The case for the Trade Unions Act Amendment Bill, which
awaits its third reading, was well stated in the Morning Post last week by Mr. James Walton, the ex-miner who sits for the Don Valley as a member of the National Democratic Party. As a lifelong trade unionist, Mr. Walton maintains that the Bill, far from killing trade unions as the Labour Party pretends, -would assure " political freedom of the fullest and freest type to the trade unionist." Under the Bill, a union executive would not be able to levy a contribution to the Labour Party funds without the express consent, in writing, of the individual member of the union. At present, Conservative or Liberal trade unionists
have to apply for exemption from the levy in aid of Socialist propaganda, and, as Mr. Walton points out, the union officials make it very unpleasant for those dissenting members and often, quite illegally, refuse to exempt them. Trade union member- ship, Mr. Walton says, is compulsory. There is all the more reason, then, why trade unionists should be guaranteed political liberty if they cannot enjoy economic freedom.
Previous page
