Dear Friends,
The coming election for UNISON General Secretary is critical for the future of our great union, for you - our members and activists - and for our vital public services.
The Tories are determined to demolish everything ‘public’ and force our members into insecure, low paid jobs with no future. They show no respect for the vital work you do and want to demolish trade unions.
UNISON needs to change. We must re-build our public profile and our industrial strength to respond to that attack. We need a strong and positive vision for the future and a powerful voice speaking out for public services and against the attacks on unions and our democratic rights. I have that vision and would like to be the voice that gives our members hope for the future.
If I became General Secretary I would:
- Put UNISON back on the public map through a strong and powerful media and press presence across the union
- Ensure UNISON leads a cross-union and community campaign to protect our NHS and all public services from the onslaught by the Tories
- Organise with other unions, the Labour Party and other sympathetic political parties to build a strong coalition to argue the clear and constant case for a radical, green, socialist alternative to austerity
- Mobilise the power and voice of UNISON’s majority - women - and fight hard against all discrimination, wherever it occurs
- Put equal pay, part-time rights, carers’ and parental rights, sexual harassment and members’ workplace issues at the heart of our negotiations and campaigns
- Listen to members and activists in regular open meetings to make sure that UNISON is hitting the spot!
- Review UNISON’s central and regional resources - with full lay involvement- to ensure that they are better used to support members and activists.
- Respect and learn from the differences of the four UK nations and ensure a fair distribution of resources - while maintaining UNISON’s unity
- Use our international union links to challenge the power of multinationals in public services
I have the skills, experience and passion to make those changes and the knowledge and experience for this job. I have worked for UNISON for 26 years - as a researcher, a Greater London Region organiser and as Head of the Local Government, Police and Justice Section for the last 13 years.
Before UNISON I was a journalist, social worker, action-researcher on a women’s employment project and Women’s Rights Officer at NCCL (Liberty). I was an activist in NALGO and NUPE for over 10 years. I have been on the front line and I know where the buck stops.
The election of the Tory government requires a tough and decisive General Secretary who is not afraid to speak out in support of UNISON’s policies.
If you support my aims and want to see real change in UNISON, I hope you will nominate me and vote for me to become your next General Secretary.
Thanks and best wishes,
Heather Wakefield
PS Glen Williams, Chair of the Local Government SGE and Mark Ferguson, Chair of the Scottish Local Government Committee are both supporting my campaign, along with many others from across the Service Groups.
