So
Miliband is to give trade union members the choice to ‘opt in’ to donating £3
to the Labour Party.
This is revolutionary by all accounts and would reverse a centuries old process whereby union members seemingly
had £3 automatically deducted from their wage packet to be siphoned off to Labour
HQ and in the process, like it or not, they became an affiliate member of the party. That is unless members exercised their right to ‘opt out’ of doing so.
So
why didn’t they?
Call
me cynical but I suspect the process of ‘opting out’ in the prehistoric world
Len McCluskey et al live in - is deemed act of betrayal akin to crossing a
picket line. Life I imagine would be pretty intimidating on the shop floor for
those bold enough to express the belief that union membership does not assume unqualified support
for the Labour Party. So they didn't. That’s how unions work and how tossers like Red Len command their £100K+ salaries
