Political School - Politics and Trade Unions

About The Course

These new courses build on our successful Political Course in parliament from our 2024-2025 programme. Three connected sessions across the year, our political schools will look at the role of trade unions in influencing parliament, the political world around us and our economy.

Our politics and trade unions school draws all of this learning together to explore the role of trade unions in bringing political change. During the two days at Quorn, we will explore in more detail how mass engagement of membership, an understanding of economics and strategic use of parliament can combine to make trade unions powerful political players in bringing change. Attending the politics and parliament school and the politics and the economy school are not strict requirements of attending this course but having attended at least one of these will be advantageous.

Our politics and parliament school explores the relationship between the trade union movement and parliament, the nature of the state and how we can make use of parliament to help effect change. A morning of exploring politics and the state in the classroom is followed by an afternoon in Parliament, meeting with an MP to discuss parliamentary procedure and taking a tour of the House of Commons.

Our politics and the economy school explores how politics is grounded in the economic base of our society and, in turn, impacts on that economic base. The course is co-taught by GFTU tutors and members of the economics department at SOAS, University of London. No prior study of economics is required for this course, which is accessible to all trade union activists.