This month, two major unions have passed motions in favour of Proportional Representation. On 2nd June, the University and College Union (UCU) voted for a motion call to “reject First Past the Post and support Proportional Representation”. Then, last week, Prospect, a union representing engineers, managers, scientists and other specialists, passed a motion at their national conference calling for Proportional Representation.
These unions have a combined membership of 275,000: Prospect is the 11th largest union in the UK, and UCU is the 12th. Joining with other unions, including Unite and PCS, a total of 1.8 million workers are now represented by a union committed to electoral reform.
Achieving the backing of trade unions has been essential to implement Proportional Representation in countries like New Zealand. Unions are one of the largest organising forces in politics, with hundreds of thousands of members and considerable political funds.
So far, the following unions have backed PR (or ending First Past the Post!):
Unite the Union
Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
Prospect
University and College Union (UCU)
Fire Brigades Union (FBU)
Musicians’ Union (MU)
Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF)
Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA)
Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU)
Napo (Probation and family court staff)
In addition, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) recently unanimously passed a motion calling First Past the Post an “undemocratic election process” which “heavily contributed to a polarised UK, with a disillusioned and disengaged electorate”. The union will now establish a national policy forum to discuss the merits of PR.
If you are in a union, we would love to talk to you about getting your union to support PR. Email us at team@makevotesmatter.org.uk and we’ll be in touch!