Months after Branch Secretary Michael Gavan was sacked from Newham Council, after he was victimised for undertaking trade union activities, the left have taken control of the branch. This is an indication of the way things are moving.

However, Yunus Baksh, an SWP member and exemplary class fighter, was sacked by the mental health trust he worked for last week. The UNISON bureaucracy chose not to represent him. For them this is no doubt a bit of a coup. 

If the highly-paid Unison bureaucracy, feeling the ground begin to shake under their feet, think bureaucratic victimisation of union  members is the way to go, they are clearly delusional.

We have political differences with our comrades in the SWP, particularly over the issue of the Labour Party. We maintain that the  class struggle in Britain will express itself through the traditional  organisations of the working class. However, we would never deny the self-sacrifice and class consciousness of comrades like Yunus and  Michael, and stand shoulder to shoulder with them.