'Yes’ to political fund

Members of the Unite general union have given a ringing endorsement to the continuation of the union’s political fund which is used to campaign on issues ranging from the NHS, jobs and the economy to social security and rights at work.

Trade unions are required by law to put the continuation of the fund to the vote of the membership every 10 years. In the recent ballot, Unite’s members voted by even greater margin to retain the fund than a decade ago. The result showed that 84.7% of the membership voted in favour of retaining the fund, compared with the ballots of Unite’s predecessor unions which saw the Transport & General Workers’ Union vote by 75%, Amicus by 71% and the GPMU by 67% in favour of the fund.

Unite’s general secretary Len McCluskey said: the vote has given “a new mandate to campaign on such diverse issues as winning the battle against police staff privatisation and fighting for laws to protect workers from exploitation in food and agriculture, as well as waging a sustained campaign against the accelerating privatisation of the NHS”.

www.unitetheunion.org/news/renewedmandateforunitetocampaignforeconomicandsocialjustice/