Racism and Reform are key issues for local government conference

At UNISON’s annual local government service group conference in Liverpool, the fight against racism and Reform were common themes.

In his opening speech to the conference on Sunday, the chair of the UNISON local government service group executive, Glen Williams said, “while it’s laughable, we must take the threat of Reform seriously”.

The first conference motion to pass was on increased union support for migrant workers in local government.

Rena Wood (pictured) introduced the motion on behalf of the service group executive. Ms Wood said: “It’s really important to focus on who these people are, migrant workers – they are simply that, workers –  and the barriers they face to come here to sell their labour. Because that’s what we do every day, isn’t it?

“It’s my personal belief that immigration control is manifestly racist.”

The motion, which passed unanimously, called on the service group executive to support the work of branches and regions in organising migrant workers with resources and advice, to work with politicians and local authorities to tackle exploitation of migrant workers in the social care sector, and to campaign with UNISON’s migrant workers network for rights-based immigration policies.

The motion was amended to recognise the specific threats that LGBT+ migrant workers face, and to lobby government departments to properly fund agencies that uphold the rights of migrant workers, including the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority.

Speaking in support of the motion, Liz Wheatley from Camden UNISON said: “If we want to support migrant workers we have to stand up in solidarity with the protestors in LA.”

Her statement was met with a round of applause from conference delegates.

Ms Wheatley continued: “Migrant workers aren’t just working in social care, which is what a lot of this motion focuses on, they’re often employed by private companies. Those companies are racist and hope that migrant workers don’t know their rights.”

Also speaking in support of the motion, Rana Aria from Hammersmith and Fulham local government branch, said: “Reform and anti-migrant rhetoric are creating more hostile and exploitative workplaces.

“Despite all their hatred towards migrant, Muslim and Black people, there are reps and members within this union who voted for Reform. We cannot be fooled by them posing as friends of the people. Reform is a racist party.”

‘We need to offer hope, offer alternatives’

In the conference’s afternoon session, delegates heard from Nick Lowles (pictured below), chief executive of Hope Not Hate, about how to counter the rise of Reform UK.

Pictured: Nick Lowles, CEO of Hope Not Hate. Image: Steve Forrest

“I’ve been involved in anti-fascism for the last 40 years and I’d say we’re facing the biggest far-right threat since the Second World War,” Mr Lowles said. “There is a real chance that Reform UK, which we categorise as a far-right political party, could be the largest party after the next election, could even be the government.

“But we can’t just see Reform voters as racist. We have to understand that not all Reform voters are about migration. From our research, there are different groups of Reform voters: some are hostile to migration, some are anti-state, some have a more positive view of multi-culturalism.

“For many people, not just Reform voters, there is a sense at the moment that politics has failed. Nothing works. For the first time since the Second World War, people believe their kids will have worse lives than their parents.

“If we are to challenge Reform UK we need to treat people with respect. We can’t just talk about the issues we care about. We need to start where they are. Many Reform UK voters do care about worker rights, but we have to earn the right to be heard.

“UNISON needs to be positive. There is a lot of economic insecurity around at the moment and so we need to offer hope, offer alternatives.

“Also, if we are to fight Reform UK, we need to hold them to account. They are currently making outlandish claims that are highly illegal. In next year’s elections, there will be dozens of councils at risk of losing to Reform UK, but we can turn it round.

“To achieve this, we can’t leave success to chance. We won’t defeat Reform UK by wishing them away. We need to take them on, be clever and, that way, we have the power to win.”

The article Racism and Reform are key issues for local government conference first appeared on the UNISON National site.