Dear Chief Secretary to the Treasury,
I'm afraid to tell you there's no money left.
Signed, Liam Byrne

(Outgoing Labour Chief Secretary to the Treasury. May 2010)
.
.

Thursday 18 March 2010

Union Modernisation Fund payments

Found via a comment on Nick Robinson's blog
"The so-called Union Modernisation Fund, introduced by Labour, appears to be little more than a bribe to keep their comrades on-side.

Unions receive lots of taxpayers money, then make donations to the Labour party. How cosy!

For details of payments to individual unions, see here for answer given by Patrick McFadde Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

As for donations from the Unions to keep Labour afloat, these appear come with strings attached. In other words, the unions are using donations as a way of influencing government policy. See here, here and here.

Could this be cash-for-policies? There should be an investigation."


Union Modernisation Fund
Business, Innovation and Skills
Written answers and statements, 8 March 2010
(Hansard Source - here)
Quoted from Theyworkforyou
Greg Hands (Shadow Minister, Treasury; Hammersmith & Fulham, Conservative)
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been paid to each trade union from the Union Modernisation Fund in each year since the fund was started.

Patrick McFadden (M (Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; Wolverhampton South East, Labour) 8th March 2010

Union Modernisation Fund
The information on how much has been paid to each trade union from the Union Modernisation Fund in each financial year since the fund started is as follows:
Grant paid to each trade union by financial year
Union Grant paid (£)
Year ended 31 March 2007
GMB 23,340.53
Wales Trade Union Congress 12,252.64
National Union of Teachers 7,377.84
Royal College of Midwives 43,329.35
Union of Finance Staff 7,083.30
United Road Transport Union 24,330.00
Community and District Nursing Association 8,125.65
British Dental Association 6,047.75
Connect 28,647.63
USDAW 104,011.73
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers 32,489.00
National Union of Journalists 11,475.34
ASLEF 13,232.25
General Federation of Trade Unions 23,284.48
Portman Group Staff Association 6,070.70


Year ended 31 March 2008
GMB 106,532.92
Communication Workers Union 28,008.85
Wales Trade Union Congress 29,708.34
National Union of Teachers 20,285.64
USDAW 5,783.00
Royal College of Midwives 88,135.28
Union of Finance Staff 41,776.70
Unity 15,192.76
United Road Transport Union 50,670.00
Equity 22,737.50
Transport and General Workers Union 47,535.05
Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union 17,241.06
Community and District Nursing Association 6,418.37
Community 63,453.00
British Dental Association 15,329.00
Transport Salaried Staffs' Association 46,618.70
Connect 28,988.12
USDAW 82,811.00
Prospect 78,621.69
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers 161,245.00
National Union of Journalists 43,145.52
Trades Union Congress 62,695.00
Community and Youth Workers Union 16,915.96
Unite (Amicus) 128,105.62
ASLEF 58,245.47
General Federation of Trade Unions 74,623.90
Portman Group Staff Association 9,533.80
Musicians' Union 17,788.00
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy 2,845.00
Union of Construction Allied Trades and Technicians 5,983.00
Equity 7,691.30


Year ended 31 March 2009
General Federation of Trade Unions 15,122.48
Trades Union Congress 39,863.19
General Federation of Trade Unions 40,333.07
Musicians' Union 14,426.00
Association of Teachers and Lecturers 326.02
Unison 54,942.22
Association of Professionals in Education and Children's Trusts 5,100.00
Union of Construction Allied Trades and Technicians 7,957.50
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy 14,371.00
Accord 106,164.00
Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union 40,957.97
First Division Association 27,437.00
Trades Union Congress 23,049.00
Union of Construction Allied Trades and Technicians 7,957.50
General Federation of Trade Unions 37,344.17
Nautilus UK 27,007.06
Equity 35,654.58
Unite (Amicus) 29,309.18
Retained Fire-fighters Union 51,930.68
Nationwide Group Staff Union 5,875.00
GMB 63,667.08
Communication Workers Union 116,159.35
Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union 33,405.42
Wales Trade Union Congress 83,681.18
Lloyds TSB Group Union 22,322.60
National Union of Teachers 35,267.02
British Dental Association 780.25
Prospect 26,197.78
Association of Professionals in Education and Children's Trusts 5,100.00
Prospect 20,591.49
Unison 87,515.50
Association of Professionals in Education and Children's Trusts 4,085.00
Association of Teachers and Lecturers 17,606.14
Community 23,151.00
Communication Workers Union 14,088.92
Communication Workers Union 20,359.04
National Union of Teachers 41,733.63
PCS 31,268.82
Union of Construction Allied Trades and Technicians 9,720.00
USDAW 71,532.90


Current financial year to date
Association of Teachers and Lecturers 28,858.76
Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union 35,964.40
Communication Workers Union 21,931.14
First Division Association 81,509.00
General Federation of Trade Unions 23,707.63
National Union of Teachers 24,254.82
Union of Construction Allied Trades and Technicians 11,496.28
USDAW 26,938.50
Nautilus UK 6,834.31
Accord 30,587.50
Equity 14,103.55
General Federation of Trade Unions 53,978.98
GMB 63,937.54
Musicians Union 15,284.00
Unite (T&G) 88,302.00
Trade Union Congress 67,109.83
Unison 16,835.78
Unison 106,997.01
Unite (Amicus) 89,217.79
Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union 128,096.20
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy 11,230.00
National Union of Schoolmasters, Union of Women Teachers 28,385.00
Trades Union Congress 52,683.23
Unison 79,543.50
Note: Where some unions have more than one project, these have been itemised individually above.
Phew.

Oh, and The Sun points out that
"HALF the Cabinet, including Gordon Brown and 12 of his ministers, are bankrolled in their constituencies by militant union Unite, ...."

....

2 comments:

Quiet_Man said...

One of the first acts of the next (Non Labour) government should be to scrap this fund, though I suspect they'd go to the EU and get it that way instead.

JuliaM said...

But they are unlikely to do that, since they are really just the same as the outgoing party, aren't they?