Affilations

[Big Daz]

Given all the debate on the site around the cwu affilation to the Labour party, i would like to get your views on the concept of affilation.

Do you think the CWU should affilate at all to a political party regardless of who that political party is?

Is there any point in affilating to a political party that dosent have stand a chance of getting elected to goverenment?


CWU also affilates to other organasations that are not political parties, are you happy with this?

And finally if you had 100% control over the political fund what would you chose to spend the money on?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I don't think we should slavishly donate to the Labour party all the time, after all, the reason behind a political fund is so that we can hopefully affect policies and present our views and positions. If the Labour party was more democratic I would have no problem with them getting the Lions share of the fund, however, the Labour Party as it is in Parliament is neither Democratic nor working class and for that reason we should think about removing our support from them. Could we still fund the CWU MPs though .

Another party that would be worth looking at supporting nationally is the Green Party, it is socialist in its leanings, the drawback being that unless there is a revelution in British Politics they have no chance of power.


PS I am not a member of any Political party at this time.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Given all the debate on the site around the cwu affilation to the Labour party, i would like to get your views on the concept of affilation.

Do you think the CWU should affilate at all to a political party regardless of who that political party is?

As above but breifly yes I think it should affiliate but not always to the Labour Party.

Is there any point in affilating to a political party that dosent have stand a chance of getting elected to goverenment?

Yes as even the fact that we are affiliating with another Party would make a political point in its own right.

CWU also affilates to other organasations that are not political parties, are you happy with this?

Most definitely this should be encouraged and perhaps expanded upon.

And finally if you had 100% control over the political fund what would you chose to spend the money on?

At this present moment in time I would remove all support or donations from the Labour Party as a whole, but would continue to support MPs and local Labour Party branches that support the CWUs aims. I would also look at supporting other "fringe" parties that are in broad agreement with our aspirations (Green Party, Scottish Socialists)

[DGP1]

Labour want nothing to do with Northern Ireland so why should we want anything to do with them, I agree with supporting individual MPs whenever they help us.

[IWW Fellow Worker]

Do you think the CWU should affilate at all to a political party regardless of who that political party is?

No. The leadership of the CWU have no right to affiliate to a political party when many members obviously do not support the aims of that party. Political parties should be funded by their members and anyone interested enough in a political party should become a member of it. Armchair fans belong to Premiership Football clubs.

Is there any point in affilating to a political party that dosent have stand a chance of getting elected to goverenment?

None whatsoever. It's as pointless as affilliating to the Labour Party and expecting it to look after the interests of the working class when it gets elected.

CWU also affilates to other organasations that are not political parties, are you happy with this?

No. We should be balloted on whether we affiliate to Trotskyist front groups like Unite Against Fascism etc. These are less to do with fighting scum like the BNP than they are recruiting campaigns for middle-class pressure groups run by ex-students who feel guilty at not being born working class.

And finally if you had 100% control over the political fund what would you chose to spend the money on?

A legal campaign to kick strike breakers out of the CWU.

[IWW Fellow Worker]

Labour want nothing to do with Northern Ireland so why should we want anything to do with them, I agree with supporting individual MPs whenever they help us.

I wish they wanted nothing to do with the north west of England too mate!

[dvbuk55]

Labour want nothing to do with Northern Ireland so why should we want anything to do with them, I agree with supporting individual MPs whenever they help us.

I wish they wanted nothing to do with the north west of England too mate!

Ah - Utopia.

[dvbuk55]

Given all the debate on the site around the cwu affilation to the Labour party, i would like to get your views on the concept of affilation.

Do you think the CWU should affilate at all to a political party regardless of who that political party is?

Is there any point in affilating to a political party that dosent have stand a chance of getting elected to goverenment?


CWU also affilates to other organasations that are not political parties, are you happy with this?

And finally if you had 100% control over the political fund what would you chose to spend the money on?

The CWU should not affiliate to any political party or affiliate to any organisations that does not enhance the betterment of the membership. I would also question the dubious practice of recruitment from organisations which are in direct competition to us.

[jemima]

Given that Labour's socialist principles have been allowed to decay, then the CWU shouldn't be too closely associated with it. We don't want the rot to spread. Let's start afresh. Any political party can grow and its prospects of being elected can be improved. People don't like Gordon any more, but they're not sure of David's motivation either. It's a good time for a new voice to be heard in British politics, and the support of the Unions would get the media attention and publicity needed for sustained public interest. But there should be a vote on the CWU's position so that everyone can help decide - affiliated or independent - above all, the Union has to remain democratic. Different regions in the UK may have their own preferences which should be accommodated.

Individuals who help the aims of the CWU should receive CWU support, regardless of their "politics", but there should be a careful check kept to see that the money is being used properly.

If there's any thought of affiliation to any party, then the political fund should support that party. With a proper agreement with that party as to their support for the Union and with close CWU involvement to keep them on the right lines.