The leaders of Britain’s biggest trade unions have come out in support of Ken Livingstone’s re-election as Mayor of London. In a statement Paul Kenny, Billy Hayes, Dave Prentice, Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, general secretaries of the GMB, CWU, UNISON, Unite (Amicus section) and Unite (T&G section) say:

“We urge every Londoner to support the re-election of Ken Livingstone as Mayor of London in May 2008.”
“Under Ken Livingstone’s leadership London’s public services, particularly bus services and the transport system as a whole, have been radically improved and, after years of neglect he has begun a program of radical and progressive steps to improve the environment, and increase the supply of affordable housing – using his planning powers to force developers to make half of all new homes affordable.”

They praise Livingstone for his progressive policies which they say has been delivered by
“uprooting the Thatcherite dogma that everything should be left to the free market – and replacing it with massive investment in public services and support for organisations such as the trade union movement fighting to improve life for ordinary Londoners.”

They also point to the Livingstone’s record of improving employee rights:
“The Mayor’s door has always been open to trade unionists and he broke new ground by introducing Britain’s first ever Living Wage to combat poverty pay and requiring fair employment practices from companies tendering to work for the public sector.”

A new Re-elect Ken site – www.londonforken.co.uk – has been set up which is dedicated to supporting the re-election of Ken Livingstone as Mayor of London at the London elections on 1 May 2008.