Do you remember the last time you knocked on someone’s door and they said the problem with the Labour party was that union members must opt-out of affiliation, rather than opt-in? I didn’t think so. At least, in five years of knocking on doors, it’s never happened to me. I’ve had lots of people talk […]
Posts Tagged ‘Labour-Union Link’
The battle for the soul of the Labour Party (part 47 – the unions are sold a dummy)
Jan 17th, 2014 by Jon Lansman.Sometimes, news stories simply distract the reader from what is really happening. Yesterdays ‘news’ on the Collins review of the Labour Party — trade union link is that Ed Miliband’s reform plans are faltering: there’s a hiccup in the negotiations between Paul Kenny on behalf of the affiliated unions and the Leader’s office, but it’s about […]
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Secret deal with Lib Dems may end Labour – union link whatever party decides
Dec 16th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.The Sunday Times (£ – but see also the related story at Exaro) yesterday revealed a secret deal between Labour, Lib Dems and the Tories to provide political parties with £40m in state funding and cap party donations (including from trade unions) at £5,000 which would effectively cut the Labour Party-trade union link whatever is decided […]
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Unite offers Miliband an olive branch, with clear red lines
Dec 12th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.The executive council of Unite the Union yesterday offered Ed Miliband a compromise in his efforts to “mend the link” between Labour and the trade unions, but also set out the red lines which it is not prepared to cross. In a unanimous decision, it welcomed “any measures which increase the involvement of individual trade […]
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A response to Collins
Dec 4th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.The following is a response to the Collins Review prepared for Defend the Link of which I am co-Secretary which seeks to answer the questions asked in his report. PARTY-UNION LINK The link doesn’t need mending – it needs strengthening. Labour needs to better represent the interests of trade unionists and the party’s elected representatives need to […]
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Labour needs a strong union link with a more democratic Labour Party
Nov 25th, 2013 by Jim Kelly.The current debate about the Labour Party–trade union link is the most fundamental since the TUC voted back in 1899 to establish what became the Labour Party. It isn’t a debate we asked for, because we’d rather concentrate on winning back millions of voters including our own members to ensure we end austerity and restore the hope, decent jobs […]
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The hidden agenda of the Collins review
Nov 4th, 2013 by Barry Gray and Peter Willsman.In his interim report on Labour’s union link (‘Building a One Nation Labour Party’), Ray Collins makes it clear that once a new affiliation system is in place, ‘we would address consequences for other structures in the party, such as the Conference’. At the moment the union and other affiliated organisations have 50 per cent […]
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Trade union unity needed to defend Labour link
Oct 21st, 2013 by Jim Kelly.Just as the Falkirk affair was put to bed, Unite was faced with a much bigger challenge. Miliband’s call to individualise party membership and end (or severely downgrade) the link between unions and party. Unions from the GMB to USDAW are united against it, while the United Left (the broad left grouping which has a […]
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Labour’s reshuffle – and what it means for party reform
Oct 8th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.It may not be something to which most commentators (with the exception of Labour Uncut) have devoted space but the Labour Left and the trade unions will be pleased that Jon Trickett has been appointed as Labour’s “deputy chair”, job title notwithstanding (the real chair and vice-chair of the Labour Party are elected annually by Labour’s national […]
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The Labour-union link: the view from Scotland
Sep 20th, 2013 by Dave Watson.Ed Miliband’s dog whistle reaction to the Westminster bubble was not just a poor tactical response; it reflects the political elite’s failure to understand the wider Labour movement. It also has particular consequences for the Scottish Labour Party. For those outside the Westminster bubble there is bewilderment as to how Ed got himself into this […]
