Vote Roger McKenzie – the right person for the job!

I have been a trade unionist from the day I started work, collecting subs on building sites, striking for pay as a young worker, Housing worker in Walsall, a full time organiser, Regional Secretary (West Midlands), and 10 years ago I became a UNISON Assistant General Secretary.

I’m proud to have been UNISON’S First Black Regional Secretary, First Black AGS and if you elect me I will be proud to be UNISON’s first Black General Secretary as someone who suffered racism from a very early age being chased down the streets in Walsall - I can see how far we have come but we have a long way to go.

I will always be an activist, standing up for members, speaking out against injustice, I've visited a record number of branches as AGS promoting solidarity and support for UNISON members in disputes.

The public health crisis is on all our minds at the moment, I was heartbroken reading out the names of the UNISON members that have lost their lives to covid so far - No worker should have to go to work and worry about whether they will come home safe that night. Covid has exposed the true cost of decades of underfunding our public services and shown where we need to organise and support members and branches.

We are all coping in different ways, grieving the loss of loved ones, community members, worrying about ourselves, our families - financial worries and the huge impact on our mental health.

It is UNISON members and branches in every sector that have both kept people safe and kept the UK running I want to say thank you to all of you.

Vote Roger Mckenzie

I promise to bring the union closer to you – members and branches are the heart of my campaign and that’s why I asked members to write my pledges, setting out what you want me to deliver as your General Secretary.

I am proud to stand on these key pledges as YOU have asked of me:

● A massive 40% of people who responded asked for a commitment for NHS campaigns on pay and workload. I will commit to organising to strengthen our NHS branches and campaigning on the huge workload issues in our NHS.

● To NHS Workers - the pay claim of £2,000 is not enough, 15% is the least that is deserved to make up for years of lost pay. The public support a significant wage rise for all NHS staff, the politicians owe it and our union needs to set out an ambitious claim for all staff and be strong enough to win it.

● To Local Government workers who saw Care Homes “thrown to the wolves” and schools struggling to cope without support nationally or a functioning test and trace system - I am committed to fighting privatisation and organising for a better funding settlement for Local Authorities as well as defending jobs, terms and conditions locally.

● A Covid 19 Task Force to assist branches to deal with the ongoing challenges - PPE, Workload, Health and Safety, mental health issues, furloughing, working from home, inflexible employers, expert advice direct to you.

● Review the way we carry out ALL of our pay campaigns. UNISON members in local government, the NHS, private sector companies, schools, Universities and Colleges have not had a decent pay rise and have suffered changes to pensions and other terms. You are worth more and clapping does not pay the bills.

● I pledge more staff directly into branches increasing advice and support available to you. Including Legal and Financial Advisors based in each region - not just HQ - support for those in the private, community and voluntary sectors, who need additional advice.

● UNISON under my leadership will become more member focused and led. Participation in our union is at an all-time low, we need to work with self-organised groups and branches to break down barriers.

● A National Organising plan to grow to 2 million members and to train 100,000 members into activists. It's ambitious and it will cost money - but we need to use our money wisely nationally redirected to organising but also, as a priority, to branches that need it.

● To retired members I give this undertaking. We will enable you to continue to be activists in branches - there are campaigning issues, Social Care, TV licences but we can’t afford to lose your expertise.

Every retired member should feel that retiring from work does not mean retiring from the union.

● Equalities - our Self Organised groups lead the way. Black workers, Asian workers, Immigrant workers, Disabled workers, Women, LGBT workers all face discrimination in the workplace and a rise in both the race and gender pay gap in some of our employers - we must stand together against discrimination.

● There are many other pledges from Higher and Further Education, to youth workers, police staff, trade union Education and a focus on Young members - we must appeal to young workers if we are to grow.

Vote Roger McKenzie

I am proud of all the support and nominations you have given me.

I’m delighted to have the support of Labour MPs including , , , Kim Johnson, Clive Lewis, , Jon Trickett and – but I’m even prouder still to be backed by 100+ branches and thousands of members, who joined our campaign to change and build our union.

We mustn’t be subservient to political parties - we are the UK’s biggest union and we shouldn’t be begging for scraps from this Government or the opposition.

United, we have strength - this is not something that one person can do. It will take all of us together to win for members so vote but also work with me to deliver a bigger, more powerful, more democratic and more influential UNISON.

Roger

Vote Roger McKenzie for UNISON General Secretary

Facebook/Twitter: @Roger4GS www.roger4gs.co.uk