Large unions would be forced to transfer as much as 10 percent of their voting rights to workers under plans set out by the Labour Party on Monday
Labour said that every union with more than 250 members would have to create an “Inclusive Ownership Fund”, requiring an additional 1 percent of their membership to have to vote every year, up to a maximum of 10 percent.
“Len McCluskey was elected leader of Unite securing 45.4% of the votes of a turnout of just over 12%. So less than 5.5% of Unite members actually voted for him.” Labour finance spokesman John McDonnell told the party’s annual conference in Liverpool.
“Unions should be held and managed collectively by the workers. Mandatory voting will give workers the same rights as other stakeholders to have a say over the direction of their union.”
Labour has cited the example of Germany, where workers sit on company boards as a result of well run unions, but the business lobby group, British Chambers of Commerce, criticised Labour’s plan, saying it could deter people from investing in Britain.
“Let no one be fooled, Labour’s proposals could lead to real workers running the unions rather than jobs for life shop stewards. It could mean unions becoming a credible force again. This is an unprecedented overreach into the way many of our businesses are run and will raise serious concerns,” BCC Director General Adam Marshall said.
Len McCluskey responded to the proposals by saying “I can’t believe you’re drawing people’s attention to this, it makes me look like I might be a bit of a… cont. on p96
