comrade spurski
Well-Known Member
Sharon Graham seems the best candidate from what I've read
Unite General Secretary Election
- Thread starter magneze
- Start date
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
Tell you what, have to give Beckett credit for making this thread considerably more lively than I would've expected. Also, genuinely spoke to someone today who said "I'm glad Beckett won", apparently based on having looked briefly at the news, seen a headline with his name, and jumped to some fairly ambitious conclusions without reading any further.
By coincidence I found my first Union membership card over the weekend. I joined the AUEW 47 years ago this month. Since I joined we have seen the reduction in the involvement of the grass roots rank and file in the running of the union. Sharon Graham appears to making the right sounds for bringing back some influence to the shop floor and I will be voting for her at the upcoming election. Workers Unite are also backing her campaign.
Last edited:
Dom Traynor
Tino Pai
Sharon is the only candidate I know and is a fairly hardnosed operator from the Tony Woodley school. But smarter than him (not that he isn't smart). I would vote for her if I had a vote.
Smokeandsteam
Working Class First
It was 30 years ago later this year that I joined the T&G as an apprentice Sprocket. I was a kid at the time and didn't get active for a few years but the comparison of then to now (and let's face it the 1990's was not exactly a high point for rank and file organisation) is stark. The union has moved further and further away - or been allowed to move further and further away by the erosion of a sedimented working class culture in industry - over that time.
I'll be voting for Sharon Graham as well, although I would like to hear more from her about the objective measures she would put in place to re-energise and divest some influence and power back to shop floor stewards. The Beckett campaign increasingly resembles an ill advised top down attempt to further turn the union in on itself and appears obsessively focused on the Labour Party. Turner's campaign feels low key and outdated and I note is heavily backed by the old guard.
But....... our Branch is likely to come out for Turner, with the SWP types going off and campaigning for Beckett. Graham needs to be aware that in low turn out elections winning the argument and pitching to members is refreshing but that winning stewards is essential. Both Turner and Beckett are focusing their entire pitch on that constituency. Not seeing as much from SG.
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
Guessing it must vary quite a bit from sector to sector as well? Like, as I understand it Turner's been in charge of manufacturing for a while, so you'd expect him to have a fairly strong support base there, whereas Graham being head of organising and leverage means she'd be mostly known in areas that have had a big campaign or dispute recently, I'd guess?
Fwiw, the convenor at Go North West just released a video endorsing Graham - dunno how much that endorsement's worth in terms of the wider membership, but seems like someone who knows his stuff:
Fwiw, the convenor at Go North West just released a video endorsing Graham - dunno how much that endorsement's worth in terms of the wider membership, but seems like someone who knows his stuff:
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
Swappies are supporting Graham I believe
Smokeandsteam
Working Class First
They are indeed. That’s why I said ‘SWP types’ eg Hicks.
Smokeandsteam
Working Class First
Yup. In the West Midlands manufacturing branches it’s a bit more complex as Beckett was the Regional Secretary here. But yeah, Turner is definitely doing well (including in some Branches Coyne might have expected support from)
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
Umm, ok. I suspect their are better ways of describing such people but hey ho
splonkydoo
Well-Known Member
What are the negative aspects and fears of a Beckett leadership? He has only come on my radar in the last 6 months and I was relatively impressed with some of his statements I've seen since then.
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
I mean, the main reason why I think Graham is the best candidate is that she seems to have more of a focus on how to build Unite's strength in the workplace, whereas Beckett says a lot of stuff about broader political issues, some of it quite good, but doesn't seem to have as much of a strategy for building power and reversing the decline that others talk about above.
But in terms of specific negative aspects of Beckett:
1) he made a silly tweet, as discussed extensively above
2) seems to have been involved in a bit of dodginess involving money from miners' pensions ending up resting in his account
3) this is the AWL's assessment of him - feel free to treat with as much skepticism as you want, but I reckon the actual claims made about him in this paragraph should be possible to investigate and verify if anyone has the energy:
Smokeandsteam
Working Class First
Not a bad summary of each candidate by the AWL to be fair. They are bang on that Beckett and Coyne are beyond the pale and that Turner and Graham both need to be clearer.
splonkydoo
Well-Known Member
Cheers for that hitmouse. I signed up as a community member last year in the Irish region so a lot of this information is new to me. I was talking recently with a Unite acquaintance in the UK who has been organising binmen in a really good campaign, and he told me Graham is the one to go for - that she has her eye on the ball in terms of on the ground and rank and file led engagements. Previous to this I had thought Beckett was the best candidate, mostly from sloganeering which I agreed with. Being wedded to the fortunes of the Labour Party seems like a huge hindrance though, and he has little experience of on the ground organising. Sadly the community branch I am a member of gave the bid to Beckett though. This isn't a surprise though.... Unite Ireland are a bit shite and recently we're giving the signal to their members to cross a picket in an ongoing situation with a rival union.
Smokeandsteam
Working Class First
Branch nomination period will run from 6 May to 7 June, with members voting by postal ballot from 5 July to 23 August, and the result announced on 26 August.
andysays
Love and solidarity
I think Workers' Unite is essentially a group set up to support Graham's campaign for GS.
Happy to be corrected if it's a pre-existing group though.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
No, you’re right. There have been a few things similarly named, but this one is specifically for SG.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
Mm, it’s pretty shallow on Graham and Turner. Fair enough to mention Graham’s ‘apoliticalness’ but the mention of the lrc is rather laughable. They make Turner sound simply boring, which is probably because they have similar views on Islam.
I haven’t heard anything about two of the left candidates pulling out if coyne makes it on, I think they’ve made that up (not that it’s a terrible idea, one definitely should pull out)
I might need to stand corrected on Workers Unite, I assumed it was a continuation of the old, well established AUEW Gazette, that became Amicus Gazette before they amalgamated into Unity with the TGWU.
They have always stood and campaigned for shop floor and members involvement in policy.
I used to attend the AUEW gazette meetings regularly in years past, but my union involvement as a rep has dwindled over the last decade.
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
Yep, Workers Unite is the group backing Graham, Turner is backed by United Left, and Beckett's supporters are called Unite Unity Left. I hate Life of Brian jokes, they haven't been funny in decades, but they are quite hard to avoid sometimes.
Factionalism always carries humour.
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
An interesting aspect here:
morningstaronline.co.uk
Again, without wanting to act as a Graham spambot or anything, I know that Graham's promising a new inquiry into union collusion with the blacklist within her first 100 days, I'm not aware of the other candidates having said anything about this potentially rather uncomfortable subject.
Unfinished business over blacklisting
Far from being confined to corporations and the police, blacklisting of trade unionists in the construction industry was colluded in by the trade union movement itself. DAVE SMITH hopes that the full truth will finally come out
morningstaronline.co.uk
Again, without wanting to act as a Graham spambot or anything, I know that Graham's promising a new inquiry into union collusion with the blacklist within her first 100 days, I'm not aware of the other candidates having said anything about this potentially rather uncomfortable subject.
Smokeandsteam
Working Class First
Graham is over the Branch nomination line:
Similar threads
- Poll
