By a Labour Hub correspondent

The furore surrounding this week’s NEC decision to bar Jeremy Corbyn from standing at the next election as the Labour candidate for Islington North, a constituency he will have represented for over forty years, has revealed major political differences both between and within a number of affiliated trade unions. 

The majority of TULO union representatives on the NEC voted against the motion, unsurprisingly perhaps given Corbyn’s many decades of assiduous support for trade union rights and in solidarity with workers taking action.  Representatives of Unite, CWU, FBU, ASLEF, and  TSSA all voted in support of Corbyn’s name being allowed to go forward for selection should Islington North CLP members wish to re-endorse him as candidate.  However, representatives from GMB, USDAW and the Musicians’ Union supported the anti-Corbyn motion, and UNISON’s NEC representatives opted to abstain from the vote – thought to be in direct contradiction to the wishes of their own Executive.

The polarised vote has re-ignited concerns over the internal democratic processes in individual unions, with members publicly expressing anger that they hadn’t been consulted over the position taken by NEC reps. Members of UNISON’s national Labour Link Committee have issued a public statement condemning their representative’s abstention – arguing that, “Whilst Leader, Jeremy was wholly supportive without equivocation of UNISON’s agenda for public services and restoration of trade union rights.” Critics argue that the decision to sit out this vote represented an abdication of responsibility, and a prioritisation of factional politics above  the interests of UNISON’s members.   

Andrew Berry, a UNSION and Labour Party member from Islington North told Labour Hub: “It’s extremely disappointing that the UNISON NEC reps abstained rather than vote against.  UNISON members twice voted (and overwhelmingly so) to nominate Jeremy Corbyn for Leader.”

Meanwhile, members of unions voting to block Corbyn have responded furiously to the actions of their own NEC reps. GMB member Vic Paulino argued that the GMB reps failed to consult their own union’s delegates to CLPs, and argued that members in a “GMB for Corbyn” Facebook group “will be showing our discontent with the GMB’s lack of democracy and the disrespect it has shown us.”

USDAW member Matty Erskine took to Twitter to announce the cancellation of his union membership, arguing that “the vote of USDAW members of Labour’s NEC to support Starmer’s cowardly, deceitful, fraudulent and anti-democratic motion to stop Corbyn” was “the last straw”.   Many Members of Britain’s creative and cultural community, which gave extensive to support to Corbyn’s leadership, are known to have been angered by the actions of the small Musicians’ Union.   

Union members have also expressed frustration at the failure of the anti-Corbyn faction to be clear about the grounds for their move to block his candidacy.  Briefings and appearances in the press, including Ed Milband’s appearance on Radio 4’s Today programme and Wes Streeting’s interview on ITV’s Peston show, argued that the move was prompted by Corbyn’s reaction to the EHRC report and alleged responsibility for antisemitism in the Party under his leadership.  However, the text of the motion made no reference to such grounds, arguing simply that having lost the election as Leader, Corbyn’s selection would be an electoral liability. 

A scathing response from the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union argued that this principle had never been applied previously. “Blair lost 5 million votes and is still highly regarded [by the Starmer leadership] despite leading  the country into an illegal war… Serial loser Kinnock was promoted to the Lords… Labour’s biggest ever loser of seats (90) Brown is an advisor to the Labour party after stepping down… Disastrous Ed (stone) Miliband is in the shadow cabinet,” they complained.  

BFAWU have gone further than most unions in arguing that, should Corbyn chose to contest the Islington North seat as an independent candidate, they would take a collective position of backing his campaign. At present, the question is hypothetical and other unions may be biding their time.     Any affiliated union which took a similar position would be likely to face expulsion, as happened to the RMT when it gave support to candidates from the Scottish Socialist Party.  However, whether Labour could afford the loss of a major donor like Unite is a moot point. 

The present electoral system raises formidable hurdles to the creation of any viable alternative formation on a national scale, meaning that a Labour vote remains the only way trade union members have of punishing and kicking out this Tory government.  So perhaps more likely is a scenario where many individual union members and perhaps individuals in leading positions would be prepared to back an independent Corbyn campaign in Islington North, while the unions collectively retain their formal affiliation.  Some non-aligned unions with political funds may also opt join the BFAWU in openly backing an independent Corbyn candidacy.

But at a time where Shadow Ministers have been instructed not to support the picket lines of striking workers and where the Party’s right wing are moving to control Parliamentary selections, the leaders of affiliated unions will come under further pressure to justify retaining the Labour link.

Image: Jeremy Corbyn. Author: Sophie J. Brown, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.