“Who would have imagined that Unite would be holding a snap election for General Secretary so soon after the last one? Who would have guessed Len McCluskey would be seeking to renew a mandate after only 2 years in office and with 3 more years still to go?

So who did demand this election? Especially at a time when the union should be concentrating all its resources on fighting the cuts to services, pensions, jobs and attacks on members and their families livelihoods.

Was it the thousands of Branch Secretaries? No!

Was it the hundreds of Unite committee chairs? No!

Was it the tens of thousands of workplace reps? No!

Whatever good Unite has done over the last 2 years has now been tainted, and what is happening is wrong. This election has been called on a flawed premise, its being fast tracked, its an election tailor made to suit one member above all others – 1.5 million others, and that far from seeking to renew a mandate it is an affront to democracy.”

As a member of Unite, I am a big fan of some of the things that McCluskey has helped achieve – especially the Community Membership scheme that has helped give a much needed additional voice to those out of work in particular http://www.unitetheunion.org/growing-our-union/communitymembership/

However, this snap election just 2 years into a 5 year term is a cynical ploy to re-inforce McCluskey’s status as the figurehead of the union. His support for New Labour also rankles. He has overseen £6 million of member’s money being handed over to Labour with next to nothing back in return. This has got to stop.

Fortunately, there is a candidate that we can trust to address this issue; a passionate supporter of the our campaign to create 1 million ‘Green’ jobs; and a candidate who is not in it for self-aggrandisement and the six-figure salary.

That candidate is JERRY HICKS – who will live the life of the members he would represent, on an average members wage not a six figure salary.

I would therefore urge all Green Party members in UNITE to look out for ballot papers in the next few days and VOTE FOR JERRY HICKS