NHS Together - the coalition of Trade Unions and Staff Side NHS organisations, has decided to call for a day of regional activities rather than a national demonstration in defence of the NHS. This is reportedly due to concerns about poor turn out for a national demonstration based on branches feedback. While regional activity is all well and good, and very important, it is difficult to co-ordinate on one day and I believe is often more difficult to mobilise. People understand where power is, and maybe more important where the media is and that is, rightly or wrongly, London.
Having successfully led the mobilisation of local activists to Cardiff for NUS' National Demo stopping Top-up Fees for Wales and yet more activists to Edinburgh as part of the Make Poverty History Coalition I have some experience in mobilising for demo's. And I can understand the leaderships fears, a poorly attended demo can be worse than no demonstration at all. But the lesson has to be the importance of committing even further to the organising model and using this to create the activists we need on the ground to mobilise our members.
Having successfully led the mobilisation of local activists to Cardiff for NUS' National Demo stopping Top-up Fees for Wales and yet more activists to Edinburgh as part of the Make Poverty History Coalition I have some experience in mobilising for demo's. And I can understand the leaderships fears, a poorly attended demo can be worse than no demonstration at all. But the lesson has to be the importance of committing even further to the organising model and using this to create the activists we need on the ground to mobilise our members.
But to do this needs bold leadership at a national and regional level. To have a successful mobilisation of members, whether to national or regional activity, we need to be brave enough to focus the organisations resources towards building for the demonstration. This means all union officials deprioritising other work to get out their into branches, supporting them and going out and speaking to members.
All to often we talk about following the organising model, but then spend our time recruiting through freebies not through action, dealing with individuals cases rather than building for all of us. We must focus on building activists and activism within our branches, confident that when you get an activist members come with them.
If elected as your representative on UNISON's NEC I will ensure that the union receives this leadership from a national level. Then when the NHS or any other public service needs UNISON to lead its defence we're there and brave.
