political beliefs unfortunately we differ markedly on how best to deliver them. it could broadly be summed up by him saying I am wrong to work within the Labour Party and me saying he is wrong not do so. Ironic as on many things you could barely put a fagpaper between our beliefs.

Anyway I mention for two reasons

1) It was interesting to see how the Left List see events such as sporting events to be a place for politics to be discussed and promoted. This is something which in my Irish background is entirely normal but which I have rarely seen over here. Clearly having 2500 people in one place and being able t relate our belief to their beliefs is a potential gainer.

In fact I wonder if there are possibilities to link the Unite Against Fascims Campaign to football matches (baring in mind the Kick Racism out of football work) Clearly there are many people in attendance at sporting events. Historically this has been an area where far right and openly fascist groups have attempted to organise sadly. There are many working class people in attendance at matches particulalry atthe non prawn sandwich sky leagues! who could be persuaded of the need to vote and at the same time it could serve as a defence against the BNP and their acolytes attempts to recruit. (This is something I have never personally seen at our matches but which I have heard tell of at other clubs, I also sadly remember the National Front being present at grounds i nthe early 1980's)

2) It was equally interesting to see the reaction of some who were given leaflets. This ranged from bemusement to anger that they felt they had been duped by those handing them out. Equally others recognised the validity of these attempts to gain political loyalty by goign to a sporting event.Personally I have absolutely no problem with politics and sport colliding in this way!

Oh and we lost naturally to a team who were 2nd bottom and had hardly won all season!

The life of a club run by the fans and owned by them is sadly not always plain sailing. Of course there is also the irony of our club curently co-operating with "NUTS Tv" of a sport documentary a channel which sadly is more interested in portraying women as objects of desire than the fienr poitns of fan ownership!

Cuts Cuts and More cuts

2008-01-29T05:31:00.001-08:00

It seems after a couple of years of stability in comparison to other Boroughs Haringey has caught the cuts bug. Fr the first time since 2000 we have received a "Section 188 Notice" The Formal notice an Employer is required ot serve when it is proposed to have more than 20 redundancies. Well when I say served that would be a bit of an exaggeration we actually got a rather limited and disorganised letter from the Employers with a list of posts lacking most of the important information we need. The notice was so jumbled that we have had to request additional information in order to identity those at risk.

As ever the Council has money to pay for new logoes, rebranding etc but not for vital services such as Care , Outreach libraries Services and the Wardens service The total number of staff potentially facing redundancy is in excess of 70. However it appears the position may be worse as we have already identified additional posts not included on the notice.

We will be working with the local community to oppose these attacks on the most vulnerable in our society.We will also be supporting those members effected and seeking to protect as many jobs as possible by way of redeployment

Victory Not yet Quite Complete-The Childrens Centres

2008-01-29T05:17:00.000-08:00

It seems we may have defeated the Council's move towards privatisation of the Childrens Centres. (Something which they are now naturally denying was ever their intent): Apparently their report was badly phrased when it instructed Officers to begin a procurement exercise for an alternative provider! This actually meant; according to fast backpedalling Councillors when faced with united parental staff and union opposition that they would consider whether "added value" could be given by exploring partnerships with the voluntary and community sector.

Any hows the long and the short is three of the five Centres are to be considered for devolving to Schools through service level agreements.This has its own dangers but is infinitely preferable to privatisation, we shall be working closely to protect our members interests and that of the users of these Centres. A fourth is to be considered for the same treatment or for a dreaded partnership (the acceptable P word). The fifth in the most deprived ward in the borough is due to become a 0-90 Centre (sounds marvellous doesn't it) but nobody including Senior Officers or Councillors seem able to tell us what that means yet!

We have however been given an absolute guarantee that none of these arrangements will require the transfer of staff out of the Council which is a victory of sorts. We shall be continuing to work with Parents against Privatisation to hold the council accountable for its actions

Hands Off Our childrens Centres

2007-11-26T14:29:00.000-08:00

Just back from an excellent lobby our of Council meeting against the proposed privatisation of five Childrens' Centres. It was one of the best public displays we have had in ages about 60 people with placards t-shirts and large foam hands giving the clear message of "hands off our childrens' centres" The crowd included staff, Trade Union activists and a sizable number of parents some with their children who attend the centres.

The Council since deciding to privatise in July has spent a large amount of its time trying to pretend the Trade Unions and parents have been scaremongering. The visible mobilisation of Parents against Privatisation combined with UNISON has put Elected member's and Councillors on the backfoot. Having initially claimed they were obliged to privatise (sorry they don't like the P word apparently in Labour Haringey preferring such cuddly versions as outsourcing and partnership) they have retreated from a procurement exercise to "exploring what added value not for profit groups might bring" However we have resolved to keep up the pressure till this plan is dropped as we are clear only democratically accountable and controlled services are good enough for our Borough.

We have also made it very clear to Councillors that Not for profit and Charity Sectors are not the panacea they may think. The lead member for Children Cllr Santry seemed very annoyed when at our Consultative Committee I highlighted Freemantle as an example of a not for profit charity. When she said nothing I remind her of our own not for profit organisation Community Support Services which ran elders homes and Learning Disabilities homes into the ground while slashing staff wages before Haringey was forced to end the sorry experiment by re-nationalising them (or in-sourcing I presume!)

Clearly there is a government agenda to marketise childcare but it is not a requirement and Council's of whatever political hue must not be allowed to claim it is unchallenged. We in Haringey are rightly proud of the tremendous social inclusion work which comes from our Childrens Centres both for the children and parents and will fight to ensure this is not ended.

The Council are due to report in December with recommendations having backpedalled away from a procurement exercise but they have refused to rule out the transfer out of local government of both staff and services. Unison and Parents against Privatisation will continue to work together to see these plans dropped.

Freemantle Workers need your support

2007-11-08T00:26:00.000-08:00

After three days Industrial Action workers at Freemantle care homes and day centres are taking a fourth days action this coming Saturday 10th November.

The mainly female low paid workers are striking against savage attacks on their terms and conditions which include reductions in sick pay, annual leave and an end to enhancements for working at night and weekends.

March-12.00pm 10th November
The strikers will be marching from Watling Park (nearest Tube Burnt Oak on the Northern Line) to Edgware for a rally at St Alphage Church Hall, Palyfield Rd, edgware. Speakers include members of the UNISON NEC, Strikers and Community Activists.

We are asking all members ot make every effort to attend and show their solidarity. The route cause of the dispute is the privatisation of these services several years ago and an Employer who is seeking to make a profit from attacking our members

For updates click on the following link to Barnet UNISON's website PLease print out the attached flyer and put it on your notice boards and/or hand it out ot UNISON members in your workplace. If the link does not work by clicking you can highlight it and copy and paste it into your internet browser

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4WWV08ava70/Ryr4Wx0P0rI/AAAAAAAAAXw/WWZJZX1f388/s1600-h/March+and+Rally+10+Nov+07.JPG

Yours in solidarity

Sean Fox

Newham & Barnet UNISON Show the way

2007-10-31T14:02:00.000-07:00

After a disappointingly inquorate Regional Council I went with some colleagues from Haringey and other Branches to Newham for their strike rally. The event held in a Church in Stratford was very well attended both by strikers and comrades from other branch. Speaker after speaker expressed their support for Michael Gavan in his fight against victimisation. The final speaker was Michael himself who received a standing ovation before he even opened his mouth. He spoke very passionately about the principles that lie at the heart of his case that of the right of Trade Union Representatives to represent their members best interests and not those of the Employer.

My Branch Committee passed an emergency motion is support of Michael last month which although I was unable to speak at the rally I made sure to convey to Michael in person. Michael has a long and proud history of defending our members and campaigning against the New Labour attacks on services in Newham. Sadly it seem the case that his Employer are seeking to extract their revenge for his work by way if spurious charges against him.

Although Regional Council was once again inquorate I was pleased we were able to take speakers. This included an excellent collective speech by members of Barnet Branch on the freemantle dispute. Two the women workers spoke passionately about the attacks on their pay and conditions by the unscrupulous employer.

They made it abundantly clear they and their brothers and sisters were taking strike action reluctantly as they were conscious of the effect it could have on those who they care for.They however conveyed the determination of the strikers to right the injustice of attacks on already low paid staff dealing with some of the most vulnerable in society. Equally that residents and service users supported their action. This is a dispute that we must win: Not just for the workers at Freemantle but for all our members facing attacks in the aftermath of failed privatisations sell off and PFI schemes in Local Government, Health, and the other sectors in which we organise as a Union .

They are next going on strike on the 10th November and will be holding a major rally and demonstration in the Borough which I intend to attend to show my solidarity. Their slogan is "dismantle Freemantle "reflecting the fact that this is yet another failed experiment in privatisation best remedied by the homes being brought back into council ownership and control.

In my own Borough we experienced the damage done by the privatisation of six residential units both on service users and staff. The situation deteriorated so badly that Haringey had no alternative but to terminate the privatisation and bring the staff and units back into Council control. This was not before the mainly female workers had suffered attacks on their pay and conditions that four years on are only just being rectified through the Single Status process.

Across the country workers and residents in elderly care are being sold off to unscrupulous profiteers it is a scandal that we must continue to fight in conjunction with groups such as "RAGE"

2007 pay dispute over strart preparing for 2008

2007-10-31T00:07:00.000-07:00

Below is a statement I have issued to our members in Haringey. Clearly there are lessons to be learnt some of them are harder to accept than others. The obvious is don't wait nine months to ballot! A second less palatable one may be that members are naturally cautious about going on strike before Christmas when money is already tight.

For next year the lessons are clear: Real coordination with the widest possible range of public sector unions and ensuring that we build and mobilise the membership from the earliest opportunity. it is clear the teachers and the civil service and our good comrades in the NUT and PCS in particular are prepared to join us in a fight against this unjust pay policy. It is not insignificant that the government blinked over public sector pensions in 2005 as a result of such unity. Faced with united potential strike action on the 2008--2009 pay claims they will inevitably be forced to reconsider the appalling 2% limit.

we must not allow our leaders to be cautious as a result of this ballot result. Clearly there were particular factors which influenced the result and it should not be forgotten that despite this the result was a yes vote.

The campaign for 2008 must start now and members needs to be brought on board to give a very public response to Brown's insulting pay policy.

Sean Fox Haringey Statement
While I am disappointed with the outcome of the strike ballot I would like to thank all those who took the time to use their vote. Clearly the small majority would have made sustained strike action difficult to deliver on this occasion.

There are lessons to be learnt which I will be advancing in respect of the 2008-2009 pay claim. I view the most important of these being that we must take decisions early in the process if we intend to move towards a strike ballot. The prolonged delays in this process in the current dispute may have harmed the willingness of the members to take action. Next year if an offer is made and it is clear it will not be improved significantly other than by industrial action then members should be ballotted as soon after the offer is received as is possible.

It is clear the government intends to continence to attack our living standards through real terms pay cuts over the next two to three years at least. We shall be working closely with the other Public Sector unions both locally and nationally to deliver a co-ordinated campaign against this pay policy. In doing so we need your help as members of the Union. You can begin that today by looking around your workplaces and recruiting those who are not in a Trade Union to UNISON. In the longer term you can do so by supporting the various campaigning activities in support of our claim and by attending workplace and branch meetings when these are called. We must be prepared for a continuing battle to achieve decent pay rises.

Then National Joint Council will now notify the employer that the offer is accepted and members should receive their pay and backdated monies either in the November or December pay packet.

Yours in solidarity

Sean Fox
Branch Secretary

The spirit of Tolpuddle is needed now

2007-10-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

Here we are under a Labour government and victimisation of Trade Union members is still a reality. Under New Labour activists standing up against cuts and privatisation may no longer be deported but they still face trumped up disciplinary charges and potential loss of their jobs by vindictive employers.

So step forward Sir Robin Wales and chums at Newham for the award of the new James Frampton for their disgraceful victimisation of UNISON Branch Chair Michael Gavan. Closely followed by The Chief Executive of Manchester Community Mental Health Trust for their attacks on Karen Reisman.

All Trade Unionists must stand together to defend our comrades right to perform their elected duties and represent their members interests. So congratulations to UNISON members in Manchester for their magnificent strike action in denfence of Karen and to UNISON members in Newham for their overwhelming support for strike action in defence of Michael. Lay memebrs have shown the way now it is for those in authority in UNISON to ensure these two most recent cases of victimisation are brought to an end. Karen and Michael msut be reinstated NOW. If Michael is not then not a penny of Labour Link money should go towards Newham's Labour Group until it happens.

There is power in a Union

Decision Time Nears

2007-10-24T14:18:00.001-07:00

After the dramas of whether our comrades in the CWU would prevent us balloting it is a matter of days before we shall know the outcome of the local governemnt strike ballot. I for one am hoping for a resounding yes vote to give impetus for Strike action in support of our claim.

We must be prepared to make short term sacrifices in order to make longer term gains. Had we have settled for the 2.475% offer then we would have set ourselves up for the next four years of real pay-cuts. With this in mind we must have maximum partipication in the industrial action. Our National negotiatiors have shown confidence in taking this stance and it is now time for the members to show this is not misplaced.

Back From UNISON Conference

2007-06-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

A good week in brighton both in politcal and social activity.: Although I sit here thinking I could do with a day off to recover!!

On a more serious note Conference made numerous important decisions amongst which was to mount a co-ordinated campaign on breaking Gordon Brown's public sector pay limit. This is vital as it will see us unite the various areas of our Union with other public sector workers such as the postal workers in the CWU, the other Health Service Union's and the Civil Service members of the P.C.S. and potentially the National Union of Teachers. It is clear that such unity will maximise our chances of breaking the real pay cut that is offered by Brown's 2% maximum.

Sadly time-limits and Standing Orders shenanigans prevented local government conference debating the offer on the LGPS but it will be interesting to see the reaction to the consutlative ballot over the next month. We also agreed to mobilise members in support of the lobbt of Parliament on the 10th July to secure funding for Equal pay in Local Government.

Labour Party Members Sold Out by M.P.'s

2007-05-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

Today is a sad day in the history of the Labour Party as M.P.'s close ranks around the consensus candidate for the leadership Gordon Brown. Brown despite ocassional flashes of social democracy is the candidate of new Labour: Who supported Iraq, who developed PFI, Who entered a bidding war to privatise areas of the State even Thatcher didnt touch.

So what does the future hold for Labour and the Labour Link for the Trade Unions? This is the question that is on the minds of many myself included as we watched M.P's on the so called left line up to support Gordon Brown ahead of a candidate with a record of supporting Conference polciies and those of the Trade Unions. Inevitably the Conference season will be used to call for disafiliation (As it has been for the last 10 years and a great deal longer) Those outside of Labour will call upon us to join Respect or the Campaign for a New Workers Party. Those of us on the inside will ignore them!!

So what are the answers? My own instant thoughts are as follows

1) Allow all three parts of the electoral college to nominate: Why should M.P.'s be allowed to veto the wishes of the ordinary member?

2) Continue to campaign agaisnt the exceses of New Labour within the Party and to put forward alternative strategies. Push Brown as far left as we can and ensure that in the event of a defeat for New Labour we are ready with an alternative.

3) Don't walk away!!!!!

4) In the words of Joe Hill "organise" there are thousands of ordinary voters, labour party members and trade unionists who see an alternative vision away from the conservative agenda portrayed by New Labour and their acolytes

5) Get good left wing candidates onto the list for M.P's candidates who supprot and campaign for the policies the majority of members support.

So Its Election Time in My Union UNISON

2007-04-16T15:40:00.000-07:00

Every two years we get to elect those who are to run our union. Sadly almost every time 95% of our members neglect to use their vote. Its the equivalent of a Union general election yet most people will file their papers behind the clock question is why.

Sadly if we are not careful it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy don't vote nothing changes usual suspects elected why bother voting because nothing changes!! (and so on!)

Me I live in hope and for that reason I will be supporting the following candidates on the basis that they beleive in a democratically run and controlled UNISON where decisions made by members are acted upon not buried due to them being inconvenient to the relationship with New Labour or the political ambitions of unelected employed officials.

I live in London so I get to vote for three very good candidates who mix the right amount of youth experience and determination in my book. They also span a political variety. UNISON rule prevent Branch's using their resources to promote candidates even where they have nominated them but then again this isnt a UNISON resource so here goes :)

Male Seat- (1)Jon Rogers
Female Seats(2) Marsha Jane Thompson and Phoebe Watkins

National Seats
Local Government(4)-Mandy Berger, Emma Goodall, Paul Homes and Glen Kelly
Higher Education Tom Silverlock
Additional Members Raph Parkinson
Young members (not that I am one any more sadly :( even at 34!) Daniel Robertson
Health Kate Ahrens, Len Hockey, Paul Harper, Alison Brown

USE YOUR VOTE TO MAKE A REAL CHANGE

Welcome

2007-02-23T00:33:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blogg when I get time to update it I will :)