VZCZCXRO2150
PP RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHLO #0330/01 0421649
ZNY EEEEE ZZH
P 111649Z FEB 10 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY LONDON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4944
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS E F T O SECTION 01 OF 02 LONDON 000330 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y - DECLASS DATE CHANGED TO N/A 
 
SENSITIVE 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2020 
TAGS: ECON ELAB PGOV UK
SUBJECT: UK UNIONS PUT THEIR MONEY ON LABOUR PARTY, BUT 
OPEN DIALOGUE WITH CONSERVATIVES 
 
REF: 09 LONDON 2770 
 
LONDON 00000330  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Economic Minister Counselor Richard Albright for reasons 
 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  British trade unions, though not the 
political force they once were, continue to be the primary 
source of funding for the Labour Party's electoral campaign, 
contributing 72 percent of Labour's total donations.  The 
unions expect either a Labour or Conservative government to 
implement substantial budget cuts after the general election 
expected in May.  Many unions oppose these proposed cuts 
outright or at least view them skeptically.  However, they 
view Labour as the more "humane" option to implementing the 
cuts.  Nevertheless, the Conservatives have publically 
engaged the unions in a dialogue in the lead up to the 
election, an indication of the party's desire to be seen as 
more centrist and inclusive than previous Tory governments. 
End Summary. 
 
UNIONS LARGEST CONTRIBUTOR TO LABOUR PARTY 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Through the third quarter of 2009 trade unions have 
donated nearly GBP 8 million ($12.5 million) to the Labour 
Party, representing roughly 72 percent of the total GBP 10.9 
million ($17 million) donated in that time period.  In 
general, large unions such as Unite, whose 2 million members 
represent myriad industrial and public sectors, as well as 
some small, specialized unions support the Labour Party with 
money and political organizing efforts.  The Conservative 
Party has criticized Labour's dependence on unions, most 
recently when the party's chairman, Eric Pickles, reportedly 
said this dependence has left the current government "utterly 
incapable of making the right decisions for the country". 
 
LABOUR BUDGET CUTS MORE "HUMANE" 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU/NF) Doug Rooney, Unite's National Officer for Energy 
and Utilities, acknowledged to EconOff that there is little 
difference between Labour and Conservative rhetoric on plans 
to reduce the deficit.  He predicted unions would push back 
on either a Labour or Tory government if proposed budget cuts 
were to endanger union jobs, particularly the shelving of 
public sector industrial projects or cutting 
government-sponsored job training programs.  However, he said 
he believes Labour will pursue the budget cuts in a more 
"humane" manner, quipping, "It's better to work with the 
devil you know". 
 
CONSERVATIVES ENGAGE THE UNIONS 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU/NF) Influential Conservative Party Shadow Chancellor 
George Osborne met with the General Secretary of the Trades 
Union Congress (TUC), a powerful union umbrella group (see 
Ref A for background on TUC), on January 13.  Local press 
commented this meeting was an indication of the Tory 
leadership's effort to distance itself from a generally 
distrustful and hostile tack that Margaret Thatcher pursued 
with the unions when she led a Tory government.  Owen Tudor, 
Head of EU and International Relations at TUC, seemed to 
confirm this view when he told EconOff that the Tories - not 
TUC - had informed the left-leaning Guardian of the meeting 
to exhibit their centrist credentials.  The meeting also 
provided the TUC with the opportunity to voice its concerns 
over proposed budget cuts and public sector pay freezes. 
Notwithstanding these initial discussions, the Tories admit 
they do not always see eye-to-eye with the unions.  As 
Theresa May, the Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for 
Work and Pensions, recently put it to a gathering of Western 
diplomats, "We're talking to unions... we won't always agree, 
but we're talking". 
 
¶5. (SBU/NF) Comment.  Statistics show membership in British 
trade unions has decreased by nearly fifty percent over the 
past three decades to less than 8 million people.  This 
decline in membership has coincided with a similar decline in 
the trade unions' influence over domestic politics.  The 
unions have funded the vast majority of the Labour Party's 
electoral campaign war chest, and a Labour loss in the 
upcoming election would strike a significant blow to the 
unions' influence.  However, deep budget cuts will certainly 
spark lively disagreements between the unions and whichever 
party wins the elections this spring.  This is especially 
true with public sector workers, who are three times as 
likely to be in a union as their private sector counterparts. 
 In this respect, the unions will work hard to temper some of 
 
LONDON 00000330  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
the more ambitious attempts by the next government to reduce 
the budget, particularly in the areas of wage freezes or 
shedding government-sector jobs.  End Comment. 
 
Visit London's Classified Website: 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Unit ed_Kingdom 
 
SUSMAN