Thursday 13 November 2008

Vote Robbie Segal for President and the Executive Council

A big thanks to all those that voted for me in the General Secretary election helping me achieve over 40% of the vote. I’ve been a trade unionist since the age of 19; Tesco union rep for 21 years; and member of Usdaw Executive Council for 9 years.

A Living Wage: Let’s launch a campaign to fight for a living minimum wage of £8 per hour for all workers, from 16 years to retirement age and for a decent pension. To win this you have to play a part.

For the renegotiation of our national agreements: A guaranteed right to vote on our pay and an end to the systemic bulling at work of those off sick. Let’s re-establish Usdaw as a free, democratic independent campaigning trade union.

Fight for Union democracy: The Executive Council simply rubber-stamps the decisions of the general secretary and that’s why meetings only last 2 hours. A democratically elected lay-member Executive Council should be holding the general secretary to account with decisions printed in Arena so that you as a member know what’s going on.

Women in Usdaw: Let’s campaign for paid parental and carers’ leave; time off for family emergencies; improved support for women’s health and those experiencing domestic violence. Give women a voice in the union; There are no women at the top of Usdaw centrally and not one woman in a senior Divisional post. Part-time women are excluded from working for the union. This must change!

Support Distribution workers: The terms and conditions in distribution are being attacked and new sites have worse conditions. I will fight for an end to the attacks on existing contracts and conditions. For a distribution workers’ campaign to improve the conditions in the new sites. Let’s encourage retail and distribution workers to campaign together.

New labour: Do you know Usdaw gives New Labour hundreds of thousands of pounds every year? We need a new party to represent working people. For too long our union has been Gordon Brown’s Piggy Bank.

Build our Union: Let’s recruit the 2.5 million unorganised retail workers and win real improvements in wages and conditions.

End Senior union officials taking “Fat Cat” wages: The Executive Councillors job is unpaid so I‘ll continue to earn my wage as a Tesco worker and you can check my expenses. I object to the wage and benefits totalling over £100,000 and the Jaguar car taken by the General Secretary.

Contact me at robbie@robbiesegal.org if you want more information or would like to get involved with the campaign.