Labour Research January 2009

Union news

New Tribune owner

The consortium of unions which has helped the independent Labour magazine Tribune to keep going over the past five years has agreed the sale of its 51% stake for £1.

The unions — UNISON, T&G (Unite), Amicus (Unite), Community, ASLEF and the CWU — will pay off existing liabilities before the sale.

The prospective purchaser — described by Tribune as “a Labour Party activist” — is offering to underwrite the magazine’s losses with an annual £40,000 marketing strategy, and has written to the Tribune board promising to “keep Tribune as a left-of-centre publication”.