SEVERAL hundred women attended the London region Labour women's conference on Saturday 27 October. It was the first conference to directly elect the women's section of the London region committee, and a full slate of left-wing women were elected.
The conference listened to several specially invited speakers. However it da Quigley, an Armagh DESULT for three years, that was the most moving. During have heard a pin drop in the crowded hall.
The was also addressed miner's wife from Notts we receiven eluusale applause. Unfortunately Halloul on the miners' wak presented as an emergency in itself an indication that the miners' strike was not sufficiently addressed in the submitted the normal way. This by Joan Twelves Vauxhall women's section movilg the emergency resolution.
However even the emergency resolution was weak as while it did call for a message of support and a TOE sections to use in SIDDONE criticism of the role of the leadership Varu However the London organising a week of acthe LOI SHION miners the end November. This will provide Labour women with the opportunity to show that they really do support the miners. It should be by every section.
plend the n Defend the EXT YEAR every union will ave to hold a ballot on the estion of whether it wants to intain a political fund. It is oney from political funds that esently pays for affiliation to * Labour Party. But under the aries' new law, most apaigning activity that unions ight undertake would also have come from a political fund.
Thatcher hopes to both dermine the Labour Party's ancial support and to severely it the field of activity of the nions by a single measure. ETER HAIN of the Labour cordinating Committee, explains mpaign against it.
RICH party financed by ands derived from the sale of honours and from large subsidies subscribed by realthy men, is trying to disable a poor which carries on its work by odest controllons nionists.' IMILAR denunciations to this one rom a 1927 May Day manifesto may tell be directed at the 1984 Trade Act. But, if so, they nderestimate the full significance of his latest Tory law on trade unions, ecause it contains perhaps the most erious challenge to its historic unity id strengin which le labout move ent has experienced this century. The is break the links between the the links between dions and the Labour Party and alter de balance or class loices.
In 1983, 47 unions affiliated 6.1 illion members to the party and connouted £2.9 million VUl itical funds - nearly 80 per cent of carty's national income.
Now, section 3 of the 1984 Act will io: of their members by March 1986 umons lU win ::der to retain their political funds heir party affiliation.
the ballot goes against maintain= political fund, then it will be ilal for the union concerned to remain iated to the Labour ical fund would effectively cease to and both the union and the party would be in breach of the law if present formal Labour links were rehow maintained.
Furthermore, the new Act attacks it= rights of even those unions not atfiLared to the party. Unions without rical funds could be prevented from ducting public campaigns in the because the Tritical objects' contained in the 1913 Trade Union Act has been updated.
the Liberal system of 'political funds' 'general secret political activities.
impose new restrictions on unions.
by 37 per cent.
this attack was reversed. of their an individual Peter Hain The filiated to the Labour Party, the 1913 Act Party is their local Labour Parties though there 1S many 'full' After the Osborne case there was a concerted campaign by the unions to legalise their political activities. Eventually a compromise was introduced by government. The 1913 Trade Union Act made provision for a separate funds, which members could 'contract out' if they did not wish to support their union's This system survived until the Trade Union Act of 1927 when the Conservatives decided to take advantage of post general strike demoralisation and The net effect of the 1927 Act was to reduce union membership of the parHowever, when Labour came to office after the war, photo: GM COOKSON Having a political fund does not mean that unions are automatically atthough almost all have done so. Establishing a political fund is a process governed by deciding to use that political fund to affiliate to the Labour La separate decision. Under rules people contributing to the political fund through their regular contributions become 'affiliated members'. 'Full' members join directly, considerable overlap levy. members 'atInstead the government negotiated an agreement with the TUC under The threat last time: the demonstration against the Industrial Relations Act; 1972' their union generations ago, the Tories can present it in terms of extending Even favoured two major British political operating 'within the same framework of free enterprise'
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implications of the Tories' law ed looks at how we should