Unions rebuff plea to fortify Labor war chest Union boss Paul Howes is pouring more money into Labor's campaign Photo: AFR One of the country's biggest trade unions has proposed that all major unions donate extra funds to help the beleaguered Gillard government fight for re-election, but has failed to win support. The response suggests that even the Labor Party's staunchest allies see the election as a lost cause. The national secretary of the Australian Workers Union, Paul Howes, made the proposal at a meeting of the leaders of key unions comprising the Australian Council of Trade Unions on Tuesday. Mr Howes told the meeting that his union was donating more to the Labor Party than it did at the 2010 election, and urged others to do the same. None supported the proposal. He made the point that Labor was having trouble raising funds from the business community. Indeed, Labor is having grave difficulty raising the funds it needs to campaign at the September 11 election, deserted by business and individual donors alike. Business leaders criticise Labor as anti-business, and Labor members and supporters are demoralised. The view of imminent defeat is undermining fund-raising. The former Labor pollster Rod Cameron said this month: "The situation facing Labor is quite simply cataclysmic. They're heading for an electoral disaster of absolute epic proportions. In another sign that the major unions have abandoned hope for Labor, the ACTU's new ad campaign studiously avoids electioneering. The ACTU's member unions collected a $2 levy from each of their 2 million members, creating a $4 million war chest for ACTU campaigning. Labor expected that much of this would go towards the Gillard government's re-election. But the TV ad campaign launched by the ACTU last month was dedicated to encouraging workers to join unions, and made no reference to the election or political parties.