Defend the 4 Appeal      |      Defend the 4 Letter      |      Defend the 4 Petition

(From left to right) GLENN KELLY, Branch Secretary Bromley UNISON and UNISON national executive, ONAY KASAB, Branch Secretary Greenwich UNISON, SUZANNE MUNA, Branch Secretary UNISON Tenant Services Authority, and BRIAN DEBUS, Branch Chair Hackney UNISON

  DISCIPLINARY HEARINGS POSTPONED

 The disciplinary hearings for Brian, Glenn, Kas and Suzanne on the  24th and 25th of June in London have been postponed 

 The lobby is cancelled

The amount of support that the four have received so far is tremendous and very much appreciated by the four.  Many of you have attended all the lobbies and we are asking you to once again turn out on the  25th of June.

Protest letters to Dave Prentis are also important (please send copies to:    info@stopthewitchhunt.org.uk)

GROUNDBREAKING COURT CASE

The Four are taking their case to court to test a European court ruling that states that people cannot be discriminated against on the grounds of “Philisophical Beliefs”. The four are arguing that Unison is discriminating against them because they adhere to distinctive philosophical beliefs (i.e. those of the Socialist Party.)

More updates in future newsletters.

Donations to the campaign are also needed. Please make cheques payable to ‘Stop the witchhunt’, and send to: Defend the Four Campaign, PO Box 858, London, E11 1YG.

 

All four Unison members facing disciplinary hearings have a proud record of standing up for their members and leading struggles against their employers. They are fully supported by their branches. They have received overwhelming support from members who have attended meetings, protests and lobbies to voice their opposition to these attacks, especially at the 2008 unison conference. The disciplinary investigation was instigated a year and a half ago and the four have already faced a 3-day hearing in May 2008.

The campaigns and protests have helped defend the accused and highlight the weak case against them.

In June 2007 the union bureaucracy launched a disciplinary investigation into five branch officers for publishing a leaflet attacking the leadership for blocking the union conference’s right to debate issues such as the funding of the Labour Party, the election of full-time officials and control over strike action. A third of all motions were ruled out of order at the 2007 conference and nearly half for the 2008 conference. Five members were investigated but only the four Socialist Party members are facing disciplinary charges, underlining the political nature of this attack. Having argued that the leaflet contained discriminatory material the investigation now accepts there was no racist intent.

The four are now being attacked for producing and distributing a leaflet questioning the decisions of the Standing Orders Committee. This is an outright threat to democracy – effectively blocking members and branches campaigning against any union decisions.

UNION HYPOCRISY

There were massive protests at the 2008 UNISON conference

 Within weeks of the first hearing accusing the four of causing racist offence for using the cartoon of the three wise monkeys, paid national officials of the union held a protest outside the local government employers’ conference over the pay offer – during which they handed out peanuts and bananas to delegates, some of whom were black and Asian! Despite a protest by members at the differential treatment of the four, the response has been to ignore it!

Then it was discovered that the UNISON South East regional disabled members’ committee used a cartoon of the three wise monkeys on one of their leaflets. A further protest was lodged and the response? Nothing! It further came to light that an officially sanctioned leaflet was distributed to UNISON national women’s conference, which again used the three wise monkeys! These examples highlight the sheer hypocrisy of the union and shows that this case has never had anything to do with the issue of racism and everything to do with a political witchhunt

As the recession bites then the public sector will be made to pay for the economic mess if the government gets its way.

This makes it even more important that we have a leadership that is up to the task of defending our members.  Disgracefully rather than a serious attempt to look at its own mistakes the union leadership and full time machine have instead sought to protect their positions of power and privilege by looking to silence any voices of opposition through wicthunts, taking over of branches and banning the right to campaign. Handing over millions to New Labour whilst at the same time asking members to fight to defend their jobs wages and conditions from attack from the very same Labour government is asking members to go into battle with one hand tied behind their backs by the union leadership.

Do not use any union resources to print or distribute this leaflet

• Send messages of support to: info@stopthewitchhunt.org.uk

• Sign the protest letter (on our website)

• Donate to the campaign (See above)

 

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The disciplinary investigation

In June last year the Unison bureaucracy launched a disciplinary investigation into five union officers for daring to print and publish a leaflet attacking the union leadership for blocking the union conference’s right to debate issues such as the funding of the Labour Party, the election of fulltime officials and control over strike action.

A third of all motions were ruled out of order last year and there is growing anger that nearly half of all motions have been ruled out for this year’s conference.

Four of the five under investigation - all Socialist Party members - are now facing a disciplinary hearing. These are - Glenn Kelly, NEC member; Onay Kasab, Greenwich branch secretary; Suzanne Muna, Housing Corporation branch secretary and Brian Debus, Hackney branch chair.

(Continued below)

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20 May 2008 update

After three days of hearings at the Hilton Metropole Hotel, at which Glenn Kelly argued his case, the Union ruled that the hearings will continue after the 2008 Unison conference.

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Video of lobby

Video of the lobby of the 14th May 2008 can be found here

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(Continued from above)

All four have a proud record of standing up for their members and leading struggles against their employers and are fully supported by their branches.

"No racist intent" now accepted

Having argued that the leaflet contained discriminatory material the investigation now accepts that there was no racist intent. The four are now being attacked for producing and distributing a leaflet questioning the decisions of the Standing Orders Committee.

This is an outright threat to democracy if members and branches cannot campaign against union decisions.

If our employers had behaved in the way the union has in handling this case there would rightly be uproar. However senior officers of the union are happy to employ the methods of the worst employers in order to silence opposition in the union.

Witch-hunt

The union leadership should be putting their effort into leading a struggle for a decent wage rise and not witch-hunting hard working and respected branch officers.

This is not just an attack on these four. Other activists and branches who stand up to the leadership and challenge decisions have also been disciplined.

A message is being sent out – if you stand up to and challenge the leadership and organise opposition to Labour’s policies then be prepared for being witch-hunted.

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How you can support the four and defend union democracy.

1. Ask supporters to make personal donations to (cheques to 'Stop the witch-hunt' )

2. Make sure supporters sign the petition or letter to show their opposition.

3. Please use the Defend the 4 Appeal, the Defend the 4 Petition, and the Defend the 4 Letter

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Visit the Re-instate Pat Lawlor Campaign website

Sign the petition here

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MEETING TO CAMPAIGN FOR A DEMOCRATIC UNISON

This leaflet advertises a meeting which will discuss building a democratic union and to how to stop the witchhunts against dedicated activists who are fighting for democracy.  

Please ensure that you do not use any union resources to print or distribute this leaflet.

I hope that you will be able to attend.

Glenn Kelly

Click here for pdf of this leaflet

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John Mc Donnell MP protests at Unison witch-hunt

At a recent meeting to oppose the witch-hunt, John McDonnell, the Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington spoke. He subsequently wrote this statement:

I recently attended a meeting and heard from Unison activists who are being attacked by the leadership of their own union. As with other individuals who attended the meeting I am horrified, shocked and quite frankly outraged, especially when I heard of the detail of the allegations against the individuals concerned.

I am a Unison member myself and I therefore want to go on record as pledging my support to those activists now being witch-hunted by a section of the Union. I want to pledge my support in particular to Yunus Bakhsh, Glenn Kelly, Onay Kasab, Tony Staunton, Suzanne Muna and Brian Debus.

Unison members at present are fighting against pay cuts and having to cope with the consequences of inflation, they are fighting attacks on their jobs and terms and conditions as well as countering the threat from the BNP. While witch-hunts should never take place, how can the union justify this political attack on long standing trade unionists, anti racists and black activists, while at the same time there is so much work to do for our members?

I say a political attack, because that is what I believe this to be. As I stated at the meeting I attended it is the case that in order for free market policies to flourish, for wages to be held back, for privatisation to continue unopposed and for workers to be made to pay for the crisis in the economy then it is equally necessary for the organisations of the workers, our parties, our trade unions, to be made impotent.

One way to do that is to clear out fighters and militants. That is what this is. Unison's leadership are doing the bosses a favour.

It is a political witch-hunt. If it is successful then the losers will be ordinary Unison members. That is how important this campaign against the witch-hunt now is. That is why I support those being attacked. I ask all Unison members to do the same and I call on the Union leadership to end this witch-hunt today.

I hope that all Unison members who believe that our union should be an effective force fighting for our members and not against our activists will unite in a campaign for democracy in our union. Trade unions belong to their members. It is us ordinary members who make up the union. Our voice should be heard and our views listened to.

Closing down the right of members to have a democratic say in our union by attacking and hounding individual members and manipulating the structures and rules of the union is increasingly undermining the confidence of our members in their union. Eventually this will damage and undermine the effectiveness and the very existence of our union. I believe that all those that want to save our union should stand up now and demand a democratic union.

September 2007 archive

Defend the five campaign

This campaign has been launched because of the attack by Unison’s leadership on four London branches and five officers of these branches.

The attack began at the June Local Government and National Delegate Conference in Brighton when these branches sought to challenge why our conferences are constantly denied the right to debate issues by the standing orders committee just because some see them as too controversial.

This year we couldn’t even debate the pension’s dispute at our local government conference!! The five officers, under investigation are Glenn Kelly NEC member and Bromley branch secretary, Onay Kasab, Greenwich Branch secretary, Brian Debus and Matthew Waterfall, Hackney branch chair and secretary respectively and Suzanne Muna, housing corporation branch secretary.

Despite the fact that the rules of the union protect the democratic right of members to campaign they are being investigated for producing and handing out a leaflet (below) that complained about the manipulation of the conference agendas by the standing orders committees.

Despite the leaflet making no derogatory remarks about any individual member of the standing orders committee, the former president announced an investigation and then allowed and supported an unsubstantiated and unjustified attack of alleged racism without giving the branches the right to respond.

Well known proverb

The leaflet used the well known Buddhist proverb and cartoon of ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’.

This is a widely used piece of established political satire to express a view of not being heard or listened to; it has no racist connotations.

The fact that black delegates were involved in authorising and agreeing the leaflet as well as handing it out demonstrates that they had no concerns.

As one black delegate said, “They will not be allowed to use the colour of my skin to hide behind their undemocratic attempts to control the conference or the delegates."

The leadership’s attack has nothing to do with taking the issue of racism seriously, but everything to do with attacking branch officers who all have a track record of challenging the leadership and of fighting racism.

These attacks will be vigorously fought, including if necessary appealing to the courts for justice, which the leadership seem intent on denying.

The reality of this attack is that it is part of a wider attempt by the union leadership to clamp down the democratic rights of members and branches.

So fearful are they of the growing opposition to their misrule that they are now seeking to shut down all voices of opposition in the union.

They know that increasingly members are questioning why our leaders fail to give a lead in the fight against low pay, privatisation and the attacks coming from the likes of single status.

In what is supposed to be a union led by the members, in the last couple of months alone they have banned branches from campaigning for a no vote in the pension ballot and distributing NEC member Glenn Kelly’s vote No report.

They threatened Onay Kasab the Greenwich branch secretary because he wrote an article on single status saying that his branch had voted to “reject any proposals that lead to a loss of a single penny from a single unison member”, telling him this was against union policy because “it may be necessary for some members to take a drop in pay to achieve equal pay”!!

They have now told the health branches that they cannot call for their members to reject the pitiful pay offer in their current pay consultation ballot.

The leadership of the union has the temerity to attack UNISON members’ rights in what is supposed to be a member-led union, and they do it in the name of the “democracy in UNISON guidelines”.

They are increasingly distorting the union rules and guidelines on democratic rights to say no branch or individual can campaign on anything that is in opposition to the leadership.

These attacks on democratic rights are part of a general offensive by the leadership to hang onto power no matter what.

They took fright at the recent NEC election results where several prominent right-wingers lost their seats to those who want to see a fighting union.

For some in the leadership even this small gain was too much; they are now prepared to attack the rights of members to stay in power.

We call on all branches and members to oppose the undemocratic witchhunt on these five union activists and begin the fight to win real democratic control over our union.

This branch, having seen the “Let Branches Decide” leaflet, is shocked that the National Union is wasting time, money and resources on an investigation and possible disciplinary action against five branch officials.

We believe it was perfectly legitimate for those branches to have campaigned against the ruling out of one third of conference motions submitted to this year’s conference.

We believe that it was wrong that that the sovereign body of the union was denied the right to debate issues such as pensions, the election of union officials and the control of industrial action being given back to branches.

We believe that these branches should not face attacks for having the temerity to raise complaint when these debates are banned.

The union is misusing the fact that the leaflet used a cartoon, which is in everyday use and is a genuine well-established piece of political satire.

We believe this attack to be nothing more than a politically motivated attack on 4 branches and its lead officers.

1. An end to this investigation.

2. This motion to be sent to the NEC and next Regional Council/Committee.

3. Circulate and encourage members to sign the “Defend the Five Petition".

4. Circulate material from the campaign to members and other branches seeking their support.

Download first leaflet (opens in new window)