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June 2008 May Day – lessons learned Our independent Trade Union celebrated May Day for the first time (1/5/08) with activity and leafleting. At least five Chapters of our Union organised visible demonstrations and/or leafleting of their areas with our special leaflet. These included Essex, Spennymoor and Peterborough. Unlike some left-wing sects and Unions we wished to take the Day back to its roots. The original Day was a call to introduce a proper 'balance' into a Workers day i.e. 8 hours work, recreation, rest and sleep. Since the British worker works on average longer hours (with fewer holidays) than his/her Continental counterpart this strive for balance is as important today as before. Social events also took place with members holding barbecues and parties over the Bank Holiday weekend. Dedicated advertising and leaflets were produced and run by a number of websites and publications. We were particularly pleased that Alternative Green run an ad for the Union. It is important that the Union reaches out to different audiences, broadens its political and social base and tells them the good news about a Nationalist Union which stands up for workers rights. Next year we would like to see more of our members organising activities in their areas and sending in pictures. We recruited well from the actions that took place but if more of our members had 'bought in' to the campaign it would have been better still! Show your fellow British worker that this Union is for them, not a Labour front, not a bosses patsy but a fighting Union for their interest and British workers in general. Some might object that they are the only member in their area. That is not a valid reason for inactivity. Even taking one hundred leaflets and distributing them is worthwhile. If you don't want to stand on the street put them through the doors of houses or closed shops! The lowest unit of action is one! If every member recruits just one other this year we will double in size. Set yourself a personal target to help the Union. Is there a plot to kill Solidarity? Is there a plot to kill the independent Nationalist Trades Union Solidarity? That is now a question being seriously asked by many. For the first year of the existence of Solidarity little was done. Former President Clive Potter found reasons not to do things. He failed even to produce a membership card for those enthusiasts who joined despite his almost complete lack of promotional work. It was only when Pat Harrington became General Secretary that things started to move. Then Potter staged a failed Palace coup which was crushed by the resolute support of the members at General Meetings and in Executive Elections. When it was asserted that agents were being used against the Union the State allied Searchlight magazine specifically responded:- “Searchlight makes no comment about this allegation. However when Solidarity was set up, we examined its rules and wrote in an internal briefing note in January 2006: ‘It would seem difficult for Solidarity to exercise firm control over who joins, and once people are members they can exercise their democratic rights to elect the Executive Committee, etc. Any attempt to prevent members exercising their rights could result in a complaint to the Certification Officer [the regulatory authority for trade unions]‘” - ‘Not so solid now’ , Searchlight July 2007, p16. In the light of this statement it is interesting to note that three people, Potter, McLinden and Mullen have made two ‘Breach of Rule’ complaints each against the Union in the same time period and in collusion to the Certification Office (CO). Additionally Potter and McLinden have brought about a financial investigation into the Union by the CO. To give an example of the spurious nature of the complaints Mullen has brought one saying that the Union required candidates in Union Exec elections to be members of the BNP or Third Way. Of course the Union did no such thing. Statements in the Union bulletin and on the website made it clear any member could stand. Indeed one of the candidates was not a member of any Party. There is little doubt that this complaint will eventually fail - it has no basis whatsoever. Yet that is not the point - it is an attempt to muddy the waters in the meantime and waste Union time. Likewise the Financial Investigation will lead nowhere. Our Union keeps financial records carefully as we have to submit our accounts for auditing. We are happy to co-operate with the Certification Office as any fair investigation can have only one outcome - a clean bill of health. Solidarity is answering all such vexatious and unfounded complaints but nonetheless it is time-consuming and a diversion from the proper functions of the Union. Not only that but it appears to many that the Certification Office is being unwittingly misused as a tool to bureaucratically harass our the Union. Business (more or less!) as Usual Alongside this there has been an attempt to starve the Union of funds by freezing bank accounts and the like. The hope was that we would not have the funds to send Reps to disciplinaries and grievance hearings to represent members and pay for day-to-day expenses. Your Union was not defeated. Solidarity has continued its 'bread n' butter' work of representation, guidance and advice. During this month alone we sent Reps to six meetings. We also settled an Employment Tribunal case by arbitration to the satisfaction of the member concerned. We deal with a broad range of cases. In the last month we have offered advice on spent convictions and the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, Disability Discrimination, unfair dismissal under one year of service and the minimum wage to give just a few examples. We are providing a service to our members but want to improve it all the time. If you are experiencing some problems at work contact us for advice. If your case requires representation we shall be there! If you are interested in learning more about Employment Law and procedures also drop us a line. We are taking steps to unfreeze Union bank accounts and we have made alternative arrangements to sustain our organisation in the interim. There is at present no need for you to take any action. Our central team is on the case. All you have to do is carry on regardless of any attacks - keep paying your dues, keep promoting the Union and keep positive! If you want to send a donation toward our work please complete the form below. Accentuate PR - promoting the Union Some members will be aware that the Union has commissioned a Public Relations firm to work to promote it. The firm is a small one called Accentuate and is relatively new. It is run by Graham Wiliamson. As you can see from the website at: http://www.accentuatepr.org/ it specialises in campaigning groups. The Executive voted to employ this firm on a trial basis because they had already done quite a bit of free work for us and we were confident that the Union would benefit in terms of recruitment from promotional work. We were impressed by the pitch. Since their appointment they have helped to organise our Annual Conference, helped to write recruitment leaflets and promotional articles, scripted a youtube video and sent out numerous Press Releases. We feel we are getting good value for money but this is kept under constant review. The Union understands that voluntary labour alone (whilst important) will not be enough to build a large organisation. We want to be in a position to employ people who are trustworthy, motivated and up to the job. We hire professional services such as Solicitors, Accountants and Auditors where appropriate to the achievement of targets and goals. We are also looking at encouraging those members who wish to attain Professional qualifications as part of a long-term process of development. Membership keeps growing We currently recruit between 2-6 new people every week even though we have have only scratched the surface in terms of promotion and exposure. We have been approached by retired ex-Unionists and students who wish to join. Although they are unlikely to use our services they wish to be a part of this groundbreaking organisation which they never the opportunity to do so in their day! We will be making arrangements to take on board such people as we continue to grow. You can help too however by telling your friends and neighbours about Solidarity, by leafleting your workplace and by leaving our recruitment leaflets in working men's clubs and cafes frequented regularly by workers. Our leaflets can be downloaded and copied from our website www.solidaritytradeunion.net or by writing to our address (see below). Lets build the Union! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes I wish to defend the Union by contributing to the Fighting Fund £____________ (Cheques to Solidarity) Yes I would like to help recruit members to Solidarity. Please send me 100 leaflets ______ (I enclose a contribution of £3 toward costs) NAME..................................................................ADDRESS......................................... ......................................................................E-MAIL................................................... SEND TO: SOLIDARITY, PO BOX 93 SPENNYMOOR, DURHAM DL16 9AN
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