Vote for Jeremy Corbyn: a West Sussex branch perspective

Jeremy Corbyn is UNISON’s nomination for the Labour leadership in the approaching election. Why has the union decided to back Jeremy, and why are we encouraging West Sussex members to vote for him? Branch Secretary Dan Sartin (pictured below with Jeremy) explains:

“Jeremy Corbyn has a long track-record of fighting for the most vulnerable and underprivileged people in our society. He opposes austerity and understands the need for strong public services better than any of the other candidates, seeing prosperity linked to productive investment in strong public services and infrastructure.

“He was a public sector trade unionist himself, representing his co-workers as a union official for NUPE (the former National Union of Public Employees): one of the trade unions that united to form UNISON in 1993.

“He has campaigned strongly against tuition fees in England, the creation of academies and private finance initiative schemes. He supports the renationalisation of railways, the introduction of a living wage, a higher rate of income tax for the wealthiest in society, and an increase in corporation tax to fund public services such as free higher education.

“These are all causes impacting on public sector workers and I believe they most closely align with the priorities and objectives of both the wider union movement and those of our West Sussex UNISON members.”

Make sure you’re registered as a Labour Party supporter (you don’t have to become a member) so you can vote in the leadership election. You can do this via the Labour Party website by 12 noon on 12 August.

You can read Jeremy Corbyn’s election statement on the Labour Party website.

Next week, we will give a short overview of Angela Eagle, the union’s nomination for the Labour Party deputy leader.