Next month, from 11th October until 1st November, all GMB members will have a vote on keeping GMB’s national ‘Political Fund’.
The Political Fund is our union’s campaign fund. It allows us to fight with you, our reps and members, not just in the workplace but wherever decisions that impact you at work are taken.
Our ability as a union to represent people at work are often shaped and decided by councillors and MPs. Decisions that affect members are not just taken by your employer, they are also taken by politicians, from council chambers across the country to our Parliament. Whether it be on matters of pay, pensions, employment rights, working hours and conditions.
Our Political Fund has won so many victories; it funds campaigns for members whenever a politician is involved, like paying for a branch to send members to parliament to lobby for their campaign, or for a function, such as booking a meeting room to speak with local councillors. It has allowed us to lobby to improve pay gap reporting, to fight ‘fire and rehire’, to put on the agenda workplace bullying and, when needed, to highlight poor practice in the workplace.
Employers, businesses and lobbying companies are always organising to influence the political agenda. For them, there are no legal requirements to hold a ballot to enable them to carry out political work. That is why this ballot is so important. It protects workers’ voices, in an already uneven situation.
Losing our Political Fund would mean fighting employers at a disadvantage. Without it, we will be less effective, less influential, and less likely to win the campaigns for our members. We need all our campaigns to make work better. GMB is asking all members to vote YES in the Political Fund ballot.
Vote YES to keeping your voice. Vote YES to keeping us as a campaigning union. Vote YES to keeping our aim making work better.
For more information please go to: https://www.gmb.org.uk/campaigns/voteyes/
LR Political Fund Ballot – YouTube
Posted: 23rd September 2023