Labour Link
It's vital to strengthen connections between your local Labour party and your UNISON branch. UNISON Labour Link members in the branch can affiliate to the local Labour party and send representatives and motions to party meetings to win support for UNISON's aims. They can also elect a branch UNISON Labour Link officer who can act as the key point of contact to ensure that UNISON members remain informed. UNISON branches with Labour Link members can affiliate via their region to the appropriate Constituency Labour Party or District Labour Party. Branches can also elect delegates to represent UNISON in the general management committees of local Labour parties, where policy, campaigning and organisational issues are agreed and where there are important links with local councillors and MPs. UNISON Labour Link members can also send resolutions to the Labour party general committee and if agreed they can be sent onto the relevant national Policy Commission. UNISON's membership magazine, U, explains the campaigning work of the UNISON Labour Link and how the links with Labour can take members' interests forward.
The UNISON Labour-Link fund is affiliated to the Labour party. The general political fund is used for UNISON political campaigns that are independent of any party link. Members don't pay anything extra to either fund - the cost is already included in your union subscription. Both funds promote UNISON policies and participate in taking our campaigns forward. UNISON has a unique arrangement which means you can choose to support one, both, or neither of these two funds. Choosing to join the UNISON Labour Link allows the union to play an active and important role in the Labour party at every level. The unions helped to form the Labour party and are important stakeholders in the party along with its individual members. Most of the UNISON Labour Link money pays for the affiliation of our UNISON Labour Link members to the Labour party at branch, constituency, regional and national level. It means you can vote in Labour party elections, such as the election for the leader of the party and elections in Wales and Scotland.
UNISON lobbies the Labour party through the policy forum process, at party conferences, in the constituencies and through the MPs at Westminster. UNISON Labour Link branch officers, national staff and lay members work closely with UNISON's different service groups, regions and other parts of UNISON to get our members concerns onto the Labour agenda and into future government policy.
The National UNISON Labour Link committee is made up of 23 members, 12 elected from UNISON Labour Link levy paying members of the NEC and 11 elected by ballot, one in each UNISON Labour Link region, Christina Beddows serve on the committee for Eastern:Regional members
Branch CLP affiliations
Any branch with Labour Link levy payers should affiliate to their local CLP – Constituency Labour Party. Branches with labour link levy payers living in more than one CLP should affiliate to all CLPs where the branch has levy payers. For further details or for affiliation forms please contact s.older@unison.co.uk
Labour Link News
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham visited Norwich to drum up support for a campaign urging the Coalition to axe its unpopular Health and Social Care Bill.
Con Dem threat to public services
UNISON has stepped up its campaign against the government's attack on public serices and asks you to join us in this fight.
Public sector pensions - the real facts
Unison Labour Link in the East are working where they can to influence Mps and get across members anger of having to Pay more - Pay for Longer and then get less.. This is not a race to the bottom and is an unfair tax to pay back debts that were not created by public service workers who pay into a fair and sustainable pension scheme.
If you want to know more about our campaigns, help build the link between UNISON and Labour, or think there's something we should know contact: labourlink@unison.co.uk or call us on 0845 355 0845.
Contacts
Unison Eastern Labour Link Organiser – Sam Older s.older@unison.co.uk
Labour Link Eastern Administrator – Mary Jane Swan – m.swan@unison.co.uk
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