Co-op Votes to Keep Political Link with Labour Movement

As a Co-op shopper and Party member this is great news. I was out canvassing in Tower Hamlets yesterday afternoon for John Biggs as Labour mayor.

When I got a text from one of the "Keep It Co-op" organisers that the Co-operative Group had just voted to keep its link with the Co-operative Party.

In the face of the General Election defeat is was even more important than ever that the Labour movement family (The Labour Party, the Co-operative Party, the affiliated trade unions and socialist societies) - keeps together.

I think that this has been a bit of a "wake up" call for the Co-operative Party to better assert its voice and distinctive cooperative message in the wider Labour Party. While the financial disaster that the Co-operative Banking arm got itself into reminds us that we also need effective as well as democratic governance in co-operatives and mutuals.

Picture of West Ham Labour activists outside the Co-op in Forest Gate, Newham. 

UNISON urges its members to "Keep It Co-op"

Last week UNISON in its national efocus newsletter urged its members to

"Help defend the Co-op's Political Voice.

UNISON is urging members who belong to  the Co-op to defend its link with the Co-operative Party.

The new management at the Co-op Group has initiated a vote on ending its funding of the party. The Co-operative Party is affiliated to the Labour Party, but provides a distinct voice as part of the wider cooperative movement.

UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said an important principle is at stake in the vote: "The principle that democratic organisations like co-operatives and trade unions can and should be engaged in politics.

"They should be a voice for ordinary working people."

The Co-operative Group and the Co-operative Party have together helped to create a fairer Britain.

They have led the way in protecting shoppers and the environment, and championed fair trade.

They have have supported credit unions, won new rights for football supporters, and created a network of 800 co-op schools. But now that partnership is at risk.

On the 16 May, Co-op Group members will vote on whether to continue supporting the Co-operative Party.

UNISON is urging members - whether or not they’re eligible to vote – to sign up at 'Keep it Co-op' and call on the Co-op Group to return to its radical, progressive roots and to continue to be a democratic voice for its members and staff.

Help stop the Co-op's political voice being silenced"

Picture above is from the Daily Mirror and Paul Routledges article that the Co-op should not allow its new highly paid directors to end its belief in making the world a better place.

Got a vote? Here's how to "Keep it Co-op"

If you are a voting member of the Co-operative Group you should have received a ballot paper for this year's crucial AGM.  If you believe it needs to retain its political voice and link with the Co-operative Party then vote "For" on motions 9 and 10.

Check out "Keep it Co-op" website. 

Let's Keep it Co-op Together.

If you are a member of the Co-op - check out this video on how to keep the co-operative partnership between the Co-op Group and the Co-op Party.

Work together in cooperation for a fairer Britain.

Keep It Co-op (and Save our Political Voice)

I have been a member of the Co-operative Party (which shares values and advances the co-operative agenda by standing joint Parliamentary candidates with the Labour Party) for a number of years but have been a member of the Co-operative Group for even longer.

2 or 3 times a week I shop at my local Co-op and I have a savings account with the Co-op Bank.

The Co-operative movement has gone through a pretty awful time in recent years largely due to debt and the governance failures of the Co-op Bank following the Financial Crisis.

But there is still a massive consumer retail co-operative movement in this country with 8 million members and 100,000 employees.I think it has potentially a bright future.

The arguments in favour of Co-operatives remain the same as do their values and principles. "Co-operative businesses are owned and run by and for their members, whether they are customers, employees or residents. As well as giving members an equal say and share of the profits, co-operatives act together to build a better world".

Co-ops are not perfect but how better is it to shop at your local co-op, rather than with other supermarkets who may pay their staff poverty wages on insecure employment contracts; cream off the profits, who don't care about the environment or are tax cheats.

Following the problems and uncertainty of recent years it is natural that the Co-op Group stops and thinks about its future. But it is vital that the Co-op continues to have a political voice and retains its link to the Co-operative Party. In the same way as trade unions created the Labour Party in order to have a political voice, the Co-op needed to have their voice and that is why they created the Co-operative Party.

At the forth coming 2015 Annual General Meeting of the Co-operative Group there may be a motion to end the link with the Co-operative Party, which would mean the end of its political voice and its representation in Parliament.

Ending the 98 year political voice of the Group would be a further blow to the movement at a time of rebirth after crisis. If there is no strong voice for co-operative values in politics and society then then we risk becoming further marginalised and then irrelevant.

I hope at the AGM members will vote to "Keep it Co-op" and save our political voice.