LE524 Newsletter Archive

ICR dispute 

https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2026/may/staff-at-world-leading-institute-of-cancer-research-to-strike-over-pay

ICR have secured a mandate for strike action, with a 90% yes vote 

Staff at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) will begin strike action on 03 & 04 June, with further action on 09-11 and 15-18 June. This decision was not taken lightly. It comes after stalled negotiations and a complete breakdown in meaningful engagement from management.

In 2025, management made a pay offer that ICR Union members overwhelmingly rejected. Since then, they have refused to return to negotiations, walking out of Acas talks on the very first day and unilaterally imposing the rejected offer. No improved proposal has been made.

Since the removal of incremental pay scales in 2019, staff have faced an average 16% real‑terms pay cut, mirrored by a 16% drop in per‑capita staff spending. We have colleagues now reporting needing second jobs simply to stay afloat – all while the ICR holds over £500 million in financial reserves.

This situation is untenable. ICR staff are deeply committed to their research and to the patients who ultimately depend on it. Yet for the first time in the institution’s history, they have voted for industrial action to defend fair pay and a sustainable workforce.

Picket lines will be held at all sites (click links for What Three Words) beginning at 8am, in Sutton, Old Brompton Road & Fulham Road in London. All supporters are warmly encouraged to attend.

Social Security

On Saturday 6th June there will be a one-day conference in Bristol to discuss social security. 

With 15 million people living in Universal Credit households and 23% of working-age people claiming social security benefits, many households rely on social security to supplement meagre wages to get through the month. Therefore, we believe trade unions need a much louder voice in shaping policy.

Social security isn’t a fringe issue; it’s the reality impacting workers and communities up and down the country. Unite Community, PCS and Disabled People Against Cuts have come together to discuss what a fair and supportive system should look like. 

The day starts with a panel and Q&A, followed by workshops and a closing plenary in the afternoon. The doors at Tony Benn House will be open at 10am, with the event starting at 11. Lunch is provided and we aim to finish between 4-4.30pm

Those who wish to attend can register here: 

https://surveys.unitetheunion.org/260412255341345

RHS Chelsea Flower Show

A member of the branch won free tickets to the RHS Chealsea Flower Show… she took a buddy and whilst there, they had a great time talking to some of the gardens of charities that are in the LE524

Quick Guide to Labour Party Committees

National Executive Committee (NEC)

The NEC is the Labour Party’s governing body, overseeing the party’s administration, organisation, rules and strategic direction. It includes representatives of affiliated trade unions, the Parliamentary Labour Party, constituency Labour parties (CLPs), and socialist societies, as well as ex officio members such as the party Leader and Deputy Leader. It has 39 members including 13 reps elected by trade unions at a national level and 9 reps elected by CLP members in a national ballot of all members.

National Policy Forum (NPF)

The National Policy Forum (NPF) is a Labour Party body responsible for developing party policy proposals for consideration by Conference. The NPF has 204 members including all the NEC, 55 elected by CLP members and 30 from trade unions

National Constitutional Committee (NCC) The NCC is the Labour Party body responsible for hearing serious disciplinary and constitutional cases under the party’s rules. It is made up of elected reps from trade unions, CLP’s etc.

For elections for the above bodies there will normally be slates of candidates promoted by different factions of the party which will have differences along political lines.

Trade unions as well as having direct input at a national level also have local input as they can be affiliated to CLPs. The nominations made by the branch in May were part of the CLP electoral processes for these committees. To stand for election to these committees, candidates in the CLP sections will need a number of nominations. Eg NEC CLP candidates must secure nominations from at least five CLPs to qualify for the ballot

ICR dispute 

A message from one of the Reps

I just want to send in news of our disputes at the Institute of Cancer Research. We welcome any messages of support or offers of support to union@icr.ac.uk

Members of Unite LE524 working at the Institute of Cancer Research are in dispute over unfair pay, an attack on our USS pension, and the loss of essential workplace amenities including loss of healthy canteen provision at one of our sites.

We marched on the CEO to deliver a petition of almost 500 colleagues before breaking for Christmas.

Our employer walked out of ACAS negotiations on day 1 last year.

Now we have opened the first strike ballot in our employer’s history.

The ballot will close on 12th May, and we are recommending members vote YES to strike action.

Anger over the pay dispute has driven recruitment and a will to organise and fight back among a staff body where anger has been developing over successive years of appraisal-linked individual pay offers far below inflation, with salary brackets and scales frozen. We calculated that per head staff spend and average real-terms pay have fallen 16% since 2019 due to this unfair pay structure.

When the economy is gifting bumper profits and riches at the top, we are standing together to say that our vital work is not worth less, and we can’t sustain any more cuts to our livelihoods and working conditions.

Together Alliance National March

https://www.togetheralliance.org.uk

The first thing to say about the March is that it was HUGE! Over 500,000 people marched on the day (with plenty more people dancing in Trafalgar Square later on). We attended with the Branch Banner and saw and enjoyed the march with many comrades and branch members.

The Unite meeting location was right in front of the speeches, and due to its crowded nature it was difficult for us all to gather as a Branch under the banner – so potentially some learning from the Branch Committee (and from the March organisers) on this.

The question for the March Organisers is – what is next? Farage was organising in Croydon on this day as well but there was little practical communication about this by the organisers. Tommy Robinson is marching in central London again on May the 16th – what will this look like and will there be serious opposition?

Stop the War – European Peace Conference

Following a successfully passed Motion the LE524 has agreed to both donate to and advertise Stop the War’s European Peace Conference on Saturday 20th June in London – for more information please use this link here:

https://www.stopwar.org.uk/events/european-peace-conference

For more on our Branch’s support please see here:

Support for the International Anti-War Conference is growing at pace in the trade union movement

Renters Rights Act

The Renters Rights Act has finally come into force from the 1st May – there are huge amounts of updates and cascading changes following this.

Please see the Government report and guides to the act here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-the-renters-rights-act/guide-to-the-renters-rights-act 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69bc04b8f7b1c24d8e23ce60/The_Renters__Rights_Act_Information_Sheet_2026.pdf

https://theindependentlandlord.com/renters-rights-information-sheet/

Together Alliance National March, Saturday 28 March 2026, Park Lane 12pm

https://www.togetheralliance.org.uk

The Day of the March is finally upon us! We will be there this Saturday – start point at Park Lane

Stop the War – European Peace Conference

Following a successfully passed Motion at the last Branch Meeting the LE524 has agreed to both donate to and advertise Stop the War’s European Peace Conference on Saturday 20th June in London – for more information please use this link here:

https://www.stopwar.org.uk/events/european-peace-conference

Employment Rights Act

The Employment Rights Act has finally passed into Law – there are huge amounts of updates and cascading changes following this.

YOUR VOTE IN THE UNITE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL ELECTIONS

You will have received or will shortly receive a ballot paper from Civica Election Services (CES) regarding the 2026 elections of Unite the Union’s Executive Council (EC). 

Read about the candidates your branch is recommending you vote for here

Every individual Unite member is free to vote for whoever they want, but following the vote at the Branch Meeting it was voted on and agreed that the Members United slate is the one the Branch would nominate.

Your branch has backed the candidate slate from Members United who are for a union that:

·       Continuously fights for international solidarity, and supports the Palestinian’s existential struggle for a Palestinian state

·       Whose reps are fully supported in carrying forward our long history of militancy

·       Fights for lay member control of industrial and political strategy, pushing resources from Unite HQ to branches and workplaces

·       Fights for internal unity and the interests of members over sectarian division

·       Has the vision to fight for socialist change nationally and internationally

More information on Venezuelan Solidarity 

Following our excellent speakers from last month’s Branch Meeting please read these articles for more information on Venezuela

https://popularresistance.org/the-decapitation-that-failed

Home

Arts Council England have a new Unite Logo!

Designed by Helen Davies, who is an artist, knitter, puppet maker and needlelace worker based in the North West. https://www.instagram.com/helendavies_yarnartist/

Casey Speech to the Nuffield Trust Summit on Adult Social Care

Baroness Casey is doing another commissioned report – this time on Adult Social Care.

Please read her fascinating half way point speech on her findings so far below, relevant to so many members of our Branch.

Click to access Baroness-Caseys-speech-to-the-Nuffield-Trust-Summit-%E2%80%93-5-March-2026-.pdf

For more information on the commission – the website is here https://caseycommission.co.uk/ 

Community, Youth Worker and Not for Profit Activists fight for Youth Services

Unite Community, Youth Worker and Not-for-Profit (CYWNFP) activists in the region are working together to lead the fightback for improved youth services. Following years of brutal cuts that have embed inequality in our communities, activists are saying clearly: our young people deserve better. If you’re in or around East London, please join Unite members and activists in Waltham Forest next week to hear more about how you can help.

Together Alliance

At our last branch meeting it was agreed that we would advertise the launch of the together alliance – a movement aiming to combat the rise of the far right in the UK – more information here: 

Major demonstration in London on March 28th 2026.

Young Trade Unionists’ May Day Brigade

I am writing to you today to ask for your support to join the Young Trade Unionists’ May Day Brigade in Cuba this year. The brigade is a trip by the Cuba Solidarity Campaign meant as an opportunity for trade unionists to participate in practical solidarity work and discover the reality of life for Cubans living under the illegal American blockade of their country. The trip will involve meeting with the CTC, the Cuban equivalent of the TUC. The trip will also be an opportunity to work with a variety of trade union delegates from multiple unions in Britain.

I would be very keen to go as I have a longstanding interest in Cuban history and society since university. I also think now is a vital time for socialists across the world to support anti-imperialism in Latin America. We’ve all reacted in horror to Trump’s illegal attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Maduro. Trump is now threatening to tighten the illegal blockade of Cuba to destroy the country. It is vital that as anti-imperialists who support the Cuban people as they face another episode of aggression from the United States.

If I had the privilege of support from the branch, I would love to do a report to the branch informing members about the brigade and the vital work of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign and Cuban trade unionists.

Safer Renting have been campaigning about Magistrates sentencing guidelines for housing offences, including harassment and illegal eviction – https://sentencingcouncil.org.uk/publications/consultations/housing-offences-consultation 

Please fill out this Consultation, particularly if you work in housing or have professional or personal knowledge of the Private Rented Sector

EC Elections 

The nomination period for the Executive Council 2026 elections will open on Monday 5th January 2026.

All information and documents relating to the nomination process are available online at http://www.cesvotes.com/uniteexecs2026.

Campaign statements of those members who are seeking nomination can be found on the website.

A Labour Research update on the Charity and Third Sector

https://www.lrd.org.uk/free-read/charity-sector-breaking-point – 

Speaking from experience as the Community, Youth Worker and Not for Profit Branch we are aware that over 40% of the organisations unionised within our branch have undergone Redundancies and Restructures in the last 12-18 months.

The history of much of this sector is fascinating in its own right, whether it was the professionalisation of charities in the 60s and 70s, the outsourcing of Local Authority duty beginning and continuing from the 80s, its expansion under New Labour, the following reduction in central and local government funding, and now the reduction in funding from business and individual giving. 

Therefore, we have a question for you? What would a joined up strategy for the sector look like? What can the Branch do to support unionised members and organisations? What does good look like in the following years and decades?

PSC Conference

The conference was developed by PSC to help trade unions organise and mobilise in their workplaces to campaign for Palestine. PSC have 100% density (ie, all members of their workplace are union members) and they are part of LE524, so it was great to attend not only to learn but to show solidarity for the work our branch members do. Even more excitingly, the opening plenary session was chaired by Simon Dubbins, Unite’s Director of International.

The opening plenary covered trade unions and the ongoing global struggle in solidarity with Palestine. We heard from a number of speakers, including Eman Al-Shayeb, the General Secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Teachers (GUPT) and Sarah Woolley, the General Secretary of BFAWU (Bakers’, Food, and Allied Workers’ Union). Eman’s points about how school should be safe for children yet Palestinian children don’t feel safe at school and can only go three days a week due to lack of funding for teachers and state education was particularly harrowing. Sarah had some fantastic information about how to organise and share information with colleagues about Palestine, but also how to make sustainable changes in the workplace that will support Palestine. We also had a sobering reminder from Fiona Ben Chekroun, BNC Europe Coordinator. She reminded us that the Palestinian people do not have the luxury of what has been dubbed ‘genocide fatigue’. We must not give up, and we must continue to escalate and disrupt.

In the morning I attended a seminar on defending the right to protest. It was a fantastic session which explained the Crime and Policing Bill and its attack on the right to protest and its implications. One of the biggest takeaways for me was that cumulative protest is crucial in pushing for change, which is what makes this Bill so dangerous, in addition to its very vague wording. One of the speakers at this session was Yasmine Adam, the Head of Media and Politics at Muslim Association of Britain. She had some incredible contributions and reminded us of an uncomfortable truth; we cannot be selective when we are defending the right to protest. We may not agree with every single group that protests, and what they are trying to achieve. However if we do not fight for everyone’s right to protest, it makes our campaigning much weaker and less likely to succeed.

In the afternoon (after a wonderful Palestinian lunch and a diet Gaza Cola), I attended the Organising in the Workplace session. It was a great practical session that discussed organising in the workplace to build solidarity with Palestine, and what a campaign in your workplace could look like. The session helped me personally understand that there is always something you can do to improve Palestinian solidarity. It was a great way to connect with colleagues across other sectors and other unions, share ideas and what works, and how to get around blocks that may arise.

The final session was a plenary session called ‘Solidarity Forever; Building the Trade Union Movement for Palestine’. We heard an amazing contribution from Bayan Haddad, a Lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature at Birzeit University, Palestine. She talked extensively about the oppression and control that is exerted over Palestinians by Israel, as well as explaining how the Palestinian struggle is a workers’ struggle; Palestinian workers have no contracts, no benefits, bad wages, and no prospects. This in turn means that if parents cannot work, they cannot send their children to school and the education of Palestinian children is a trade union issue.

The session did end on a note of hope; that people power and campaigning does make change. Ben Jamal, the Director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign noted that Israel did not want to stop the full scale assault but was forced to, and even Trump said to Netanyahu ‘You cannot fight the whole world’.

I got a huge amount out of the conference and would really recommend attending if PSC hold another one.

Your Party Founding Conference Report

I was selected to attend the conference in the sortition draw.

Things got off to an interesting start the night before with news reaching conference participants who were just getting to know each other that key members of the SWP had been expelled from the party in advance of the founding conference opening. This story continued to roll throughout the weekend with Zarah Sultana refusing to enter the Conference Hall until her speech on the Sunday. Zarah made a rousing speech on Sunday which included a condemnation of the move. On a personal note, while I definitely don’t support the SWP politically, I think this was a premature, undemocratic move. Initially we need to be inclusive and open the party to the left as a whole. If there comes a time when it becomes apparent that members (individually or as part of a smaller left collective) are acting against the interests of Your Party, then this can be revisited.  In any case the membership voted to allow dual membership with politically aligned parties, so I hope that these members are reinstated at this juncture. Questions remain as to how the decision was taken, and by whom.

On the Conference Floor

Peppered with speeches, including by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, the main function of the conference was to vote on the Constitution, Political Statement, Organisational Strategy and Standing Orders. Ahead of the conference, members submitted amendments to the initial drafts of these documents and these were subjected to a ‘priority ballot’ to determine which ones were debated.

Key amendments that got passed and added to these documents:

·   The adoption of a mixed delegate and sortition makeup of future conference participants, with the votes being open to all members, whether they had been selected to attend the conference or not, much like how the founding conference votes were held. While this is an inclusive approach, thinking as a Union member, it does reduce accountability and may give a larger platform to less well informed participants on the conference floor.

·   The party will be run by a central committee with no individual leader.

·   Of further interest to LE524 and our branch policies, Your Party has voted to explicitly fight for trans liberation

·   The party will also explicitly be an anti-austerity party.

·   ‘Your Party’ agreed to keep Your Party as its official name.

Overall with a lot of negative press coverage and unfortunate in-fighting the conference could have been a much more depressing affair, but there was a note of cautious optimism. It was a smaller more rough and ready affair, with fewer stalls, all of which appeared to have political validity and thankfully not serving corporate interests. 

Branch Member’s Notes on Your Party Conference 29-30 November Liverpool

I am a member of Your Party and I went to the Conference in Liverpool on 29-30 November. I was there not as a delegate, but to assist with logistics and propaganda for the 9 delegates of my Socialist organisation Worker’s Vanguard.

The tone of the conference was immediately given, when, early in the morning on day one, the national Secretary and a few other militants of the SWP were unceremoniously and without warning, prevented to access the premises of the conference, their membership voided and their internet access to the party web site cancelled.

This somehow was a defining moment of the party conference because this expulsion had the hallmarks of the old Labour party bureaucratism. It gave without delay elements of an answer to the question everyone had in mind: will Your Party be a Labour party 2.0?

Now, the real target of this purge was of course Zara Sultana who had recently in a round of interviews crossed all the red lines of the ruling class, calling NATO “an imperialist war machine”, saying “Zelensky isn’t friend of the working class” and sins of all sins attacking the Green party for supporting NATO and refusing to cut ties with Israel.

This, not personal differences with Corbyn, was the political motive of this witch-hunt by proxy (Lewis Nielsen was a key speaker at Sultana fringe meeting, the evening before the conference). The irony was that the witch-hunter was Corbyn and his entourage. They were re-enacting the Blairite purge against Corbyn but this time with Sultana as target.

After boycotting the first day of the conference in protest to the expulsion, Zara Sultana gave a rousing speech during the closing session on Sunday (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2Mz8c3sUzc) that received a standing ovation and a few emotional tears from delegates!

Still, on the final day of the conference nothing was settled. The right wing remains in command (even if they are on the defensive after the expulsions and they didn’t manage to ban outright dual membership in the party). But even more importantly Sultana, despite her defiant speech in favour of socialism, and the power of the working class, still shows clear signs that she is prepared to make peace with Corbyn and continue to tolerate the political status-quo.

The question is, will she fight to make her speeches against Zionism and Nato, for nationalisation of the means of production, party policy and raise to the challenge to lead the party on her programme or will she cave-in in the name of the sacrosanct “unity” of the party like Corbin did in his time when he was witch-hunted by the Blairites with the result we know?

The next chapter on the election of the leadership will hopefully bring a clarifying and positive response. The point is to put politics first.

Update on Lindsey Oil Refinery

We had been informed that various locally elected representatives would be attending in the run up to that rally even though we had not invited them. The Grimsby Labour MP Melanie Onn, who has worked closely with the reps and as a Member of the HoC Select Committee on Energy Security and Net Zero has initiated an enquiry into the closure of oil refineries and although she was unable to attend that day she sent a statement. The local MP for the refinery Martin Vickers (Conservative) and the Greater Lincolnshire Mayor Andrea Jenkins (Reform) both made it known they were going to speak at the Rally without having been invited to do so. With that in mind I took advice and, to ensure focus was kept on the industrial issue and the affected workers and to avoid any disruption at the event, allowed those two elected representatives to speak. Andrea Jenkins was loudly heckled and the workers’ (one of our Unite refinery Reps spoke) message was well received both by those gathered and the media. Since then we have held a march in Cleethorpes on the Bank holiday weekend, two rallies at the Refinery with our national officer Tony Devlin and more recently the General Secretary and, of course, the rally at Westminster. Reform did not speak at any of those other events. Furthermore they appear to have lost interest in supporting the workers and this is not lost on them.

Unite’s focus is to maintain the Refinery as a going concern – this is currently in the hands of the official administrator but Unite is also pressuring the Government to intervene and support the workers. The Reps are clear that they believe the Refinery is a going concern – the only reason it went into administration was because the owners mismanaged it and allowed it to fail financially. Unite believes that although everyone wants to achieve a future which successfully, at the moment the green and clean jobs do not exist sufficiently to employ those members losing their jobs in the oil sector. Indeed, in the Humber recently a bioethanol plant closed simply because it could not compete with US imports since the Government removed trade tariffs for the US on biofuels. There certainly aren’t enough highly skilled jobs with commensurate terms and conditions in those clean sectors yet. Whilst Unite has been critical of the Government’s net zero strategy, we have maintained a relationship with the local and national politicians to try and achieve a just solution for the workers at Lindsey. 125 workers were made redundant this week and the remainder of workers are due to leave at the end of the year and in the New Year unless a buyer can be found to sustain the operation.

I completely relate to the discomfort our members will feel about Reform speaking at our rally but I hope that they will understand that on that occasion it was difficult to no-platform a legitimately elected local representative. At that Rally and on other occasions Andrea Jenkins has been called on to use the Mayoral funds to help support the workers and it is not lost on those workers that she has failed to do so.

Branch Committee Christmas Dinner

The LE524 Branch Committee went to Faten’s Family Dinner – a Supper Club Fundraiser for people in Gaza for our Christmas Event. The Branch previously provided a donation to support this great cause; our support as a Branch helped provide clean drinking water in the Deir al-Balah camp after two months without access.. And the food, raffle and quiz were lovely!

Merry Christmas to you and yours wherever you are!

Information about LE524

We are in Unite’s Community Youth Worker and Not for Profit (CYWNFP) sector, because of our workplaces, or you’re retired but asked to be kept in this branch (instead of being allocated to a retired member’s workplace). There are 18# other industrial sectors in Unite. We are allocated to LE524, because our workplaces (or HQ) are in London and Eastern. LE524 is a composite branch because we have members from more than one workplace. LE524 has members that are based all over the UK and also across the globe. 

We’re now >6,900 members with >60 regional officers supporting us over ~900 known workplaces!

LE524 Workplace Breakdown
~650 workplaces have 1-2 Unite members.	~80 workplaces have 3-4 Unite members	>160 workplaces have 5 or more members

Unite considers workplaces with >5 members to be a “shop” and Unite’s regional officers will help you to try to get a recognition agreement (document of agreed standards between Unite and your workplace). Studies show that if you have a recognition agreement, you are more likely to be paid better and to have better terms and conditions. However, as we know, having a recognition agreement, or working for an employer with a charitable mission will not guarantee staff a good workplace experience.

LE Community Branches

There are lots across the UK (20 across London and Eastern alone!) and members in those branches might be retired, not in work, on career breaks… These members work alongside Industrial Branches like us. They will support us when we strike, run their own campaigns, and support ours. If you’re UK-based, consider finding where your nearest one is and reaching out!…Unite Community Pages

Action: Are you/your workplace disposing of laptops/other tech?… Could you donate it to a community branch who can loan them to their members for branch meetings/other branch work? 

Ask: Do you have some spare pots/seeds/plants etc and are visiting Moreland Street office? The Community folk have done some guerilla gardening and are working on the Unite garden. 

Branch Organiser Report

Unfair Dismissal: The Pre Tribunal Process

As a rep, I get asked often about the immediate steps to take in cases of unfair

dismissal. Therefore, I thought it would be useful to outline a step-by-step guide once

the appeals process has been exhausted.

1. ACAS Early Conciliation (first step before an Employment Tribunal)

If you want to challenge the dismissal, the next stage is to start Early Conciliation with ACAS. This is a required step before you can take a claim to an Employment Tribunal (ET).

You can start it online at: https://www.acas.org.uk/notify/start

It’s free, and you just need to provide your details and the employer’s. You’ll get an ACAS conciliator, whose role is to see if the matter can be resolved before a formal claim. The conciliation period usually lasts up to one month, and it pauses the normal tribunal time limits while it’s active. If no resolution is reached, ACAS will issue you an Early Conciliation Certificate, which allows you to proceed to a Tribunal claim if you wish.

2. Time limits

Tribunal claims must normally be started within three months minus one day from your dismissal date, though starting early conciliation will stop the clock while it’s in progress.

3. What kind of claim

The most common route after a dismissal is an Unfair Dismissal claim. That said, unfair dismissal can be one of the harder claims to win, as the Tribunal gives employers a wide margin of discretion if they followed a reasonable process and had some evidence for their conclusions.

However, you can still use the ACAS process to: Explore a settlement (for example, an agreed reference and/or ex-gratia payment), or Keep open the option of an ET claim if you want the matter independently reviewed.

Even if the prospects are uncertain, starting ACAS EC protects your position and gives you breathing space to decide what to do next.

If ACAS conciliation doesn’t result in a resolution, you can file an ET1 claim form with the Employment Tribunal.

The Tribunal can consider:

Whether the dismissal was fair in procedure and substance, and whether there were any Equality Act or procedural breaches that affected the fairness of the decision.

Immediate priorities after dismissal has been upheld at appeal:

Decide if you want to start ACAS Early Conciliation (ideally asap). Keep all correspondence and documents safe. Keep your rep/branch officer/Unite regional Officer in the loop and reach out for help in filling out the ACAS documentation.

Rise of the Far Right

We don’t need to tell you about the rise in the far right, if it’s not your lived experience, or in your workplace, then it is at least in your socials. We are hearing that a lot of folks in our sector are being targeted – if not because of their intersectionality, including being a trade union member – then they are being targeted because we work with/for migrants/folks overseas. IMIX have produced a good guide here that your workplace might like to see. The branch committee are pushing in various fora for Unite’s refreshed Unity Over Division works to be released in the London and Eastern (LE) Region, as well as getting motions heard and actions happening. Some of the Unity Over Division materials will include training for workplace reps, so look out for this. 

Pay Negotiations from a Woman’s Officer and Equalities Rep

Working on Pay Negotiations is like training for the Olympics

I joined the Union to improve policy in the workplace, but I quickly found that a big part of union work was Pay Negotiation (obvious, but I can be naive).

This year everything happened in a strangely co-ordinated way, and with a little bit of luck our Pay Claim was approved. I can only say it was like the Olympics, trying for many years without any success for everything to happen very quickly within two weeks – achieving the goal set at the start of the year!

In my workplace we work jointly with two other Unions, we are an Arms Length Body funded by the tax payer. We don’t ask for more money than the government allows to service increases in the Cost-of-Living, and typically our membership is cautious to take strike action. Our priority is to negotiate for distribution of the budget in an equitable way. 

This year, we work very hard to develop an alternative Pay Model – we call it The Union Pay Model. This model objectively improved Pay for 74% of the organisation, that is over 1,000 colleagues – this was the first in a list of significant “firsts” that we achieved this year. From the development of the Union Pay Model, we submitted our first Joint Union Pay Claim, following formal negotiations we enhanced our model by refining our method of raising pay ranges for inflation. Our innovative new approach allowed us to start considering pay discrepancies to the market – another “first”.

Many people who benefit from our work won’t be aware of the hard work and innovation that we as Reps put all our effort into day in and day out. It is important to appreciate what we have achieved – big and small.  Our achievements will accumulate – it feels like our work never ends!  I know when I started this work years ago, I didn’t think about measuring the successes. In fact, people kept on telling me that in all likelihood there would not be many wins.  I think they are right, but that also didn’t change my commitment or approach to the union work that I do. It has been said that the Privilege is in doing the work, and I think this must be true – I suspect this is true for you too. Solidarity!

Social Housing Action Campaign

Members agreed a donation of 150 pounds at the last Branch Meeting to support payment for a venue for their conference.

More than 100 activists gathered in person and online on the 11th October to plan a national tenants and residents (housing) union. The event was organised by SHAC as the basis for forming an independent action group that can transform the vision into reality.

Attendees included those leading local action on their estates, regional groups including the London Renters Union and London Tenants’ Federation, and national campaigns such as Housing Sector and Free Leaseholders.

Macmillan Unite Group’s Solidarity with Palestine Event

The Unite group at Macmillan, which has a significant organising presence, is determined to offer genuine representation and organisation, with or without recognition, and organises the kinds of activities that would be unlikely to take place otherwise.

On Thursday 16 October, Unite along with the REACH allies network at Macmillan organised a solidarity event with Palestine in response to a call for international solidarity from Palestinian trade unions, and the need to raise our collective voices to free Palestine.

Unite members from other Cancer charities were also invited, because of the topic of discussion.

Naila Handosh Deputy Director of Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) in the West Bank, spoke about access to diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer

Sulaiman Al-Louh (Solly), who grew up in Gaza and whose family is still living there, spoke passionately about life in Gaza: the lack of water and food, how people have split up their families, sending each other’s children to stay with neighbours in the hope that some will survive the constant attacks.

20% of bodies are never found, with people often vaporised, leaving no trace.

Food is very scarce; Solly had to spend $1000 on 25 kg of flour. Everyone has lost at least 10 kg in weight. He experienced 50 – 60 people living in a three-bedroom house, and having to sleep in shifts due to the lack of space, although his extended family is now staying in a refugee camp, where people have to queue for two hours to go to the toilet in the morning.

Before the genocide, Palestine was one of the most educated places in the world, but there are no schools or universities now. For a long time there has been a “brain drain”, because people often leave in order to make use of their training.

Solly also said that there is no doubt that the “ceasefire” will not be the end of Israel’s ambition to control the whole of the region and that the best way to help Palestinians is to stay in touch and to share their hopes and dreams,

We are confident that this will be followed up by further activities at Macmillan in solidarity with Palestine.

Counter Demonstration to Tommy Robinson’s ‘Unite the Kingdom’ Far Right Demo 13th September 2025

Around 10,000 people attended the Counter Demonstration to Tommy Robinson’s ‘Unite the Kingdom’ Fascist March. Socialists and Trade Unionists from as far away as Scotland were in attendance with a heavy trade union presence throughout. Speakers from such organisations as Friends of the Earth, unionised within our branch, drew intersectional points against capitalism, sexism, the destruction of the earth and the far right. Speakers excoriated the attempted links being drawn by the far right between refugees and sexual violence against women and girls.

We marched from Russell Square, starting at around 1pm, to Whitehall. At about 2pm the British weather again showed its complete disregard for pressing politics, providing a deluge on comrade and opponent alike. This led to a thinning and lengthening of our march, an issue that was to come to the fore later in the day.

The counter demonstration paled in comparison with the one organised by Tommy Robinson and the far right. Initial estimates show that their March was attended by 100-150,000. Therefore we were, at most, less than a tenth of their number.

We were funnelled into Whitehall by the SUTR organisers of the counter demo to where a stage had been set up for speeches. It quickly became very clear that we were being surrounded by huge numbers of individuals carrying St George’s flags, UK flags, as well as a smattering of Scotland, Wales, American and Israeli flags.

A very brave group of around 200 antifascist demonstrators attempted to hold the line at the top of Whitehall/bottom of Trafalgar Square as the rest of the march, slowed by the heavy rain earlier in the day, tried to make their way through huge crowds of the far right. However, they were quickly overwhelmed by the sheer force of numbers of individuals chanting, throwing bottles, and shooting abuse at the counter demonstration. Many individual marchers at this point made the decision to down tools and leave the situation, but for many of us, we were stuck.

We were quickly kettled on four sides by the far right march attendees, and their aggression quickly ramped up. In order to try to contain the violence, the police force deployed horses. The far right attendees continued to throw bottles at the counter demonstrators, with around 80 of the antifascists stuck in the middle of the fascist bloc, unable to link up with the 10,000 counter demonstrators stuck inside Whitehall. The far right then turned on the police, shooting fireworks at the police horses and surging forwards towards our lines. Crowds of riot police, police deploying dogs and police horses were a thin line between an aggressive and inebriated mass and the counter demonstrators now stuck with no way out.

Over the course of the next few hours riot police with batons, police dogs and horses activated and heavily used slowly shunted the fascist crowd out of the open mouth of Whitehall and back onto Trafalgar square itself. This was only achieved through serious controlled violence on the part of the police, who were met by serious violence and aggression in return.

Eventually, at around 6:30pm, the police had cut enough of a path to lead the counter-demonstrators out. They were provided with a police escort of riot police all the way to Green Park station.

Serious questions have to be asked of why the SUTR organisers led the marchers into this situation. Serious questions must also be asked of why both the Police and SUTR radically underestimated the numbers of Far Right demonstrators, leading to a very dangerous situation for all involved in the counter-demonstration. Serious questions must also be asked of why SUTR’s brand is so toxic as to fail to bring in the crowds of the silent majority of anti racists in our country to the counter demonstration at such a vital moment in British history. This can only be understood as a massive victory for the far right in the UK, launching the largest far right demonstration in Britisj history. We can make no mistake, the counter demonstrators were smashed, and serious violence acted towards us was only prohibited by an emergency rear guard action by Riot Police, who took heavy casualties.

However, no victory, and certainly no defeat is final. Many lessons and some positives can be taken from this event. It is every trade unionist’s responsibility to grow and widen the movement. Without a wide and popular movement, engaging with communities where they are, speaking to the people’s needs in this time of polycrisis, we cannot succeed. We must try harder, we must go further and we must take seriously how critical this moment is. 

Branch Committee Note on the above – we were shocked by the experiences of the writer and others who attended, but also members who were travelling on public transport who also felt threatened and unsafe by groups leaving the Far Right demonstration. The Branch Committee has written to LE Regional Secretary and LE Women’s & Equalities Officer. We were asked to publicise the event with members in multiple fora, which we did. This can’t happen again and we will need more assurance around multiple issues – including safeguarding – before we can feel confident to publicise again. 

Journalist Demonstration 27/08 – Vigil for murdered Palestinian journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says more than 190 journalists have been killed in 22 months of the ongoing genocide in Palestine. The vast majority are Palestinians killed by the Israeli “Defence” Force.

I went to a vigil for the murdered journalists and other media workers held outside Downing Street by the London Freelance branch of the NUJ and met members of the Guardian Unite chapel (union shop) there. The demonstration, on 13 August, took place following Israel’s “double tap” strike on the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

The day before the vigil, the IDF had first fired a tank shell, killing a Reuters cameraman and others. Nine minutes later, as a group of rescue workers and other journalists attended the victims, the Israeli military fired again on the hospital, slaughtering 20 people. NB: The “double tap” is a deliberate tactic aimed at killing the courageous medical aid and media workers who rush to help and report on those killed and injured in the previous strike.

The murder of Palestinian journalists is part of the Israeli state’s intensive efforts to prevent the truth emerging about its ongoing genocide. No international journalists are allowed into Palestine unless embedded with the IDF.

Journalists attending the vigil held commemorative cards and read the names of colleagues killed in Gaza by the genocidal Israeli military action. Speakers demanded action from the UK government, including support for an investigation by the International Criminal Court into the blatant targeting of journalists and media workers by Israeli forces, as well as the passage of a binding UN convention on the safety of journalists and other media professionals. John McDonnell MP, NUJ parliamentary group secretary, emphasised the UK government’s complicity in the continued targeting and killing of journalists.

06/09 – Palestine March – LE524 were marching with the L&E Banner this time

On the 6 September Palestine march I was one of three LE524 branch members marching behind the Unite London and Eastern regional banner, together with cab drivers, other voluntary sector workers, bus drivers, retired members and Unite community members. The Unite contingent marching with the trade union bloc on the day was organised by London & Eastern United Left supporters, as has been the case on every march since the Israeli state sponsored genocide started. There was no official national or regional mobilisation of our members, nor an official national Unite speaker at the rally after the march.

What a tragedy that our union nationally still can’t be bothered to lift a finger in the face of the Israeli genocide. It is now two months and counting since delegates at the national Policy Conference voted for a reaffirmation of our policy on Palestine including the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions tactics called for by the Palestinian trade unions. See the policy here in an EC statement. Could it be that the fine speeches from the top table at the conference were hypocritical opportunism in the face of lay member anger and passion for the Palestinian cause? How many more Palestinians do we have to see slaughtered and starved by the psychopathic Israeli state before we see some concrete results from the statement passed at the conference?

 LE Women’s Committee Meeting

There were working groups agreed:

i) “Not in my Name” (a group to counter the rise in far right, including countering the false narrative that immigrants, migrant workers perpetrate violence on women and girls);

ii) Carers Working Group (cognisant that caring responsibilities come in many forms and our workplaces and their policies don’t always understand this!);

iii) International Women’s Day (events on the day and leading up, speakers etc… Domestic Workers are a focus for the committee);

iv) Gender Pension Gap : for every £0.78 that a UK woman earns, a man will earn £1. In addition, more women reduce work hours/take longer breaks because of caring responsibilities. This means that women reach retirement with 35-50% less pension . . . and they have the audacity to live longer!.

LE524’s motion “Tax the Rich…” was referred (upwards) to the National Women’s Committee.

Tackling the Far Right – We heard Unite is refreshing its’ Unity over Division material. It has content specifically around violence against women and girls (recent LE524 emergency motion passed on this). In addition to a campaign (updates on Unite website, various social media etc.), material disseminated to Workplace Reps, there will even be asks for media content from members… so watch this space!

Picket Line Solidarity for hospitality workers: Saturday August 9th from 12pm.

For the first time in 40 years in England, hotel housekeepers in Canary Wharf are going on strike — and they’re teaming up with bar staff from Draughts Bar! This is a really important strike for the hospitality sector and they could really benefit from solidarity from fellow trade unionists. Meeting at Jubilee Park at Canary Wharf at 12pm to march to Radisson Blu Canary Wharf East, there will then be a ride on public transport to Draughts Board Game Bar in Waterloo to join the picket line there.

COVID Reflection: Where are we now? 

The Black Policy Institute is holding an evening of honest conversation, reflection and healing discussing the pandemic. The session will cover frontline challenges faced, what policies helped or hurt, the true toll on staff and patients, and what must change for the future

Stand Up to Racism Event

 It was a counter protest against one organised outside the Thistle hotel. This hotel near Angel is used by Islington Council for temporary accommodation for asylum seekers. The original protest was ~200 people who were protesting against immigration and housing asylum seekers. The SUTR counterprotest had more than 800 people.

Sharon’s email

Members will have received an email from our General Secretary talking about Unite’s recent history. As a Branch Committee, we are incredibly aware of the impact of negative publicity on our members who are trying to get recognition, get better pay, terms, and conditions, and working to protect members’ jobs in the many restructures and redundancies that are flooding across the sector. We also know that our members are impacted by negative publicity whilst working on campaigns and social matters (within Unite and outside). We wish to extend our heart-felt thanks and solidarity to you. As a Branch Committee, we haven’t been told or received any more information about this than members. We’ve written to our Regional Officer to express our disappointment that there doesn’t appear to be a comms plan, with targeted communications to all persons from Unite staff, to Persons on Unite Committees, to Workplace Reps to members, so all members and staff are actively supported.

Long Service Awards

When you’ve been a member for a long time and you’ve been an active member, our Regional Secretary, Steve O’Donnell will arrange for a long service certificate and badge to be issued to you. Bronwen kindly agreed to host a small gathering to say thank you to Mary, who retired in March. She was our long-standing Branch Administrator for 12 years and had been with Unite for 22 years before this. We handed her the long service certificate. We also then surprised Bronwen with her long service award; she’s been a member for 30years! The picture below is of them both with Lisa, our Branch Chair! Mary was delighted to get her certificate and a garden centre voucher from the branch to use once her house purchase has gone through! She sends her best wishes to all of LE524! …but the longest serving LE524 branch member is someone who joined in January 1963 and we’re trying to find out if this is a LE regional record! 

Forty Years On; Why justice For the Orgreave miners still matters 

Many years ago, when I was a young Labour Party branch secretary (it was a bit different in those days) doing my tour of duty in 1984/85, I remember watching the heavy edited tv footage of the paramilitary police violence against the picketing miners at the Orgreave coking plant in June, and thinking crikey (alright it wasn’t crikey!) the government are really serious here about smashing the union. The footage is worth revisiting if you get the chance. Truncheons, riot shields and cavalry charges were liberally used outside the coking plant, in the fields and far beyond. In 1985 Channel 4 ran an excellent documentary “The Battle of Orgreave” about the day in June 1984 when 56 miners were arrested and charged with riot, and the subsequent trial when they were acquitted. 

It was a fit up, and ever since then pressure has built up amongst the National Union of Mineworks, and other unions (including Unite) for a full enquiry into who was really behind the events that day, making them public and exonerating the miners. What is really at play here is exposing the criminalisation/intimidation of industrial action taken by unions and the criminalisation of protest/dissent in general. We’ve seen police tactics in recent times at pro-Palestine marches and at climate justice protests, and the government clamping down on dissent. This is why it is so important and relevant for us to understand what happened at Orgreave, the role of the state in opposing industrial action, and to be better prepared for the challenges ahead. As a coda, here’s a link to a timeline of the events at Orgreave, and the Unite statement.

Trans+ Pride London, Saturday July 25th

It was absolutely incredible being at Trans+ Pride London this year; with around 100,000 participants (including a healthy trade union bloc!), T+PL broke its own record of attendance. The L&E Regional LGBT+ Committee attended, and I attended with Switchboard, an LGBT+ charity I volunteer with. It was a fantastic atmosphere with a lot of support from the public as we marched. It would be great to get a branch presence next year, and I am really pleased to say that there was a lot of work put in by the organisers to make the march accessible for all. You can read more about London Trans+ Pride and their work here.