During the late 1970's through to the early 1990's I was a member, a section steward, a branch secretary and a district chair of a trades union known as NUPE (The National Union of Public Employees). The union represented health service employees, local government employees, the ancillary staff of Universities and weirdly, junior Anglican Clerics and Methodist Ministers.
NUPE was affiliated to the Labour Party.
As a senior lay officer I often use to attend Welsh "regional" gatherings of the union, when I attended such gatherings I was always surprised at the fact that very few of those gathered were members of the Labour Party. There were quite a few Communists and Co-op party supporters, a smattering of Greens and SWP members, but by far the largest group of party affiliates were members of Plaid Cymru (as was I at the time).
In 1993, just after I had left the public sector UNISON joined with CoHSE (the Confederation of Health Service Employees) and NALGO (The National Union of Local Government Employees – a non aligned union) to form UNISON. Unison is the Union of which Ian Titherington (Grangetown Jack) is now a senior lay member.
From what I read on Ian's blog, it appears that UNISON in the 2010's is similar to NUPE in the 1980's, a Union with a large number of Plaid supporting members and lay union officials who also hold office in Plaid, and a significant number of supporters who belong to parties other than Labour or who have no particular party affiliation.
A question that I use to ask often amongst the great and the good of NUPE Cymru in the 1990's was why don't we form an independent non-affiliated Welsh public service union or an independent union affiliated to Plaid?
The answer was always that the Wales TUC wouldn't countenance such a Union because the TUC was Labour dominated and without TUC membership the "new" union would be too week.
Is this still the opinion of Plaid and other non Labour trade unionists in Wales? Or has the time come to form a distinctly Welsh Public Service Union, given that so many public services are devolved?
Showing posts with label NUPE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NUPE. Show all posts
16/03/2008
An Answer to Ian
Thanks for your response Ian.
You response is an example of why the left has caused totally unnecessary splits in the national movement by insisting that anybody who wishes to join Plaid has to sign up to socialism. Something which I am unable, in conscious, to do.
I gave my full support to the workers at Friction Dynamic, not because I saw the issue as a right / left issue, but because I saw it from my right wing chapel mentality as a right / wrong issue.
During the miner's strike, a fight between English ideologists, where both sides were wrong and neither could give a bugger about what was best for Wales, I (obviously) supported the Welsh miners, and I did so along side the Mersyside branch of the Socialist Workers Party, because they were the only people who remembered that there were coal mines in north Wales not just in the south.
The silly point is that Liverpool's Trots welcomed my support, despite the fact that they knew that I was both a right winger and a Welsh Nat. Plaid, on the other hand, rejects my support because I am not a leftist.
As to your comment that I have little or no understanding of the internal politics of Plaid. I was a member of Plaid before you were born, Ian bach, I probably have a better understanding of Plaid's internal politics than you will ever have.
When the late great Bob Skillicorn started Plaid's Trade Union section I was chair of NUPE in Gwynedd, one of the founders of Plaid's Trade Union Section.
NUPE, was one of the most bolshie left wing unions at the time, but they were happy to have a right wing nat as chair in Gwynedd!
Despite my right wing credentials I have worked with left wingers of all sorts to advance the common cause, the ONLY left wingers who refuse to accept that I can have common cause with them are Plaid Cymru's socialist tendency.
The saddest thing about Palid's silly lefties is that their socialism is all so BRIT, it never has anything to do with Wales!
You make the snide comment that I can be a Tory in a self-governing Wales. As a Welsh Nationalist, [you] look forward to that day. Whilst you and yours prohibit non socialists from playing a full part in the national cause you are not looking forward to that day, you are preventing that day from dawning!
You response is an example of why the left has caused totally unnecessary splits in the national movement by insisting that anybody who wishes to join Plaid has to sign up to socialism. Something which I am unable, in conscious, to do.
I gave my full support to the workers at Friction Dynamic, not because I saw the issue as a right / left issue, but because I saw it from my right wing chapel mentality as a right / wrong issue.
During the miner's strike, a fight between English ideologists, where both sides were wrong and neither could give a bugger about what was best for Wales, I (obviously) supported the Welsh miners, and I did so along side the Mersyside branch of the Socialist Workers Party, because they were the only people who remembered that there were coal mines in north Wales not just in the south.
The silly point is that Liverpool's Trots welcomed my support, despite the fact that they knew that I was both a right winger and a Welsh Nat. Plaid, on the other hand, rejects my support because I am not a leftist.
As to your comment that I have little or no understanding of the internal politics of Plaid. I was a member of Plaid before you were born, Ian bach, I probably have a better understanding of Plaid's internal politics than you will ever have.
When the late great Bob Skillicorn started Plaid's Trade Union section I was chair of NUPE in Gwynedd, one of the founders of Plaid's Trade Union Section.
NUPE, was one of the most bolshie left wing unions at the time, but they were happy to have a right wing nat as chair in Gwynedd!
Despite my right wing credentials I have worked with left wingers of all sorts to advance the common cause, the ONLY left wingers who refuse to accept that I can have common cause with them are Plaid Cymru's socialist tendency.
The saddest thing about Palid's silly lefties is that their socialism is all so BRIT, it never has anything to do with Wales!
You make the snide comment that I can be a Tory in a self-governing Wales. As a Welsh Nationalist, [you] look forward to that day. Whilst you and yours prohibit non socialists from playing a full part in the national cause you are not looking forward to that day, you are preventing that day from dawning!
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