the overwhelming 5-I vote by delegates at this year's FBU Conference to disaffiliate from the Labour Party after 86 years is a bold statement that the members have been kicked in the teeth by Blair's Party too hard and too often. It is worth remembering that the union never pulled away from the Labour government that wheeled out fleets of Green Goddesses and troops in their efforts to break a I0-week all-out pay strike in 1977.
This time the combination of arrogant threats of new legislation from John Prescott, intransigent management and broken agreements has clearly been sufficient to convince delegates that there is little chance of reclaiming much in today's Labour Party.
But while it is a bold move, disaffiliation brings dangers, too.
Simply breaking links with Labour could leave the union depoliticised, and its members lacking any political vehicle to promote their demands and interests: to their credit the movers of the FBU motion specifically rejected this as an approach, arguing that the next step had to be investigating alternative political alliances for the FBU.
Indeed the disaffiliation itself only arose because an expected compromise, which would have democratised the FBU's political fund, allowing branches to affiliate to parties that they regard as most closely representing their interests, fell apart at the last minute.
Although Labour's expulsion of the rail union RMT earlier this year shows that democratisation can lead to confrontation, Socialist Resistance, along with RESPECT and the Socialist Alliance call for democratisation of political funds, not disaffiliation.
But either course is preferable to funnelling millions of pounds of members' subscriptions into the coffers of Tony Blair's party, to fund his reactionary and right wing agenda
Political funds must be a means of empowering union members to promote their interests, not a lever to keep them shackled to a party that knows little and cares less about the views of union members.
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4 socla New members will not be won to Respect long-term unless they have a well-organised organisation they can relate to. .... Alon Thornett
espect is here and it is here to stay. That is the
from the quarter million votes it won for the st resistance Summer 2004 thousands of new contacts - all of whom are potenti new members. We now have groups of new member and contacts in dozens of town and villages where w had nothing before.
All this has to be consolidated rapidly and forged int active local branches which will engage with the politic and campaigning activities in their area
New members will not be won to Respect long-terr unless they have a well-organised organisation to relat
Also other elections are immediately posed. There is local council by-election in Stepney - in the City and Eas Assembly constituency - in three weeks time whic Respect has decided to contest. Oliur Rahman, the 2: year old Bangladeshi who was our candidate for th Assembly has been selected as the candidate for this There is a real possibility of winning.