Now -read the book!

Here is a link to my memoirs which, if you are a glutton for punishment, you can purchase online at https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/an-obscure-footnote-in-trade-union-history.
Men fight and lose the battle, and the thing that they fought for comes about in spite of their defeat, and when it comes turns out not to be what they meant, and other men have to fight for what they meant under another name. (William Morris - A Dream of John Ball)

Monday, February 24, 2014

Hope from an unexpected quarter

http://www.leftfutures.org/2014/02/shock-as-young-labour-rejects-collins-reforms-and-votes-to-defend-the-link/

Although the trade unions (having - not quite - convinced ourselves that we have defended the principle of collective affiliation) will not defeat the foolish Party Leader on Saturday at the wholly unnecessary Special Conference, Young Labour's 25,000 votes will be cast against the Collins proposals to loosen the ties which bind the Party and unions.

As we head in to a future in which the forces of "Progress" will confront truly progressive forces in the Party with an agenda to expel collective working class organisation from politics, it is encouraging that the young activists who are the future of the Party recognise the dangers in the Collins proposals from which union General Secretaries are politely averting their gaze.
‎Congratulations are due to all the comrades who secured this outcome last Saturday in Bradford. There is still hope that we could have a Party of the left in this country.

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the EE network.

1 comment:

treborc said...

It is worrying to see Labour go like this but I suspect the Unions and the labour party saw this as allowing Miliband his minute of fame his mark on the history, after the mess he made of Falkirk, and boy did he go off on a rant. I suspect the Unions told him the conference vote was a no no and well we will agree with the rest.

I did ask at the last meeting I went to if the political levy could be stopped ended and a Union levy paid instead then it would be up to the Union what it did with it.

At the moment labour have always believed the levy was theirs in full.