In British politics, an affiliated

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

is one that is linked to the Labour Party. The party was created by the trade unions and socialist societies 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. It is formally the supreme decision-making body of the party and is traditionally held in the final week of September, during the party conference season when th ...

. Local union branches also affiliate to

Constituency Labour Parties __NOTOC__ 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 constituen ...

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, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

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 living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...

(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 The first recorded ins ...

(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 Ireland. Its head office is in London, and it has regional offices in Bristol, Derby, Dublin, ...

(TSSA) *

UNISON In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

(The Public Services Union) *

Unite Unite may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Unite'' (A Friend in London album), 2013 album by Danish band A Friend in London * ''Unite'' (Kool & the Gang album), 1993 * ''Unite'' (The O.C. Supertones album), 2005 Songs ...

(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 around 360,000 members. Usdaw members work in a variety of occupations and industries including: shopworkers, factory and warehouse wo ...

(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 Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a ...

merged into the GMB. In January 2017, the

Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union (BECTU), formerly the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union, became a sector of the Prospect trade union in the United Kingdom on 1 January 2017 following the ...

(BECTU) merged with

Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...

, 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 servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

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 Irish trade union, operating in the construction industry. It was founded in 1971, and merged into Unite on 1 January 2017. It was affiliated to the Trades U ...

(UCATT) merged into Unite.

Former affiliates

During

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

'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 Alex Gordon and its current General Secretary is Mick Lynch. The RMT is on ...

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 barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras s ...

'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 British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992. History The history of t ...

* 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 The Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS) was a British trade union. History The union was founded in 1913 by 200 draughtsmen, as the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen (AESD). It expanded rapidly, and ...

* Boilermakers' and Iron and Steel Shipbuilders' Society * Cardiff, Penarth and Barry Coal Trimmers' Union * Confederation of Health Service Employees * Constructional Engineering Union * Clerical and Administrative Workers' Union * Electrical Trades Union * Enginemen and Firemen's Union *

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 The first recorded i ...

* General Iron Fitters' Association *

Iron and Steel Trades Confederation The Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) was a British trade union for metal-workers and allied groups, being the largest union in these fields. It was formed on 1 January 1917 as a merger of existing steel-workers' unions and it is now pa ...

Ironfounding Workers' Association The Ironfounding Workers' Association was a trade union representing foundry workers in the United Kingdom, principally in Scotland. History In 1888, there was a strike in Falkirk of un-unionised light casting moulders. The strike was successful ...

London Society of Compositors The London Society of Compositors was a British trade union, representing print workers in London. History The union was founded as the London Union of Compositors in 1834 by the merger of the London Trade Society of Compositors and the Lon ...

* 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 The National Society of Metal Mechanics (NSMM) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1872 and 1985. History The organisation was founded in Birmingham in 1872 as the Amalgamated Brassworkers Society. Led for many yea ...

National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants The National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants (NATSOPA) was a British trade union. History Formed as part of the New Unionism movement in September 1889, the union was originally named the Printers' Labourers' Union and was led ...

* 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 The National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives (NUBSO) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1873 and 1971. It represented workers in the footwear industry. History The union was founded in 1873, when many riveters and ...

* National Union of Cigarette Makers and Tobacco Workers *

National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers The National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers (NUDAW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1921, when the Amalgamated Union of Co-operative Employees merged with the National Union of Warehouse and ...

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. History The union was founded in 1936 with the merger of the National Union of Textile Workers, which was the main union representin ...

* National Union of Electrotypers and Stereotypers *

National Union of Foundry Workers The National Union of Foundry Workers (NUFW) was a trade union representing workers in foundries in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1920 with the merger of the Associated Iron Moulders of Scotland, the Amalgamated Society ...

National Union of General and Municipal Workers The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 460,000 members. Its members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution, the utilities, social care, the National Health Service (N ...

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

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 The National Union of Domestic Appliances and General Operatives (NUDAGO) was a trade union representing metal workers in the United Kingdom, principally in the town of Rotherham. It primarily represented workers employed in manufacturing whit ...

National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

National Union of Vehicle Builders The National Union of Vehicle Builders (NUVB) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. The NUVB represented a mixture of skilled and unskilled workers in the automotive industry. History The union was formed in 1834 as the United Kingdom Societ ...

National Woolsorters' Society The National Woolsorters' Society (NWS) was a trade union representing workers involved in sorting wool in the United Kingdom, principally in Yorkshire. History The union was founded in 1889 in Bradford, as the National Union of Woolsorters. B ...

* Power Loom Carpet Weavers' and Textile Workers' Association *

Prudential Staff Union The Prudential Staff Union was a trade union representing workers at the Prudential insurance company, in the United Kingdom. The only union of insurance workers to affiliate to the Labour Party, it was briefly represented on its National Ex ...

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

* 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 British trade union representing workers in the printing industry. History The union was formed in Manchester in 1885 as the National Society of Lithographic Artists, ...

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

Typographical Association The Typographical Association (TA) was a trade union representing typographers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. History The National Typographical Association collapsed in 1848, and delegates from across Yorkshire and Lancashire met at Ange ...

* United French Polishers' Society * United Patternmakers' Association *

United Textile Factory Workers' Association The United Textile Factory Workers' Association (UTFWA) was a trade union federation in Great Britain. It was active from 1889 until 1975. Objectives The federation was founded in 1889, to represent the various textile workers' unions in poli ...

* Waterproof Garment Workers' Trade Union * Yorkshire Warptwisters' Society

References

External links

TULO - Unions Together
{{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