TGWU warns against more Labour changes

BARRIE CLEMENT

Labour Editor

Tony Blair's vision of Labour as a constantly modernising organisation came under fire yesterday from the leader of the largest affiliate to the party.

Bill Morris, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union, warned that there must be a limit on the degree to which union voting power was reduced.

The warning came on the eve of the speech by Mr Blair to the TGWU's biennial conference in which the Labour leader will refuse to apologise for the changing relationship between the party and unions. He is expected to insist that it benefits both sides.

In a pre-conference briefing in Blackpool yesterday, however, Mr Morris said that while he supported reducing the union vote at policy-making conferences from 70 to 50 per cent, it should be part of a final settlement of constitutional issues based on "equality, fairness and mutual respect".

Mr Morris said there was no appetite in his union for constant changes to the party constitution. "We seem to have got ourselves on to a constitutional helter-skelter." Policies would win the party the next election not organisational change, he said.

He warned against any attempt to abolish unions' collective input into the party. Labour's federal structure was "sacrosanct", Mr Morris said.

A statement by the union's executive said: "The party would be severely weakened if federalism was abandoned for the sake of unproved, short-term expediency," the statement said.

The Labour leader is known privately to favour giving only union members as individuals a say within the party.

The TGWU leader has just been re-elected as general secretary, defeating Jack Dromey, the "modernising" candidate, who was known to have been supported by Mr Blair.

Mr Morris also repeated his union's commitment to a national minimum wage of pounds 4 an hour, based on half male median earnings. The party leadership, however, has decided against opting for a figure until a Labour government has listened to the advice of a low-pay commission and "seen the Treasury books".

Union activists are known to be concerned that the Labour leadership will elevate the newly created policy forums at the expense of annual conference. Mr Morris said he would fight to defend the "mass democratic" structure based on the annual policy-making gatherings.

Suggestions that unions should donate money directly to the party rather than pay to sponsor MPs was also opposed by Mr Morris.

It is likely that a resolution to reduce unions' share of the policy- making vote will go before October's conference and the change would be made in time for the assembly next year.