By a Unite member
Keith Henderson, a rank and file Unite member, is standing for the union’s Executive Council for the Service Industries Sector Constituency (Service Industries consists of, hotel, hospitality, casino, security, cleaners, maintenance, non-food retail, care home workers and CMA which covers Royal Mail, Post Office, and Parcelforce managers).
In his statement he has said, “I organise and lead industrial action for our members in the Security Industry, as their branch secretary. As well as organising, I ensure that there is effective servicing on individual workplace issues, disciplinaries, grievances etc. Contrary to the belief of some, there is no point in having one without the other, organising is servicing and servicing is organising”.
Record pay increases for members
He is secretary of an Accredited Support Companion (ASC approved), branch, that does all of its own representation, pay negotiations and deals with all collective issues, including industrial action for members. The branch has achieved record pay increases for members this year, including a 22% pay increase for members at the New Covent Garden Market, working for the notorious contractor OCS.
Through Keith’s negotiation, the branch has also won union recognition agreements, including a national recognition agreement, recently signed off by Unite. For over 18 years Keith has represented thousands of union members in the Service Industries sector and he has been the champion for increased funding for ASC approved branches.
In his election statement, Keith has said, “I believe that providing advice guidance and representation on employment issues, is the basic responsibility of the union. Effective servicing on grievance, disciplinary, health and safety regulations and redundancy matters, are the bread and butter issues that a union must deal with effectively”.
He is also an active member of the Labour Party and although he believes the strength of a union lies in its workplace and the support it gives its members in work, he also argues that working class people need political representation to provide long-term and lasting improvements in their daily lives.
“Unite should use its considerable political muscle and its structures” he argues, “to participate in an organised fight in the Labour Party for policies, representatives, councillors, MPs, and a leader that serve the interests of working class people”.
“Human error” may hamper Keith’s campaign.
Unfortunately, Keith’s campaign for election may have been hampered by “human error” on the part of Unite officials, in their submission of data to the organisation running the ballot, Civica Election Services. It meant that Keith’s name was left off a number of ballot papers.
It seems that instead of placing members in the industrial sector of their individual records, some members were placed in the industrial sector of their employer. It is not clear how many Unite members have been affected by this “human error” but Civica claims to have identified them and will send them a second, corrected, ballot paper.
However, Keith does not know how many ballots are having to be re-issued and there is a clear danger that some Unite members may not vote again with the correct ballot paper because they mistakenly think they have already voted. It is important, therefore, that this message is relayed to all Unite members in the Services Sector.
If you are a Unite member and you work in the service industries sector, please pass on Keith’s statement to fellow workers and members.
In summary, if elected, Keith will campaign on the NEC for:
1) Dedicated advice line for employment issues. So, members can get legal advice on employment issues when they need it.
2) Lower costing union membership fees for members in the service industries sector in low paid work.
3) Effective and proper union representation in your workplace.
4) More Accredited Support Companions (ASC’s) to represent members in the workplace.
5) For the union to employ dedicated Caseworkers to deal with advance individual cases for members and improving on legal representation for members.
6) Retain the affiliation to the Labour Party but use it more effectively to fight for socialist policies in the party.
A vote for Keith Henderson, is a vote for effective union representation in the workplace!
