Elections Follow

MEMBERS OF Amicus, the second biggest union in Britain, are getting set for national executive elections that could transform the union. The merger of the MSF and AEEU unions will be completed on 1 January 2004. Right wing leaderships have dominated both unions for years.

THE NEW national executive of the PCS civil servants' union has held its first full meeting since the left and democracy candidates swept the board in last month's elections. The executive agreed to step up the union's national pay campaign in response to the government's recent policy of forcing departments to make unacceptably low offers.

THE ANTI-WAR movement has a huge impact on trade unionists in Britain. The two million strong Stop the War Coalition demo on 15 February transformed the working class movement in this country. It deepened the swing to the left inside the unions, which has been reflected in almost all union elections.

PCS CIVIL servants' union members were celebrating a historic victory for democracy as their union conference began on Tuesday of this week. The Democracy slate of the socialist Left Unity group and the centre-left PCS Democrats swept the national executive elections last week. It won 34 of 43 positions.

ACTIVISTS IN the PCS civil servants' union are campaigning to ensure that the right wing Moderates group which has dominated the union is defeated in national executive elections.

Carlo Morelli, Joe Hartney and Mike Gonzalez examine the success of the Scottish socialists, while Michael Lavalette explains how he won in Preston.

Although in the May 2003 local elections the British National Party (BNP) achieved the biggest fascist vote since the late 1970s - its 221 candidates polled around 100,000 votes - it failed to achieve the electoral breakthrough it had been hoping for.

Janice Godrich is the president of the PCS civil servants' union and a member of the Scottish Socialist Party. She spoke to Socialist Worker about the upcoming elections to the union's national executive, which begin on Friday 6 June. The socialist Left Unity group and the PCS Democrats group are standing a united list in an attempt to defeat the right wing Moderates group that has dominated the union.

SECTION ELECTIONS in the PCS civil servants' union have resulted in important gains for the left. The right wing lost control of the key inland revenue group and were almost wiped out in the Department of Work and Pensions.

SOME 850,000 members of the Transport and General Workers Union, the TGWU, received ballot papers last week. The TGWU is voting for a new general secretary to replace Bill Morris. Socialist Worker is urging its readers to vote for Tony Woodley, the deputy general secretary.

LAST WEEK'S elections revealed not a "Baghdad bounce" but a sharp backlash against Tony Blair, especially in Labour heartlands. The sense of utter betrayal by this Labour government, which grew this week over the issue of foundation hospitals, brought breakthroughs for socialists.

THERE WAS no comfort for New Labour from last Thursday's elections, and little for any of the other mainstream parties either. There were, however, dramatic breakthroughs for the left. The Scottish Socialist Party won six seats in the proportional voting element of the Scottish Parliament elections.