STUC grudgingly back Labour

This was buried in an article in the Herald today:

Meanwhile, Labour's campaign problems mounted as the general council of the Scottish Trades Union Congress had a majority of only one vote in favour of endorsing the party at the Holyrood election. At a private meeting, Unison, the party's biggest funder, voted against the proposal, arguing it would be better not to put it to the test of a conference debate tomorrow, at which several unions not affiliated to Labour will be able to air their grievances.

Nicola Sturgeon, SNP deputy leader, said: "It is a severe blow to Labour just 17 days out from the election. If Unison - Scotland's biggest union and Labour Party affiliate - abstains, and even the general council of the STUC can barely bring themselves to support Labour, then it illustrates the depth of the crisis they are facing across Scottish society."

I would imagine if this had happened in England then it would have caused major headlines. As well as Unison not backing Labour, the Fire Brigades Union has decided to back SNP candidates.

On the other end of the proletariat-bourgeoisie divide, the same Herald article quotes Jack McConnell hitting out at the high profile businessmen who have come out in support of the SNP and independence. Not quite backing up Tony Blair's claim that RBS wasn't a "real business" he did say that "hard-working businesses" weren't being reflected in the debate. That said, I did expect Labour to wheel out some prominent business names to give support during the campaign. As yet, we're still waiting.

Comments

[interested by stander]

For a good laugh read the Scotsman's report today, 18 April, of these events.

How anyone can take the Scottish press seriously in this election campaign, I do not know

[Mustafa Arif]

"I would imagine if this had happened in England then it would have caused major headlines."

I doubt it. The picture is the same across the whole country. Nothing new here.

"As well as Unison not backing Labour, the Fire Brigades Union has decided to back SNP candidates."

Unison nationally has been luke-warm on Labour for a while. The FBU (like the RMT) broke with Labour before the last general election.