There was a meeting of workplace reps from the London & Eastern Region that took place at the Royal National Hotel in London on Wednesday 24th May 2023, at which Sharon Graham, the General Secretary of Unite, gave a presentation to explain the direction that she feels the union should be going in.

Since Sharon Graham was elected General Secretary of Unite some twenty months ago, she has made it her goal to make some major changes to the way things get done.

She has launched a no-holds-barred investigation into the Birmingham hotel project where overcharging to the tune of around £30 million took place.

Another way she is trying to get things done is by setting up sector-wide combines. In the London bus sector, this had already been set up, and we have quarterly meetings for both stewards and convenors from all London bus operators. There is now a nationwide combine for bus operators set up, which has had several meetings. The process is in place to set up a docks combine. Other combines are in the pipeline.

Collective bargaining has always been the best way to achieve results and if efforts can be co-ordinated across a whole sector and not just involving one employer, there is hope that greater goals can be reached.

Leverage campaigns have been very effective in the past, and Sharon was involved in a number of these before she was elected GS, and these are set to continue when necessary.

All in all, it was an excellent meeting; interesting, thought-provoking, and motivating too.