Misrepresenting the Members
Members of the Unite union – will be interested to learn that union leaders handed over more than £1 million - to the Labour Party over the past three months, according to press reports.
If they keep going at that rate – Unite members will be supporting the Labour Party to the tune of £4 million in a single year – making the union easily Labour’s biggest donor.
Just think what all those millions could do - in support of members’ fighting for equal pay.
Where has the money been going all these years – what does it get spent on – who decides – and how do ordinary unions members get their say?
Well the answer is they don’t.
Away from public glare – and far from ordinary members – union committees decide what to do with all this cash.
But Unite members are just like everyone else.
In Scotland, they support the Labour Party – around 25% of them according to the opinion polls.
But Unite members support other political parties in even greater numbers – the big majority (around 75%) support the SNP, Lib Dems, Tories, Greens, Socialists and Independents.
Yet, Unite – just like the other affiliated trade unions – ignores the views of most of its members – and insists on pouring money only into Labour Party coffers.
Why does this happen?
Because most ordinary members don’t realise they are paying a political levy as part of their weekly or monthly union contributions.
And it’s not easy to opt out of paying – once you start.
Unions must carry out a ballot every ten years – if they want to maintain a political fund – and despite the fact that these ballots are very poorly supported – the outcome nonetheless applies to the entire union membership.
So, if only 10 or 15% vote to keep the political fund – the arrangements also apply to the other 85% of the members who didn’t vote – unless, of course, they opt out on an individual basis.
As most ordinary members don’t realise they are paying a political levy to begin with – the system stays in place.
Whatever this is – it’s not union democracy – it’s completely undemocratic and misrepresents the views of most union members.
If they keep going at that rate – Unite members will be supporting the Labour Party to the tune of £4 million in a single year – making the union easily Labour’s biggest donor.
Just think what all those millions could do - in support of members’ fighting for equal pay.
Where has the money been going all these years – what does it get spent on – who decides – and how do ordinary unions members get their say?
Well the answer is they don’t.
Away from public glare – and far from ordinary members – union committees decide what to do with all this cash.
But Unite members are just like everyone else.
In Scotland, they support the Labour Party – around 25% of them according to the opinion polls.
But Unite members support other political parties in even greater numbers – the big majority (around 75%) support the SNP, Lib Dems, Tories, Greens, Socialists and Independents.
Yet, Unite – just like the other affiliated trade unions – ignores the views of most of its members – and insists on pouring money only into Labour Party coffers.
Why does this happen?
Because most ordinary members don’t realise they are paying a political levy as part of their weekly or monthly union contributions.
And it’s not easy to opt out of paying – once you start.
Unions must carry out a ballot every ten years – if they want to maintain a political fund – and despite the fact that these ballots are very poorly supported – the outcome nonetheless applies to the entire union membership.
So, if only 10 or 15% vote to keep the political fund – the arrangements also apply to the other 85% of the members who didn’t vote – unless, of course, they opt out on an individual basis.
As most ordinary members don’t realise they are paying a political levy to begin with – the system stays in place.
Whatever this is – it’s not union democracy – it’s completely undemocratic and misrepresents the views of most union members.
