Trade union leaders are now under great pressure. They and they alone have the opportunity to stop Miliband’s breath-taking changes from happening, and the opportunity to defend the principle of collective affiliation. It is true that Miliband’s proposals will not need legislation in order to be implemented. But they will require a change to the […]
Posts Tagged ‘Falkirk’
How Ed Miliband’s political levy is intended to work
Jul 11th, 2013 by Tony Burke.There is some confusion about Unite’s position in relation to the political levy and this week’s announcement by Labour leader Ed Miliband. This is because the same words are being used to describe two different things. “Opt in” or “opt out”? One is whether trade unionists should “opt in” or “opt out” of their union’s […]
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Labour’s early gift to the Tories
Jul 11th, 2013 by Newsdesk.John Edmonds was General Secretary of the GMB from 1986 to 2003, the longest serving major union general secretary in modern times. Yesterday, this letter appeared from him in the Guardian. The trap is opened and Labour falls straight in (Miliband looks at reducing power of union leaders, 8 July). Allegations are made of irregularities in the […]
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Shouldn’t it be up to affiliates themselves how they manage their link with Labour?
Jul 9th, 2013 by Dominic Curran.This morning Ed Miliband will make a speech in which he will lay out his support for changes to the trade union link including the limited use of primaries, but possibly more crucially forcing trade unions to get their members to “opt in” for Labour party affiliation rather than “opt out”. This proposal will not […]
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Yes, Labour’s selection process has been abused, but not by the unions
Jul 9th, 2013 by Len McCluskey.Getting those who pay into unions’ political funds engaged in the life of the Labour party, is worth pursuing. Today Ed Miliband will spell out his proposals to mend, but not end, the historic relationship between trade unions and the Labour party. Clearly, whatever he proposes will need to be considered seriously. Change is needed, and for […]
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The union link and challenging inequalities of wealth and power
Jul 8th, 2013 by Andy Newman.The controversy over the Falkirk West selection reached a new level over the weekend with article in the Observer by Ed Miliband calling for the link with the unions to be “mended not broken”, and Unite’s General Secretary, Len McCluskey, writing in the Sunday Mirror to explain the important context: If your son or daughter fancies becoming a […]
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Breaking the link with the unions is not warranted by Falkirk & would be fundamentally wrong
Jul 7th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.It’s time to quieten down over Falkirk and await the true facts now that Ed Miliband has referred the whole matter to the police. As long as this row goes on, it only benefits two interests. One is the Blairites who have been seeking to break the link with the union for the last two […]
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Miliband’s attempts at reconciliation are a contrast to Cameron’s weakness
Jul 7th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.Ed Miliband’s article in the Observer today is a model of how a Leader should handle the kind of row that breaks out from time to time in all parties and in most organisations. He has called in the police to investigate the facts, demands that the truth should be openly and transparently made known, […]
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On bringing in the Police to an internal party row
Jul 6th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.So Labour has handed over its Falkirk report to the police — not something to do lightly. If serious wrongdoing has taken place and it constitutes criminal activity then this it may be justified, but we can’t know that it has until at least a redacted version of Labour’s report is published as it should […]
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Blairites are up in arms about Falkirk because they fear they’ve lost their monopoly in fixing seats
Jul 6th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.It’s difficult to know what’s really been happening in Falkirk because the Tory press are having a field day, but you can never believe a word from the propaganda organs of the Mail, Sun, Telegraph or Times, while even the faintly ‘progressive’ press including the Guardian have been giving full voice to the anti-union brigade. […]
