Without trade unions, there would be no Labour Party. Without the Labour Party many of the greatest achievements of the trade union movement would never have become enshrined in law. Despite coming under attack in recent years from both the right of the Labour Party and the left of the trade union movement, the link […]
Posts Tagged ‘Labour-Union Link’
Party funding: Ed moves in the right direction but the devil’s in the detail
Apr 15th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.For the Labour Left, the critical issue about party funding has been protecting the Labour-Union link. The trade unions founded Labour to represent the interests of working people, who at the time were disenfranchised and without a voice. Unique amongst European social democratic parties, Labour’s link isn’t just about money, it remain’s crucial to its […]
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Unite conference agenda: motions threaten cut in Labour funding
Apr 4th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.The preliminary agenda for Unite’s biennial policy conference to be held in late June reveals grassroots pressure for a 20% cut in Labour funding because of the party leadership’s stance on trade union freedoms and strikes against austerity and cuts in public services. A number of similar motions propose that, until the party changes its […]
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The changing relationship between Labour and the trade unions
Mar 17th, 2012 by Billy Hayes.Tony Blair once said that the split between the Liberals and Labour had been a historic mistake that had allowed the Conservatives to dominate twentieth-century Britain. The logic behind this position was that a merger with the Liberals was still necessary, and this in turn required a split from the affiliated trade unions. This, baldly put, […]
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Len McCluskey on the union ‘block vote’
Mar 1st, 2012 by Jon Lansman.Len McCluskey’s interview in yesterday’s Guardian makes interesting reading. Most focus has been on what he said about the Olympics about which David Osler has already commented. There is also some very good stuff about the class composition of the parliamentary Labour Party. However, there may also be some concern about what he said about […]
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The Labour Union link – without it there is no party
Feb 20th, 2012 by Jim Kennedy.Affiliated trade unions have always had a role in the formal constitutional structure of the Party. The relationship hasn’t always been straightforward. The trade union link has been put under pressure sporadically throughout history – either from external forces or as a result of internal conflict between the Party and trade unions. In relation to […]
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Don’t count on McCluskey to make the break
Jan 18th, 2012 by David Osler.Leeds United defender Norman Hunter, renowned for his perhaps overly robust approach to defence, famous advised young footballers to ‘get your retaliation in first’. The wisecrack metamorphosed into something of a New Labour catchphrase in the mid 1990s, with the line slightly altered to ‘get your betrayal in first’. Recent statements from both Ed Balls and […]
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Defending the Link
Sep 16th, 2011 by Simon Weller.Trade union rights and freedoms, which we have long taken for granted, are now faced with a serious threat. Margaret Thatcher’s anti-trade union laws are still in existence and supported by all three of the main political parties in parliament, and the Conservative-led coalition is threatening to introduce even tighter controls to regulate trade union […]
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Why Labour is the Left’s only hope
Mar 2nd, 2011 by Owen Jones.It’s a debate that has raged on the left since 1900, when an alliance of trade unions and left-wing groups decided that working people needed a political voice and set up the Labour Representation Committee. Is Labour the left’s only hope, or is it a thoroughly reactionary obstacle on the glorious onwards march to socialism?
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The Blairite “big idea”: break the union link
Nov 18th, 2010 by Jon Lansman.Ever since they were surprised by Ed’s victory, the New Labour continuity brigade seem to have decided to carry on pretending nothing has changed, and maybe waiting for Ed to make a mistake. Now it’s clear they have settled on an old idea on which to make a stand – breaking the union link. They […]
