Probably the most frequently asked question in British politics is "How does the relationship between the Labour Party and the Trade Unions work?"
To some the relationship appears to be murky, and our political enemies often take advantage of that appearance. That perception, however, is based on a misunderstanding of both the nature of modern trade unions and political parties, and the structures that exist to support the link.
The focus of this section of the website will be to try to give a basic understanding of the constitutional and organisational links that exist between the Labour Party and the Trade Unions that choose to affiliate to it.
It is a common misunderstanding that all trade unions are affiliated to the Party. In fact, of the
Trade Union Congress’ (TUC) 59 members, only 16 affiliate to the Labour Party but this does include most of the bigger unions.
This section of the website aims to show that at every level and in many ways the Labour Party and the affiliated trade unions are inseparably bound together, over the last 100 years, and now into the 21st Century.
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