by René Lavanchy
ANGER over the Government’s planned part-privatisation of Royal Mail will make itself felt this summer, as the Communication Workers’ Union debates the future of their funding of the Labour Party at annual conference.
The CWU’s general conference agenda, published this week, reveals that six motions have been accepted calling on the union to disaffiliate from Labour or to reduce funding. Another spate of anti-government motions is expected in the conference’s postal section.
The union is committed to breaking away from Labour if part-privatisation goes ahead. But with the Government’s postal services bill expected
to go through its final
parliamentary stages at the time of the CWU’s conference in early June, the debate is likely to be fraught.
CWU London regional secretary John Denton said: “It’ll be unlikely that we totally disassociate from the Labour Party, but I think there’ll be much tighter criteria for giving support in the future.”
A motion from the union’s Bradford branch says that “the millions of pounds that the CWU gave to Labour helped a party that then attacked us” and proposes that the union join the Trade Union Co-ordinating Group, which is
almost entirely made up of non-Labour-supporting unions.
Another motion, noting Royal Mail’s £25 billion pension deficit, demands that “unless the pensions issues are resolved… without any element of privatisation, the CWU will withdraw its Labour Party affiliation.”
Labour MPs meanwhile face added scrutiny over their stand on Royal Mail. CWU officials this month sent a letter to branches reminding them that they must not give financial support to any MP who has not signed the early day motion opposing mail privatisation.
