RMT may affiliate to other parties

Last month saw the most severe breach of union-Labour Party relations since Tony Blair came to power when the RMT rail union decided it could back non-Labour candidates.

Its annual conference voted by nine to one to allow branches and regions to affiliate to and campaign for other political organisations. The union will remain affiliated to the Labour Party, but agreed separately to halve the numbers affiliated to 5,000.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow complained that the Labour leadership had "utter contempt" for the unions. "They don't like us. They don't want the balance tipped from the bosses to the workers," he told delegates.

The vote came as Tony Woodley, general secretary- elect of the T&G general union, called on the union movement to "reclaim our Party", claiming that "the days of new Labour are numbered". He wanted a shift from the top-down approach of the Party leadership so that Party policy is built up from the bottom "reflecting the experiences of our people".

Crow and Woodley will be among the 50 or so leaders of Labour Party-affiliated unions who are expected to attend a "council of war" to push for Labour to take a different line, possibly in the autumn.

* RMT membership has risen sharply to 65,000 compared to 58,000 when Bob Crow became general secretary 18 months ago.