When in March 2002, NEC members Mark Seddon, representing the Constituency Parties, and Mary Turner (GMB) presented a motion to Labour’s National Executive Committee calling for a halt to the privatisation of public services through PFI – in which they were expressing the policy of every union affiliated to the Labour Party – the NEC voted not to discuss the question. The vote was 21 to seven. The overwhelming majority of trade union representatives voted to throw out the resolution – in defiance of their unions’ policy. When the readmission of Ken Livingstone into the Party was discussed, it was defeated 17 to 13. The following trade union representatives voted with the Blair leadership over this issue: John Gibbins (Amicus), John Hannett (USDAW), Veron Hince (RMT), Cath Speight (Amicus), and Margaret Wall (Amicus). Those “unavoidably absent” were Steve Pickering (GMB) and Jimmy Elsby (TGWU). It has clearly been the union leaders who have kept Blair in power and upheld his anti-union policies. How can this be considered “value for money”? Yet the answer is not to abolish the political levy, but to demand accountability.
In Unison, Blair supporters currently control the Affiliated Political Fund, which covers those union members affiliated to the Labour Party. So rather than fighting for union policy in the Labour Party, it has become a source of introducing Blairite policies into Unison. Rather than reviewing the financing of the union-Labour link – “are we getting value for money?” – Unison members should be ensuring that union policies are being fought for at every level inside the Labour Party. The question of the money is in reality a diversion to deflect attention away from the real question that ought to be asked: who controls the Labour Party and what must be done about it?
“The future strength of the Labour-union link depends on the unions acting on a shared understanding that they cannot abuse their place within Labour’s constitution by using their votes to coerce the government or manipulate its policies,” states Blair’s old pal, Peter Mandelson. But it is not the unions which are “abusing their place”, but the bankers and capitalists who are dictating the Labour government’s agenda. Mandelson is quite prepared for his friends in big business to “coerce the government”, while the trade unions, like little children, need to be stuck in a corner out of sight. Yet the trade unions, which control 50 per cent of votes at Labour’s conference, have been prepared to accept this situation.
Those who call for all trade unions to disaffiliate from the Labour Party are making a fundamental mistake. If some left unions were to disaffiliate, it would simply strengthen the hands of the right wing. The more disaffiliations, the stronger the grip of the Blairites on the Party. It is a purely reactionary slogan. In fact, ever since the formation of the Labour Party, the ruling class has continually sought ways to financially cripple the Party, “contracting out” being one of them. “Contracting Out” has been the traditional cry of Tory trade unionists ever since the Osborne case in 1909. It is an attempt to appeal to the backward non-political prejudices of some union members, and keep politics out of the unions. And Lenin explained long ago that “non-political” trade unionism is bourgeois trade unionism.
The issue of disaffiliation is posed as the easy option. It is no such thing. It is the political equivalent of tearing up one’s union card out of frustration with the leadership. This solves nothing. It is based upon a pessimistic outlook, that somehow the Labour Party (or a union) can never be changed. But the whole history of the Party and unions proves that this is fundamentally false. If the rules and policies have been changed for the worse, then they can also be changed back for the better! If union democracy can be restored in AEEU/Amicus, as it will be, it can be restored in any union organisation. If the grip of the right-wing regime of Jackson can be broken, so can the Blairite regime. There is no fundamental difference between the two cases. If the TGWU, GMB or a host of others, formerly right-wing unions, can be changed, why not the Labour Party?
Some have argued that disaffiliation should simply act as a precursor to the unions founding a brand new workers’ Party. Well think about it. If there were any chance of the leaders of Amicus, TGWU, Unison, GMB and other major unions founding such a new Party, what would be the point? If they were that determined, surely it would be a far simpler job to take back the existing Labour Party? After all, it is far easier to transform an organisation that already exists than to go to the trouble of inventing a new one. A worker does not throw away an old tool and buy a new one before he has attempted to mend it.