CWU Labour Party Affiliated Supporters Campaign – You decide who will be the next leaders of the Labour Party, Scottish Labour Party and London’s Mayoral candidate

CWU Labour Party Affiliated Supporters Campaign – You decide who will be the next leaders of the Labour Party, Scottish Labour Party and London’s Mayoral candidate

Following the resignation of the Labour Party Leader the Party’s NEC confirmed the timetable for the election of a new Leader and Deputy Leader of the Party.  In addition, they agreed changes to the timetable for the London Mayoral selection to run concurrently with the Leadership contest. Following the resignation of Jim Murphy, Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, the Scottish Executive also set-out a shortened timetable to select a new Scottish Leader and Deputy Leader. The key dates are attached for your information.

In standing to be General Secretary I have made it clear that the Labour Party will not continue to get something for nothing from the CWU and that our relationship with the party needs to change. We have to originate policies that advance our members’ interests and start to change the balance of forces in society and the world of work.

The prospect of a Tory government attacking trade union rights, selling off Royal Mail and standing by as agency workers are exploited in a race to the bottom underlines the need for an opposition that is on our side. The Labour leadership elections are a first step towards securing this.

All these elections will be conducted on a one member one vote basis as agreed under the Collins Review. CWU Members paying the political levy will only be able to vote if they register as an affiliated supporter.

This aspect of the Party Reforms allowed for a five year implementation plan. However, the unexpected requirement to select a mayoral candidate and elect new leaders of the party following the general election has meant there is a need for all unions to advance plans to sign-up their Political fund paying members as affiliated supporters.

We have discussed this as an NEC and have agreed a short campaign which will run throughout July 2015. All affiliates have been working closely with TULO and have agreed strategies that will aim to provide easy access for members to sign-up and have their vote in these elections. It is important that we maximise our influence and make sure that in future the new leadership cannot ignore our collective trade union voice.

The CWU has been co-ordinating with our Regional Secretaries and has put in place a number of targeted initiatives as part of our short campaign. We are looking for your assistance to publicise to members the CWU online sign-up form so that Political Fund Paying members have the opportunity to take part in these elections. Online sign-up is completely free but needs to be completed by Wednesday 12th August 2015 or 13th July to vote in the Scottish LP Leadership election.

 

CWU Sign-up Campaign in Brief:

  • The sign-up campaign links will be posted on social media.
  • Sign-up links will be included in CWU Connects and separate email newsletters.
  • CWU Political Fund paying members who have already indicated a positive response to becoming an affiliated supporter will be contacted by phone.
  • Email communications will be sent to all Political Fund Paying members for whom we have an email address.
  • Separate email communication with members in London and Scotland.
  • Regions to target at least one large workplace per area. CWU sign-up forms to be used in our face-to-face contact with members.
  • FAQ document available to branch officers and workplace reps (see PDF below).
  • Work with the London Region to maximise the sign-up for the London Mayoral selection.

 We need your assistance.

 

Whilst the short timescales involved in this campaign means that we have concentrated our efforts and resource on targeted areas, it is important that all members have the opportunity to access the affiliated supporter’s online sign-up form – so they can register to vote.  We will be contacting members using our email database but we need you to forward the sign-up link to your members locally. We would also ask that you place this on your branch website (http://www.cwu.org/your-chance-to-choose-the-next-labour-leader.html).

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.  Let’s make sure the new leadership cannot ignore our voice.

If you have any enquiries about the content of this LTB, they should be addressed to the General Secretary’s office (gsoffice@cwu.org) quoting the reference LTB452/15.

Yours sincerely,

Dave Ward

General Secretary

Click on the links below to view

452-15 – CWU LP Affiliated Supporters Campaign       Frequently Asked Questions

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