At the successful meeting of Trade Unionists For a New Party on 21st July hosted by Dave Nellist, the former Labour MP (1983-1992) and now the chair of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), the over 1,000 people present agreed to organise follow-up meetings for members of the respective unions represented to discuss concrete steps towards a party based on the unions.  

Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana both attended and spoke at that meeting (a full video can be seen at https://youtu.be/fTTmB-itr4U?si=CS3s5DEUioGeUzUg) and their ‘Your Party’ campaign (www.yourparty.uk) has attracted over 700,000 sign-ups since its launch three days later.

April Ashley and Jim McFarlane, Unison NEC members acting in a personal capacity, called the first ‘Unison 4 a New Party’ meeting to discuss the concrete steps we need to take in our union.  Around 70 of us attended on 18 August.  Jeremy Corbyn sent a video message of support for the meeting at Dave Nellist’s invitation, stating that “workers’ rights are at the core of what we believe in”. 

In opening the meeting and moving the motion (see below) April raised that as only 16% of Unison members currently pay into the affiliated political fund (Labour Link) it is clear that most members no longer see Labour as a party that represents their interests.

Andrea Egan, who is standing as general secretary of Unison against the current right-winger Christina McAnea, sent apologies for the meeting, hoping to attend in the future.  April and other speakers felt it important that the call for a review of Unison’s relationship with the Labour Party and for the union to use its political fund to only support MPs who follow union policy form a prominent part of Andrea’s election programme.  If elected, we would also urge her to work with Jeremy, Zarah and the other suspended MPs so that they can represent Unison’s policies in parliament.

Thinking about structures

There was discussion in the meeting about the role of the trade unions in any new party, with concern raised by one attendee that union block votes have been applied undemocratically by union leaders in the past in the Labour Party.

However, as others raised, while a ‘one member one vote’ alternative to representative delegate democracy may initially seem to be more democratic, it was always used by the right wing in the Labour Party to defeat the left.  It is vital that a new working-class party has not just the active support but democratic collective involvement of the trade unions, and a federal structure is the best way of ensuring this.

It is also vital though that we challenge the union bureaucracies and fight for our unions to be democratic and accountable to the members.

Opening up the political funds

Speakers raised the importance that a new workers’ party could have in our workplaces, defending public services and advocating for needs-based council budgets.  It would also be vital to take on Reform UK and undercut the potential growth of the far right, by offering a genuine alternative to austerity.

The meeting further agreed that we need a range of model resolutions for the 2026 national delegate conference on the question of reviewing the union’s political funds, ending the Labour Link fund, and supporting candidates who support Unison policies.

There is currently a right-wing majority on the NEC and it has previously been difficult to get anything past the standing orders committee at conference. However, we will aim to flood the conference with resolutions, backed up by gathering as many signatories as possible on the petition to show the strength of support for the campaign’s aims in the union.

Although there was some discussion over the name of the campaign, the motion and the action points within it were agreed by the meeting.  A further meeting will be held after the end of the general secretary election campaign to assess the situation then. ■

Motion agreed at the ‘Unison 4 A New Party’ meeting

This meeting welcomes the declaration by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana that they will be founding a new left-wing party.  The fact that 700,000 have signed up to the www.yourparty.uk website to support this initiative shows the potential that a party, once it is formed, could have in fighting for the interests of workers and young people.  We also note that the 2025 Unison annual report stated that only 16% of members paid into the Labour Link fund.  This clearly shows that affiliation to Labour is no longer a fundamental ‘Aim and Objective’ for Unison members.  We therefore support a fundamental review of the union’s political funds, so that all of our members can democratically decide how our money should be spent. We agree to:

● Launch a campaign calling for a full review of Unison’s political funds, with a commitment to ballot all members on a range of options so that our money can be used to back only those political candidates and parties who clearly support our union’s policies.

● To seek clarity from all candidates in the 2025 general secretary election campaign about whether they support such a review.

● To launch a national petition within the union to campaign for these aims.

● To draw up model motions for branches to submit to national delegate conference 2026 on this issue.