An Action Programme for Unite

 
Here we set out what we think grassroots militants and socialists in Unite should be uniting around to fight for a union which is democratic from below, willing to oppose all austerity measures, and capable of taking on the Con-Dem coalition.

An action programme for Unite

Democracy

1. Decisions made at branch meetings and sectoral/national conferences, made up of elected delegates from workplaces, must be sovereign
2. All executives and officials to be elected by the members they serve, preferably after hustings at workplace meetings
3. All officials and executive members to be accountable to and immediately recallable by the members they serve
4. All officials to receive the average pay of a skilled worker
5. All disputes to be controlled by the members in dispute: what their demands should be, what is said in negotiations, when to strike and when not to, how long to strike for, etc.
6. For branches and sectors to be structured along industrial/service lines, as decided by members themselves

No cuts – no privatisation – no austerity

1. For a general strike to stop all the cuts and break the government – not just for one day but until we win
2. For coordinated strikes with as many other unions as possible
3. For direct action, strikes and occupations against all closures, cuts and privatisation
4. Defend the welfare state with solidarity up to and including strike action
5. Unionise the unemployed and unorganised sectors – expand the Community branches and give them the resources to bring thousands of workers into Unite
6. Build councils of action in every city, town and metropolitan borough to support all struggles, coordinate the resistance and fight for a general strike
7. For a united anticuts movement, where students, public service users, benefits claimants, pensioners and all workers can democratically meet and organise resistance to the cuts
8. Demand the repeal of the anti-union laws – UK and EU –and prepare to defy them where they are used to prevent our right to take trade union action
9. Fight for a workers’ government, based on democratic councils of action, to repeal and reverse all cuts and privatisation, take over the banks and use their assets to implement a programme of public works with the first jobs offered to blacklisted construction workers, including one million ‘Green’ jobs

Reorganise the labour movement

1. For industrial/service unions, uniting all workers in a given sector on a democratic basis
2. Against bureaucratic mergers into ever larger and more remote general unions – no merger with PCS or NUT
3. Revitalise workplace organisation, all branches and trades councils
4. Fight all manifestations of racism, sexism, ableism and homophobia – support the right for asylum seekers and migrant workers to live in the UK
5. Unite should only fund candidates and constituency parties who support union policies
6. The union should open up a debate on either continued affiliation to the national Labour party or the formation of a new workers’ party

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