STAFF that work for the Labour Party have voted in favour of striking if Labour carry out their threat of redundancies, GMB and Unite announced yesterday.
The GMB union ballot result shows 75% of members in favour of industrial action if cuts go ahead.
The indicative ballot closed on August 31, as did applications for the voluntary redundancy scheme the Labour Party has offered the staff.
Both unions had turnouts of approximately 80 per cent and votes for taking industrial action if compulsory redundancies are announced were more than 75% in favour.
This result has been communicated to the party and both sides have agreed to meet at lunchtime tomorrow, Friday September 3, where the unions are hopeful an agreement can be reached on a way forward that avoids compulsory redundancies and industrial action.
The Labour Party is looking to cut around 90 positions as a result of ‘financial pressures’.
LabourList has reported the party is currently seeking to make the cuts through ‘voluntary redundancy alone,’ but ‘more volunteers are needed’.
According to the Labour Party’s annual report, it employed 421 staff in December 2019, of whom 367 were in full-time roles.
90 workers would be a quarter of all staff!
Vaughan West, GMB Organiser, said: ‘Labour Party workers have shown the strength of their anger at this ballot result.
‘We hope party bosses will now sit up, take notice and talk with unions so we can avoid compulsory redundancies.’
Unite regional officer Matt Smith said: ‘Labour will be meeting with Unite and the GMB this Friday (3 September) and both unions are hopeful that a way forward can be found that avoids any compulsory redundancies or resultant industrial action.’
