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• Unite reaction to 2,900 HSBC job losses
• Unite calls for urgent Scottish manufacturing summit
• Unite Amicus Section -Election of Joint General Secretary Independent Scrutineers report
• New research shows too much work is not good for you after all
• Threatened workers put case to Cambridge University Press governing body
• Unite pays tribute to council housing champion, Alan Walter
• Isle of Grain power station: UK workers excluded, EU workers exploited
• Government promise of more health visitors to be discussed at ‘summit’
• Jaguar Land Rover workers vote to save jobs
• Prudential betrays Belfast workers

Unite pays tribute to council housing champion, Alan Walter

12 March 2009

Gail Cartmail, Unite's assistant general secretary, writes:

"Last Saturday (7th March), Alan Walter died. He was only 51 years old. His sad and sudden death was a shock to us all.

On behalf of Unite members across the country, we offer our condolences to Alan's family and his many friends.

With his passing, working people too have lost a champion and this movement has lost a friend.

Unite members will know Alan as the chair of the Defend Council Housing campaign, and through his tireless work to improve access to affordable, quality housing for working people.

Alan was a wonderful comrade and the epitome of a principled activist.

As importantly, Alan was a lovely man whose humour and generosity of spirit was a real asset and valued by many.

I spent Christmas with the DCH 'makeshift' card on display, as a reminder of the challenges for the year ahead. The card perfectly summarised for me the gutsy edge typical of DCH and exemplified by Alan.

In a recent conversation with Alan we talked about friendship and how in our movement we can get so carried away with activities that we neglect friends.

I believe that there are very many of us that hope we are counted among Alan's friends as well as supporters of DCH.

Alan was a very decent man and we will miss him greatly."

Earlier this week, the Unite delegation to the TUC Women's Conference honoured Alan with a minute's silence.