Labour leader Pat Rabbitte's bid to get a mandate from party delegates to rule out coalition with Fianna Fáil after the next election is to be challenged by a second major trade union, write Mark Hennessy & Carol Coulter.
In a motion due to go before the party's conference in Tralee in May, the Amicus union (which was formed by the amalgamation of the MSF and AEEU in 2001) says voters, not political parties, will decide "which combination of parties will be in a position to form the next coalitions".
It says Labour should instead ask supporters and candidates of other parties to give their highest preferences to Labour where they believe that "our programme is consistent with their own beliefs".
The Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union has already strongly opposed Mr Rabbitte's plan to tie Labour into an alliance with Fine Gael and the Greens before the election campaign begins.
Amicus will unite with the ATGWU and the GMB union next year to form a "super-union", which will have 130,000 members in the Republic.
The Labour leader is to bring his own motion before the party's national executive council meeting on April 23rd, clearing the way for a formal alliance with Fine Gael and the Greens.
Despite the opposition, it is believed Mr Rabbitte will secure the agreement for his electoral strategy of the party's ruling body and, subsequently, of the party conference. His plan has been supported by Labour's Carlow/Kilkenny constituency council and party branches in Ballsbridge and Mullingar.
The Santry/Kilmore branch in Dublin North Central endorsed "the strategy of the party leader to present an alternative coalition government to the electorate that reflects the values of the Labour Party and enshrines the concept of a fair society".
Meanwhile, the decision by Progressive Democrats leader and Tánaiste Mary Harney, to mention Labour as a possible coalition partner was described as "mischief-making" by Labour last night.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said yesterday he would favour a coalition involving the Progressive Democrats and the Labour Party if the latter adopted British New Labour policies.
Mr McDowell was speaking to journalists at the publication of the provisional Garda crime statistics for the first three months of the year. "New Labour in Britain and the PDs could do business. The real question is whether the Labour Party here wants to be Old Labour or move ahead in line with international political trends."
However, one opponent of Mr Rabbitte's strategy privately told The Irish Times that Ms Harney was "doing what we should be doing: keeping our options open".
Labour TD Emmet Stagg said Labour's objective was to get both Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats out of power. "She wants to be in government at any cost and she has been very successful at that," said the Kildare TD. Labour had tried to keep its options open during the last campaign but "it just didn't work; it isn't acceptable to people".