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Ed Miliband 'Plans To Curb Trade Union Powers In The Labour Party'

Ed Miliband

First Posted: 03/08/11 15:36 BST Updated: 03/10/11 11:12 BST

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PRESS ASSOCIATION -- Ed Miliband reportedly plans to curb the power trade unions have over the Labour Party.

Mr Miliband, who was only elected Labour leader last September thanks to union backing, hopes to cut their power in a bid to boost democracy within the party, according to the Guardian.

He wants to reduce unions' voting power at Labour conferences to below 50% and peel away their stranglehold over leadership elections.

The newspaper quoted a source involved in talks debating the move as saying: "We cannot go on with a system in which unions have 50% of the vote at conference, and just three general secretaries of three unions control four-fifths of that union vote. Currently, the union leaders are playing hard ball but they need to wake up.

"Ed has said he wants to do this through consensus, but he is not going to give the unions a veto about change. We are not going to concede."

Since beating his brother David to lead the party 10 months ago, Mr Miliband has faced repeated criticism from Conservatives over Labour's financial reliance on the unions.

But unions are likely to fiercely resist the move, which will be unveiled at next month's annual party conference in Liverpool and is part of the Refounding Labour Project led by shadow Welsh secretary Peter Hain.

A Labour spokeswoman said: "Ed is very keen to look at ways of opening up the party and making it more public facing. Lots of options are being looked at and discussed, but no decisions have been made."

Conservative Party chairman Baroness Warsi questioned Mr Miliband's commitment to cutting unions' power, saying: "Ed Miliband was elected off the back of union votes, gets 90% of his funding from the unions and his party has just elected the unions' candidate for general secretary.

"If he was serious about reform he'd wean his party off union cash.While Ed Miliband postures over party conference votes, he remains firmly in the pockets of the unions."

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PRESS ASSOCIATION -- Ed Miliband reportedly plans to curb the power trade unions have over the Labour Party. Mr Miliband, who was only elected Labour leader last September thanks to union backing, ...
PRESS ASSOCIATION -- Ed Miliband reportedly plans to curb the power trade unions have over the Labour Party. Mr Miliband, who was only elected Labour leader last September thanks to union backing, ...
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paulsays
16 Fans
12:44 AM on 08/07/2011
Good pragmatic politics Mr. Miliband, good work!

Remember people - unrealized ideals are of no use, comprise in order to gain power is the name of the game.

The question Labour must ask is whether it wants to be a political party ready to contest the next election - or a pressure group? Looks like Ed's made the right decision.
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NickBrittlebank
10 Fans
 
04:09 PM on 08/05/2011
Anything which makes the Labour party less introspective and helps it to engage with a broader section of the public is a good thing. However, simply limiting union power to impress the tabloids is cynical. It's a careful balancing act, but I think Ed appreciates the unions and how important they are- he just wants to make union power more accountable. I'd be in favour of a reform that preserved overall union power within the party but made that power less concentrated. We don't want a handful of oligarchs controlling the votes of thousands of union members.
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Orthrus
72 Fans
11:21 AM on 08/04/2011
If Labour wants to be less dependent on Unions, that's its choice. Likewise if the Unions want to fund a Party that has policies which accord with their principles, that their choice.

If Labour wants Union funding it has a choice to make. Having said that I'm not sure who would fund Labour if the Unions withdrew or what it would stand for.
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eric14
1215 Fans
 
06:04 PM on 08/03/2011
"If he was serious about reform he'd wean his party off union cash.While Ed Miliband postures over party conference votes, he remains firmly in the pockets of the unions."
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And so speaks the party of the wealthy! Where do the Conservatives get their money from? The poor? I don't think so.
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mediumal57
Moderate Extremist
84 Fans
 
05:02 PM on 08/03/2011
This I do not like.

Playing to the Tory agenda again are we Ed? Since when haven't the Tory Party criticised the Labour Party over it's affiliation to the Trade Unions? Instead of always bloody apologising, I'd tackle their smug cynical accusations head on and challenge their links to powerful vested interests in business and commerce who fund their Party and refuse also to accept their silly argument that these groups don't buy influence. There cannot be a voter left in the country who'd beeiive that tosh in any case. Propoganda Ed. Get your act together and get an effectrive rebuttal worked out and dont be brow-beaten on it. Every time the issue is raised - challenge it and hit back.

It's about time the Labour Party got out of the bunker over all these kind of attacks on Party funding and went on a full frontal attack and refuse to bow to this Right-Wing garbage that they keep throwing at the Left. Be bold a stick it back to them. This is not the time to be timid and ashamed of the important role that Trade Unions play in our Party Ed. Remember - United we stand. It's about time the Labour Party remembered a little bit where it came from and who it owes some loyalty to.
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eric14
1215 Fans
 
06:06 PM on 08/03/2011
It's about time the Labour Party remembered a little bit where it came from and who it owes some loyalty to.
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It owes loyalty to the people of the United Kingdom, for in government, it must represent them all. Are you suggesting that the unions can buy loyalty?
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mediumal57
Moderate Extremist
84 Fans
 
06:48 PM on 08/03/2011
Nice try. But he who pays the piper calls the tune and since I believe they help fund the Labour Party it does in fact mean that yes: it does owe the Trade Unions a degree of loyalty and giving it a voice in what directrion the Party should take. If you find this objectionable then I suggest you don't vote Labour, because you clearly don't have any loyalty to one of its chief causes - which is looking after the interests of working people - and preferably those with still enough backbone to belong to a Trade Union.This isn't about class warfare either. It's recognising that for many people (no matter what they do for a wage) their only defence against being continually shat on is standing together. The Labour Party has got to evolve and broaden its appeal, but not at the expense of totally forgetting a few of its basic principles and why it first came into being. Far too many of the Parliamentary Party have tended to forget this in the past. Which is why there has been so much disatisfaction within the ranks of Trade Union activists who do all the bloody donkey work for the Party and feel that they are continually being side-lined. The Tories have always known who their friends are and continually helped them as well.
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nahual
28 Fans
05:29 PM on 08/04/2011
I do not like it either. It stinks of more Tory misinformation from the uncrowned Queen of Misinformation - pelted with eggs by her own people for being too right-wing. (A non-elected minister, incidentally, who's one and only effort to get elected resulted in a swing AGAINST the Tories.)

Read the consultation document http://www.campaignengineroom.org.uk/refounding-labour

You will find very few references to Trade Unions and these talk about working more closely with Unions at grass-root levels.

Labour has its roots in the Trade Union movement. A large chunk of its funding comes from Union member subscriptions - 'clean' money, working people's money.

Thatcher made war on the Unions, knowing that in doing so she would undermine the Labour Party and help her own power-base base by supporting the likes of Murdoch as he actively fought the Unions. You can still hear her rhetoric when stories like this 'hit the media'. Mostly spouted by Warsi and her like.

Is it wrong for a political party to ask its members (and the public) how it should change? You'd think so.
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anubeon
129 Fans
 
03:22 PM on 08/03/2011
The voting power of the unions and other affiliated organisations (e.g. The Co-operative Party, etc...) should be commensurate with the size of their membership (ideally allowing their memberships to vote, rather than allowing union leaders to block vote on their behalf). I suspect that this would give the Unions even more power, not less, as their memberships should number in the millions (as opposed to tens of thousands, as is Labours membership).

All that the Labour party needs to democratise the process further is to a) allow affiliate organisation to be affiliated on the grounds of shared/common values (i.e. no need to pay dues) and b) allow people to register as supporters (the poorest in society cannot necessarily afford to pay membership dues).

As for Sayeeda Warsi griping on about Labours reliance on union money, has she considered that the Conservatives reliance on city money is a far more pressing issue. The money Labour received from the unions is ultimately funded by union dues. In order words Labours reliance on union money, is a reliance on working peoples money. Conversely the Conservatives reliance on city money, is a reliance on the money of a wealthy elite; a far greater threat to their democratic credentials.
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