Protesters gathered outside a Lewisham Council meeting on Wednesday evening in response to the Council’s attempts to sack both of its UNISON branch secretaries.
Campaigners say that senior managers are using the sackings to hamstring Lewisham UNISON as the Council prepares to make £25m of cuts, with children’s services and adult social care set to take the worst hit.
Justine Canady is the youngest UNISON branch secretary in the UK, and has transformed the branch since her election last year. After initially pulling back from plans to sack her, Lewisham Council is now moving ahead with the deletion of her post.
The Council is also moving to sack Jay Kidd-Morton, alongside the rest of her team in the legal services department. She was previously Black Members’ Officer and had lodged a whistleblowing complaint about discriminatory practices.
In an email to members earlier this month, Lewisham UNISON described the moves as “a shocking and blatant attempt at union-busting.” It added: “The Council has now moved to dismiss both of your union’s joint Branch Secretaries in exceptional circumstances, with 5 people in total likely to lose their jobs very soon. There is now a case not only of anti-trade union victimisations, but also of racism.”
Union officials have stated that UNISON could move towards strike action if the sackings are not called off.
The protest on Wednesday drew wide support, with trade unionists attending from across London. Solidarity greetings were read out from UNISON’s national president and its national executive.
Ed Whitby, a member of UNISON’s Local Government Service Group Executive who attended the protest, said:
“Over the past year, Lewisham UNISON has been transformed by a new leadership. The branch has become vibrant and campaigning, with a focus on equalities. The Council’s senior management has responded to this by sacking both main union reps on the eve of making £25m of cuts.
“Everyone knows what this is – disgraceful, blatant union busting, coupled with institutional racism. UNISON will not let its activists be victimised in this way, and the whole trade union movement must unite and mobilise to see these moves defeated.
“All but one of the councillors in Lewisham are Labour. Many will be union members and reps themselves, and all of them were elected to represent workers and trade unions. They have a political and moral duty to ensure that Jay, Justine and others whose jobs are under threat are not made redundant.”
