During July full time officials of the Union received from Jim Conway, who was seeking re-election as the General Secretary of the A.E.U., an ornate presentation case containing cigars and cigarettes with his compliments. Branch secretaries were not so fortunate, All they received was a dozen ball-point pens each, marked with the words: A.U.E.F.W. - Jim Conway, General Secretary. Some thirty-six thousand pens were distributed in this way. When Branch secretaries looked for the bill to cover these pens they found a note slipped into the parcel worded: "with the compliments of Jim Conway, General Secretary". WHO PAID? Who paid for this form of propaganda and are these gifts an infringement of Union rules relating to election procedure? One hopes that the members of the Union are more influenced by policy questions than free gifts, but, nevertheless, if the Union's rules have been infringed the ballot should be set aside, as has been done so readily in the past. * Available from 73, Ridgeway Place, London, S.W.19: price 9d. post paid.
The WeekThe Week Vol. 8, No. 12, 21 September 1967
Free Gifts
The scan: The Week v8 no12.pdf (PDF, Marxists Internet Archive, opens at this page)
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