[Activists in the Amicus bit of Unite may wish to omit the reference to the TGWU Biennial Delegate Conference]

We note the statement from the General Executive Committee put to the Biennial Delegate Conference of the TGWU section of Unite in July 2007.>

It called for "an end to the manipulation of [Labour Party] conference by the party leadership and the ignoring of conference decisions by ministers". It also said that "the right of party conference to make party policy needs to be upheld and respected."

We further note with dismay the decisions taken at the 2007 Labour Party conference effectively to abolish the ability of affiliated trade unions to set or change Labour Party policy. Unions and CLPs are now barred from putting political motions to Labour Party conference.

Most of the unions which have come together to form Unite were affiliated to the Labour Party for a century or more, and used and valued their right to press to win the Labour Party to union policies. Without the use of that right, reforms such as the National Health
Service would never have been won.

We are concerned that Unite has forfeited its right without any decision by a conference of Unite - or of TGWU or Amicus - to do so.

The abolition of trade-union political motions at Labour Party conference is due to come up for review at Labour Party conference 2009. But on present schedules Unite will not have a policy-making conference before then.

We therefore call on the Joint Executive to organise a special conference of Unite on this issue, in good time for that conference to be able to decide whether the union should put down, for Labour Party conference 2008, rule changes to restore unions' political rights in the Labour Party, to be debated and decided on at Labour Party conference 2009.