Steve Milford Election address: Male Seat South East Region

NEC ELECTIONS 2015

Dear UNISON Colleague

I was proud to have received the support of UNISON Members across the Region when I was elected to the NEC in 2013. Since then I have provided regular reports to the Regional Council and to Branch Secretaries. I strongly believe in a Member-led union, where Members’ views and principles are paramount and where the leadership of UNISON takes strong action to reflect our wishes.

I have lived and worked all my life in the South East and believe I share the fears, concerns, hopes and ambitions of all of you in this Region. The SE is crucial to UNISON and we can be proud of our record.  It is not always easy to take action to defend ourselves against the attacks on public services, but we should listen to our members as to what action they are prepared to take and take a lead in supporting strong, collective action, together with other unions where possible

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I have been a UNISON / former partner union member and activist for over 30 years. In my Branch I have been Treasurer for 20 years . I have also been active on the SE Regional Council and various Committees, including Finance, Local Government and Publicity & Campaigning. On the NEC I have

• Ø  Supported  co-ordinated action against the ConDem cuts, across all affected unions
• Ø  Backed our campaign to improve Public Sector Pay and helped lead the strike action in my own Branch
• Ø  Supported the NHS and local colleagues in their strike action
• Ø  Opposed fracking and promoted renewable energy polices
• Ø  Promoted support for our International Campaigns, eg against Trade Agreements in favour of multinationals and supported our work on Ebola in West Africa

The battle against the Coalition Govt continues and 2015 is a critical year for UNISON members – the General Election in May could be the most important in our lifetime and we face threats

• Ø  Further cuts to jobs and Services
• Ø  More pay restraint
• Ø  Abolition of Facility Time
• Ø  Cuts to our union’s income (abolition of check-off)
• Ø  Laws denying our democratic right to strike

The fightback has begun with our Members across the South East – working with other TU’s where we can, I have been supporting campaigns in Southampton,  Brighton, Crawley, Oxford, Reading, Slough, Milton Keynes, Hastings and Thanet South.

We must never forget the need to stand up for Equalities – UNISON above all has a proud tradition of defending the basic rights of Women, Black Members, Disabled and LGBT Members. We must defend the Equality Act and our other hard-earned rights. Self Organised Groups are central in supporting our campaigns on cuts, pensions and pay and we must defend our Members against attacks on issues of Equality. Young and Retired Members in our Region also have a crucial role to play in our campaigns and we need to co-ordinate all sections of our union, Branches and Service Groups in our campaigns.

Yours Fraternally 

Steve Milford