British politics The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy which, by legislation and Convention (norm), convention, operates as a Unitary state, unitary parliamentary democracy. A Hereditary monarchy, hereditary Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarch, ...

, an affiliated

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

is one that is linked to the Labour Party. The party was created by the trade unions and

socialist societies A socialist society is a membership organisation that is affiliated with the Labour Party in the UK. The best-known and oldest socialist society is the Fabian Society, founded in 1884, some years before the creation of the Labour Party itself ( ...

in 1900 as the Labour Representation Committee and the unions have retained close institutional links with it. Affiliated unions pay an annual fee to the Labour Party; in return, they elect thirteen of the thirty-nine members of Labour's National Executive Committee and fifty per cent of the delegates to

Labour Party Conference The Labour Party Conference is the annual conference of the British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. It is formally the supreme decision-making body of the party and is traditionally held in the final week of September, during the party conferen ...

. Local union branches also affiliate to

Constituency Labour Parties A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency. In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituencies. In Sc ...

and their members who are also individual members of the Party may represent the union as delegates on Labour Party structures. Individual members may ''opt out'' of paying into a union's political fund which is used to finance the affiliation. Since 1994, affiliated trade unions have organised themselves into TULO - The Trade Union & Labour Party Liaison Organisation, with a small number of staff to manage the relationship between the unions and the Party. A national TULO committee, with the unions' general secretaries, the Party Leader and Deputy Leader,

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

and NEC Chair and MPs' representatives, meets regularly to co-ordinate work and policy. Until 1995, each union exercised a block vote at party conferences; since then, multiple delegates of a single union get an equal share of its voting allocation.

Affiliated unions

As of October 2021, the trade unions affiliated to the Labour Party are: * Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) *

Community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

(formerly KFAT & ISTC) * Communication Workers Union (CWU) *

Fire Brigades Union The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom for wholetime firefighters (including officers up to chief fire officer / firemaster), retained firefighters and emergency control room staff. History Early 20th century ...

(FBU) * GMB * Musicians Union (MU) * National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) *

Transport Salaried Staffs' Association The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) is a trade union for workers in the transport and travel industries in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Its head office is in London, and it has regional offices in Bristol, ...

(TSSA) *

UNISON Unison (stylised as UNISON) is a Great Britain, British trade union. Along with Unite the Union, Unite, Unison is one of the two largest trade unions in the United Kingdom, with over 1.2 million members who work predominantly in public servic ...

(The Public Services Union) * Unite (general workers in public and private sectors) *

Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) is a trade union in the United Kingdom, consisting of over 360,000 members. Usdaw members work in a variety of occupations and industries including: shopworkers, factory and warehouse wor ...

(USDAW) The General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) represents its members, seven of the smaller unions, on many of the committees if they cannot send a delegate. In 2015, Unity merged into the GMB. In January 2017, the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU) merged with Prospect, a trade union that represents certain grades in the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and other professionals. Because Prospect represents civil servants, they are politically neutral and so BECTU disaffiliated from the Labour Party as a condition of the merger. In January 2017, the

Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians The Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) was a British and Republic of Ireland, Irish trade union, operating in the construction industry. It was founded in 1971, and merged into Unite (trade union), Unite on 1 January ...

(UCATT) merged into Unite.

Former affiliates

During

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

's leadership of the Labour Party, the

National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (commonly known as the RMT) is a British trade union covering the transport sector. Its current President is George Welch and its current General Secretary is Eddie Dempsey. The RMT ...

and

severed their links. However, the Fire Brigades Union re-affiliated to the Labour Party in November 2015. In September 2021 the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers' Union, one of the founding unions of the party, announced its disaffiliation from the party, citing dissatisfaction with

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

's leadership. Formerly, there were many more small trade unions in the UK, and many of them affiliated to the Labour Party. In 1946, the affiliates were: Labour Party, ''Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party'', pp.73–78 *

Amalgamated Engineering Union The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major United Kingdom, British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992. History ...

* Amalgamated Society of Journeymen Felt Hatters * Amalgamated Society of Shuttlemakers * Amalgamated Society of Textile Workers and Kindred Trades * Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers of Great Britain and Ireland * Amalgamated Union of Operative Bakers, Confectioners and Allied Workers * Amalgamated Union of Upholsterers * Associated Blacksmiths', Forge and Smithy Workers' Society * Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen * Association of Cine-Technicians * Association of Correctors of the Press * Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen * Boilermakers' and Iron and Steel Shipbuilders' Society * Cardiff, Penarth and Barry Coal Trimmers' Union *

Confederation of Health Service Employees The Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE) was a United Kingdom trade union representing workers primarily in the National Health Service. History The union was founded in 1946 with the merger of the Mental Hospital and Institutional ...

* Constructional Engineering Union * Clerical and Administrative Workers' Union * Electrical Trades Union * Enginemen and Firemen's Union * Fire Brigades' Union * General Iron Fitters' Association * Iron and Steel Trades Confederation * Ironfounding Workers' Association * London Society of Compositors * National Amalgamated Furnishing Trades' Association * National Amalgamated Union of Life Assurance Workers * National Amalgamated Union of Shop Assistants, Warehousemen and Clerks * National Association of Operative Plasterers * National Cutlery Union * National League of the Blind * National Society of Coppersmiths, Braziers and Metal Workers * National Society of Metal Mechanics * National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants * National Society of Painters * National Society of Pottery Workers * National Union of Agricultural Workers * National Union of Blastfurnacemen, Ore Miners, Coke Workers and Kindred Trades * National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives * National Union of Cigarette Makers and Tobacco Workers * National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers *

National Union of Dyers, Bleachers and Textile Workers The National Union of Dyers, Bleachers and Textile Workers (NUDBTW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It amalgamated with the Transport and General Workers' Union in 1982. History The union was founded in 1936 with the merger of the N ...

* National Union of Electrotypers and Stereotypers * National Union of Foundry Workers *

National Union of General and Municipal Workers The GMB is a general union, general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 560,000 members. Its members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution, the utilities, social care, the National He ...

* National Union of Gold, Silver and Allied Trades * National Union of Mineworkers *

National Union of Public Employees The National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) was a British trade union which existed between 1908 and 1993. It represented public sector workers in local government, the Health Service, universities, and water authorities. History The union w ...

National Union of Railwaymen The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. The largest railway workers' union in the country, it was influential in the national trade union movement. History The NUR was an industrial union ...

* National Union of Seamen * National Union of Shale Miners and Oil Workers * National Union of Stove, Grate, and General Metal Workers *

National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers The National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers (NUTGW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded as the Tailors and Garment Workers' Union (T&GWU) in 1920 with the merger of the Scottish Operative Tailors and T ...

* National Union of Vehicle Builders * National Woolsorters' Society * Power Loom Carpet Weavers' and Textile Workers' Association * Prudential Staff Union * Railway Clerks' Association * Scottish Painters' Society * Scottish Union of Bakers and Confectioners * Ship Constructors' and Shipwrights' Association *

Society of Lithographic Artists, Designers, Engravers and Process Workers The Society of Lithographic Artists, Designers and Engravers (SLADE) was a Trade unions in the United Kingdom, British trade union representing workers in the printing industry. History The union was formed in Manchester in 1885 as the Nationa ...

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general union, general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900 ...

* Typographical Association *

United French Polishers' Society {{short description, Former trade union of the United Kingdom The United French Polishers' Society was a trade union representing french polishers in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1901, and appears to have largely consisted ...

United Patternmakers' Association The United Patternmakers Association (UPA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The association was founded in 1872 to represent skilled patternmakers in England, following a strike by patternmakers along the River Tyne and River Wea ...

* United Textile Factory Workers' Association *

Waterproof Garment Workers' Trade Union The Waterproof Garment Workers' Trade Union was a trade union representing workers involved in making waterproof clothing in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1907 as the Waterproof Garment Makers' and Machinists' Trade Union. Based i ...

* Yorkshire Warptwisters' Society

References

External links

Labour Unions
{{UK Labour Party Labour movement in the United Kingdom * Political funding in the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK) donors

Affiliated unions

Former affiliates

See also

References

External links