UNISON Labour Link
REPORT 2003
Labour Link: Branch's key role in accountability
The year has been dominated by two events: the war against
Iraq and the Scottish Parliament elections. For Labour Link
the conclusion of the Political Funds Review, in which the branch
eventually played a part, was also significant.
The Iraq war is dealt with in a separate report (International
Officer's p16). In the Labour Party we acted with the rest of
UNISON to oppose the war. The UNISON delegation left the Labour
Party Spring Conference in the SECC to join the demonstration
outside it. UNISON helped to challenge to the arrangements at
Scottish Labour Party conference which made sure Iraq was debated.
The necessity to go through this procedure confirmed (again)
the need to review Labour's decision-making structures under
'Partnership in Power'. This position made national news when
the Labour Link National Forum supported it. It was our branch
which originally put forward this motion.
The unpopularity of the war had a direct effect on voting in
the Scottish Parliament elections, with two Edinburgh Labour
MSPs who did not publicly oppose the war losing their seats.
It also had a direct effect on the number of people willing
to actively campaign for the Labour Party. We predicted both
of these things.
The result of this and other unpopular policies like PFI/PPP
has weakened representation of Labour in the Parliament.
That said, in less dramatic ways the benefits of affiliation
are to be seen. A good number of policies put forward by UNISON
were included in Labour's manifesto. With UNISON's support we
saw the agreement between the STUC and the Executive which should
remove the threat of a two-tier workforce in PFI. And we have
also seen success in moves by the Executive to allow wider borrowing
powers for Councils which mean that there are some genuine alternatives
to PPP - it's not always the only game in town.
Taking into account all these issues and more, UNISON's National
Conference voted to continue with a political fund which has
a section which affiliates to the Labour Party - now called
'Labour Link' not the APF. However part of the decision was
that the APF should look again at the way it works to ensure
that it and the NEC is as 'member-led and accountable' as the
rest of UNISON. This, the only successful amendment to the Review,
came from this branch and was the culmination of a long campaign
to reform the APF - although the task now is to ensure that
that decision is carried out.
Within the Labour Party at local level, our efforts to contribute
to policy, debate and scrutiny are limited by the reduced enthusiasm
of our activists. However there are a lot of important issues
which require our attention. These include the radical plans
for transport in the city, the future of the Social Work Department
in the wake of the Caleb Ness Enquiry and the Council's budget-setting.
On top of these, we and the Labour Party will have to respond
to the challenges of Proportional Representation and of constructing
methods of accountability for MSPs when the boundaries for constituencies
change under the plans to reduce the number of Scottish MPs.
In conclusion, political affiliation is one of the important
ways in which UNISON can achieve its objectives. It's not always
plain sailing but there is a new combativeness about UNISON
Labour Link's activities in the Labour Party. In addition, driven
by the Scottish Committee, there is a plan to operate more at
the Edinburgh level through co-operation between branches.
At a time of change, UNISON members and activists need to pay
close attention to developments in the Labour Party.
Matthew Crighton
APF Officer
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