News

Get involved with Unite Rank and File

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I want to encourage you to sign up to “Unite Rank and File: Building Solidarity Across the Union” which has just launched. It is a new network of Unite members which aims to: Build solidarity Encourage resistance and make our union do more to encourage it Put activists in touch with each other, share information … Read more

Unite leadership challenger Ian Allinson responds to Coyne’s call for a re-run

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Unite General Secretary contender Ian Allinson responds to reports that Gerard Coyne has mounted a legal challenge to the election result and is demanding a re-run.

Ian standing by his pile of 17143 votes at the countPredictably, the media have seized on the story that Unite election loser Gerard Coyne is mounting a legal challenge to the result, trying to get it re-run.

The BBC report was not alone in referring to Coyne as “the” defeated candidate. The fact that there were three candidates but that Coyne is the only one calling for a re-run, doesn’t get a mention. This isn’t the only misleading aspect of the report. It quotes without challenge Coyne complaining “Unite employees repeatedly breached guidelines that meant they should have been neutral in the contest to be general secretary”. A few minutes’ research would have established that there was no such guideline.

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Ian Allinson’s statement on the Unite General Secretary election result

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The result won’t be officially declared by the Executive Council until Friday 28th April, but the votes are counted and are as follows: Len McCluskey 59067 (45.4%) Gerard Coyne 53544 (41.2%) Ian Allinson 17143 (13.2%) Spoiled papers 317 (0.2%) Total vote 130071 (turnout of 12.2%, from 1062049 ballot papers despatched) Update: full General Secretary and … Read more

After the Unite General Secretary election – what?

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Ian talking with members

Voting in the Unite General Secretary election continues until 19 April, and most members won’t have voted, so the campaign is not over yet. But it is important to think about what comes after the result is declared on Friday 28 April. Whoever wins members will need to keep pushing to make Unite a stronger union. Grassroots socialist challenger Ian Allinson sets out some initial thoughts.

Many of the ideas put forward in our campaign have gained wide support – not just from those who are supporting me in this election, but also from many who backed McCluskey from fear of Coyne, and even from a few who backed Coyne, seeing him as the best chance of getting rid of McCluskey.

All meaningful change comes from below, and all meaningful change is the result of collective effort. So how can we most effectively take forward our ideas after the campaign? The ian4unite campaign is organising four post-election meetings to discuss this. If you want to push forward the broad agenda I’m campaigning for you are welcome at these meetings no matter who you have supported in the election:

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Won’t supporting Ian Allinson “split the vote”?

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Supporters of both McCluskey and Coyne are trying to prop up their candidate’s support by warning that a vote for Ian Allinson could “let in” the candidate they least want. This article argues that fear of Coyne – clearly the worst candidate on offer – does not justify a vote for McCluskey.

Unable to put forward positive reasons why McCluskey is a better candidate than Ian Allinson in this eleciton, his supporters are resorting to Project Fear – vote for McCluskey or you’ll get Coyne. This has some traction because Coyne is an almost pantomime villain candidate – promoted by union-buster Rupert Murdoch’s Sun and Labour right-wingers who spend more time attacking Corbyn than the Tories. But it isn’t an argument that should decide your vote.

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Ian Allinson interviewed on BBC Daily Politics

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In general, the media have promoted the two establishment candidates for Unite General Secretary. Today Ian Allinson, the grassroots socialist candidate, was interviewed on the BBC’s Daily Politics (from 35:30 on the recording or view the clip below). The leadership battle in trade union Unite and an interview with “grassroots socialist candidate” @IanAllinson pic.twitter.com/96mGyZ1f9o — … Read more

Oppose Toxic Partnership

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Ian Allinson, the grassroots socialist candidate for Unite General Secretary, argues that more must be done to counter partnership, an approach to trade unionism that accepts that “we are all in it together” with our employers, and the damage that does to effective union organisation.

Ian on picket at Fujitsu Manchester

I’ve raised the problems of the toxic alliance of Unite with employers and government to support nuclear

weapons and nuclear power. This sacrifices good, sustainable, jobs for the sake of a much smaller number of jobs at any price.

However, the problem of partnership is much more widespread. It is a barrier to building effective, independent, workplace organisation. This issue must be tackled now. If we continue tying our futures to our employers’ short-term business plans we will be unable to defend jobs in the face of the massive changes that are coming in many industries due to climate change.

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Unite leadership contender Ian Allinson attacks rival Coyne as “Blairite hypocrite”

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Ian Allinson, the grassroots socialist candidate for Unite General Secretary, said:Ian Allinson

“Coyne opened this election claiming that Unite’s leadership spent too much time on politics. Yet he has plenty to say on behalf of his New Labour backers like Tom Watson who are undermining Jeremy Corbyn. He’s paid for social media ads implying that he wants to overturn Unite’s democratic policy of support for Palestinian freedom in favour of backing the repressive Israeli regime. Coyne wants worse politics, not less politics. He is a Blairite hypocrite.”

Allinson has criticised McCluskey for his failure to publicly back Corbyn since the Copeland by-election defeat and for undermining him on key policy issues such as Trident and workers’ rights to free movement and equal treatment.

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Equality must be part of our industrial agenda

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Ian Allinson, the grassroots socialist candidate for Unite General Secretary, has Ian talking with membersmade equality issues central to his campaign. Ian expands on some of his ideas for improving Unite’s work in this area.

I’ve previously posted about the need to tackle sexism within Unite and the need to integrate our equalities and young members work better with our industrial agenda. Most of Unite’s activity takes place within the workplace and equality issues run through almost every issue we tackle, yet we are nowhere near good enough at either addressing discrimination or taking advantage of equality legislation to help our wider industrial agenda. All members lose out when we fail to tackle equality effectively, because discrimination runs through almost every employer practice that we spend our time challenging.

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