TULO Day of Action

Today was a Trade Union & Labour Party Liaison Organisation (TULO)
"Day of Action” for the GLA Mayor and Assembly elections 2008. Labour Party affiliates were sent leaflets, paid for and designed by TULO to hand out to members at our workplace. I have been handing out these leaflets outside East London railway stations recently and had quite a good reaction.

At work today during my lunch break, I went and gave members a copy of this specially designed TULO leaflet. Members were, I thought, quite amused at the prospect of their union rep handing out leaflets about “election issues”.

Participation in politics is I think something that many people are nowadays not use to and are even a little unsure how to react? There was some gentle teasing about “Red Ken” and saying that they will have to sell the Porsche in order to pay the London congestion charge (joke)! However, I felt that members were fond of him and recognised that it is in their interests to vote Labour on the day (not all of course – some union activists forget that significant numbers of UNISON members always vote Tory. In the true blue Shires, probably a majority).

There is a theory that in modern day society, the trade unions (for all our faults) are actually far more respected than politicians, journalists, business or even religious leaders. People will therefore take more notice of their unions and especially their stewards on wider social and political issues. Not so sure about this, but I feel this belief may have an element of truth in it.