CWU Conference: Political Fund Will Aid Union Friendly MPs

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Labour opt-in shift frees up cash for re-use

ACTIVISTS campaigning to maintain links between trade unions and the Labour Party received a boost yesterday, as the CWU voted to channel more funds to an organisation for union candidates.

The union’s annual conference voted to repurpose “a large proportion of the money saved by not automatically affiliating members [to Labour]” for the Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation (Tulo), which runs joint union campaigns and supports union members standing for Parliament.

Earlier in the day the conference had voted to split its political fund into affiliated and non-affiliated funds. It is thought the additional support for Tulo will be drawn from the non-affiliated fund.

Motions calling for CWU to switch its support to the Greens, Plaid Cymru, the SNP and the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition fell off the agenda as a result of the Tulo motion’s success.

CWU south-west regional secretary Kevin Beazer said that recent reforms to the Labour-union link which require a member opt-in to party affiliation would leave a large surplus in the union’s political fund.

He said this should not be addressed “by handing out a donation to the Labour party,” but by funding Tulo to campaign “for our own policies.”
“This is about making sure we access that money and channel it in the right direction,” he said.

But a number of delegates raised concerns that the subs of anti-Labour union members would still go to Labour candidates. Plymouth delegate Ralph Ferrett saw it as “wholly inappropriate” in spite of his support for the party.

And Coventry delegate Judith Griffiths said: “If we pass this motion we deny our branch the opportunity to debate what happens to the political fund when Labour tell us to naff off.”