To take part in political activity unions have to maintain a separate political fund.
In UNISON you can choose to opt-in and pay an additional 5 per cent contribution on top of your subscription to either the Labour Link or the Campaign Fund. You can also opt-in to contribute to both.
The Campaigning fund
The Campaign Fund (GPF) is not affiliated to any political party. The money you pay into the fund is used to support local campaigns, to give a boost to the union’s national political campaigns and pay for political advertising.
Much of the high profile political campaign work you see from UNISON is paid for by the Campaign Fund.
But it’s not just the big things. All sorts of national and local projects and campaigns benefit from receiving funding this way, such as anti-cuts campaigns, local campaigns against hospital closures, local equalities events and the union’s work combating racism and intolerance.
UNISON Labour Link
UNISON Labour Link works directly within Labour to take UNISON’s policies into the heart of the party.
We work at local and national level and have a network of Labour Link officers at branch, regional and national levels who work together with other affiliated unions.
Why does UNISON campaign in general elections?
It is a legitimate part of our role to try and ensure that the issues which matter to our members are part of the debate in any election campaign.