ELECTION ADDRESSES
The successful candidates for the North East seat and the three national Health Sector seats all stood for election, "as part of a group of candidates committed to returning the union to its members. We are supported by "Amicus Unity Gazette", the grouping that was central to Derek Simpson's election campaign, bringing together activists from both AEEU and MSF."
I believe that as a union we must tackle with great urgency, the demise of manufacturing in our region and the country as a whole. We cannot go on haemorrhaging THOUSANDS of jobs every month. Manufacturing is very important to our region: good quality jobs and well paid employment can only bring prosperity to the region. The government must do more to pro- tect manufacturing now before it disappears all together.
WE MUST tackle the very important pension issues which are hitting our members very hard. The closure of final year salary pension schemes is disgraceful. Just another way of making more profit and hitting our members in old age. For to long the issues affecting working women have not been taken seriously in this organisation. I for one will work to change that. I believe in equal opportunities and equal pay.
I do not believe in PFI, or agree with foundation hospitals. We should not have a two-tier NHS. It belongs in the public domain, not in the hands of private companies only interested in making profit. Profit driven public services are always detrimental to terms and conditions along with job security and pay. Our health service is second to none and health care of the highest stan- dard must be free for everyone, not just for people that can afford it. I will campaign to keep it this way.
The lay Executive of Amicus is a great platform to change our union for the better and with the new Executive Council we have an opportunity to listen to all the members, respect their views and return the union back to them.
I am currently works convener at Siemens Power, formerly NEI Parsons, part of Rolls Royce group. I have been an active shop steward for eight years as well as a safety and a union learning representative.
As an active member of the Labour Party, I am a delegate to my Constituency Labour Party and also the Local Government Committee. I am also a delegate to the regional TUC and C.S.E.U.
The new Executive Council of Amicus is a great opportunity for change for the better, and I believe that I have the capability and drive to serve all the membership in the region.
I respectfully ask for your support, and assure you that my commitment to our members and union is beyond question.
Brian Cole
Election Addresses
All Amicus Unity Gazette Health Sector
Candidates
We are writing to ask you for your support by nominating us as candidates for the Amicus National Executive Council (NEC). Every workplace rep and shop steward should contact their full time officer for a nomination paper. Please hold a workplace meeting to nominate us. We are all ex- perienced and hardworking trade union activists.
This is a crucial election. The NEC is the most powerful body in the union. The new rulebook states that 'the government, management and control of the union are vested collectively in the NEC'. It will even be the NEC that convenes re- gional meetings of health workers, and that has complete control over whether different profes- sional or occupational groups are allowed to meet at all. If the new NEC does not have a real commitment to democracy, we will end up with a completely centralised and bureaucratic union in which ordinary members have no control.
Our members in the NHS are under attack. The NHS is subjected to constant organisational change - but we aren't given the resources to do our jobs. We face serious threats, from mounting workloads, privatisation, and attacks on our pay and conditions. The increasing emphasis on tar- gets and star ratings increasingly distorts the work we do.
Tony Blair has told private sector healthcare ex- ecutives that he wants to open up the whole of the NHS to private healthcare. Privatisation has already spread throughout the NHS, through PFI, NHS LIFT, and the private sector concordat. Foundation hospitals aren't just about a two tier health service. They open the door to even more privatisation. Many members from the AEEU section have already been privatised. Members in the MSF section are now being included in PFI schemes. Time and again, privatisation has led to worse services for the public, and worse pay and conditions for NHS workers.
Low pay in the NHS is a significant problem for many of our members. Agenda for Change is no solution. With NHS salaries for a full time job starting at around £10,400, low pay has not gone away. Agenda for Change will lead to substantial pay cuts for many of our members. Agenda for Change will introduce performance related pay, and an increase in working hours for 60% of our members. There's nothing wrong with harmoni- sation - but we have to harmonise on the best conditions, not the worst. We have to fight for adequate investment in salaries, so that all our members in the NHS can earn a living wage.
It is also an absolute priority to build strong un- ion organisation, in the NHS and in every sector of our union. We need union reps in every work- place. We have to ensure that reps consistently have the training and support they need to be ef- fective. This is the only way to create a strong and vibrant union that is responsive to the needs of its members.
The existing union leadership prioritises partner- ship with New Labour - and puts support for the government before support for our members. That's why our union leadership won't oppose privatisation, and won't fight for decent invest- ment in NHS salaries. This isn't good enough. We urgently need an NEC that puts our members first.
Gill, Dave & Janet
Gill is a speech and lan- guage therapist working in City and Hackney PCT. She works with children with complex special needs, such as autism and cerebral palsy.
Gill has been a union ac- tivist and workplace rep for 20 years - first in local government, and in MSF and Amicus since joining the NHS.
Gill is a leading activist within the NHS. In particular, she has led the campaign over Agenda for Change. Gill fought for and won the Conference policy that demands ade- quate funding for Agenda for Change, and that commits the union to opposing pay cuts for our members. Gill also moved the emer- gency motion blocking the early implementa- tion of Agenda for Change at the proposed foundation hospitals.
Gill is a long-standing delegate to the London Regional Council and a member of the Lon- don Region Management Committee. She is a delegate to the 2003 Trades Union Con- gress. Gill is also Vice-Chair of East London Health Branch, the Secretary of the London Speech and Language Therapy Advisory Committee, and the London Region delegate to the MSF Health Sector NAC.
Dave is currently a member of the MSF NEC. He de- scribes this experience as 3 years of frustration at the way the NEC is manipulated by a right wing clique. He is angry that the NEC has pur- sued witch hunts against ac- tivists in the union, and even changed their own standing orders to prevent members seeing how NEC members vote. Dave's major achievement on the NEC has been to prevent General Secretary Roger Ly- ons from extending his term of office without bothering to call an election!
Dave began his working life in labs. He worked for many years in the Sheffield Blood Transfusion Service, and the haematology lab at what is now Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust. Dave currently works as computer man- ager at the Trust.
Dave has campaigned around many NHS is- sues - including the internal market, PFI, and the struggle for a fair deal for our members out of Agenda for Change.
Dave has been a member of the union since 1970. He has held countless positions within the union - including Branch Secretary, dele- gate to the Health Sector NAC, TUC delegate, and Regional President.
Janet is a Health Visitor in Birmingham. Working in the inner city, she knows at first hand the impact of inadequate NHS resources - and the difficulties of recruiting and retaining staff.
Janet has been a Health Visitor since 1971. She is an active member of the CPHVA, and is currently Vice-Chair of the CPHVA Special Interest Group for Older People. She is also committed to ensuring that the CPHVA remains at the heart of the wider union. Janet is the Women's Officer on the West Midlands Regional Council, and has been a leading activist on the Regional Women's Committee for many years.
Janet was closely involved in the last regrading exercise for community nursing staff, and re- members the problems well. She is also concerned that the constant reorganisation of the NHS is distorting service delivery. Janet wants to see proper funding of the NHS, decent pay and conditions for all NHS workers, and a union that is committed to playing a strong and in- dependent role in representing its members.
Member for 24 years
MSF National President 1997-1998
Branch Secretary
National Women's Sub-Committee Delegate
Labour Party member for 20 years
Employed in the Voluntary Sector - previously in
engineering
Elected member of MSF Standing Orders Committee and the Rules
Commission
As an NEC member I would wish to continue the work I did as President in uniting all our members.
I promise to be open in my activities and accountable to the
members.
I promise to reflect the views of MSF and AEEU members, and I
ask for your support to build a progressive, modern, united and
democratic union.
In seeking your support in standing for a women's seat on our Executive Council at the forthcoming elections I believe that the experience I have gained whilst serving on the AEEU lay executive will be of assistance in continuing during this period of development of our New Union.
I believe that the members want an Executive that is transparent and committed to democratic accountability and truly reflective of its requirements. We have a unique opportunity as we merge our two different cultures, not only to take the best of our past achievements into account but also to adapt and evolve as a union that truly reflects the needs and desires of its members.
With the birth of Amicus positive steps have been taken which we need to build upon. Our merger has given us a broader membership of people, which better reflects our times and the Britain we live in. I believe that by all groupings of men and women within our ranks working together, we can develop a union that is second to none.
Amicus must provide a truly balanced platform for its members- one of equal opportunity, quality training, leadership, democracy and humanity. While requesting your support in my endeavour to gain a woman's seat, an area where I have natural experience of obstacles and pitfalls, I would like to assure you that I have gained much life experience covering those of other gender groupings.
May I take this opportunity to thank those who make the decision to cast a vote on my behalf. If successful I shall endeavour to represent all members to the best of my ability.
This election for the new Executive Council will be one of the most important elections of our union. In asking for your support for the women's seat on the Executive Council, I feel my experience over the last four years will help on the new Executive Council.
We must continue to extend democracy across the board, for example branches run by the members and restoration of local democracy (i.e. District Committees). Our union must campaign for equalities across the union. We must ensure a level playing field for all British workers.
These are but a few things that I believe in but we must start somewhere.
In this new union we will only change things for the better by uniting men and women together and with your help we will succeed.
(All the information above has been copied directly from the www.amicusunitygazette.com website)
To be completed
Go to the Amicus Tyneside Health Home Page