The new Conservative Government’s intention to
limit the right to strike will see them on the ideological offensive to
discredit Labour and the trade union movement, and to confuse large swathes of
the electorate who are not or have not been trade union members in the past.
Strikes have a very negative image with the
public, like the current one between RMT
and South Western Trains in London, causing immense disruption to people's
daily lives, getting to and from work, and making journeys on alternative
routes even more difficult and stressful. Older people still have memories of
the Winter of Discontent and the Tories will re-run all that. They will no
doubt run the theme that the General Strike was an unpatriotic challenge to
Government. They may even point to the violence that often takes place in
French strikes as another good reason for BREXIT.
The coming attack on
the trade union movement is a reminder that that is what the Conservative
Government did from its election victory 50 years ago in June 1970. It is
ironic of course that that victory gave Prime Minister Edward Heath the mandate
to start negotiations to join the Common Market (now EU) which took effect in
1973. That July saw the Dock Strike with the Government declaring a state of
emergency. C47,000 dockers struck for a pay rise of £11 per week. After a court
of inquiry a settlement was reached with
an average 7% increase in pay. Heath’s Government went on to reduce
trade union rights and the trial of the Shrewsbury 24. It is worth re-reading
Paul Mason’s 2015 article on the trial: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/07/shrewsbury-trials-1970s-trade-unionists-ricky-tomlinson-edward-heath
In 1970 trade union
membership stood at 50% of the workforce. According to the National Statistics
by 2018 it had more than halved to 23.4% (52.5% public sector; 13.2% private sector).
The Labour Party and
the trade union movement are ill equipped to counter the Conservative
propaganda. This is partly because the Party abandoned years ago any serious
political education about its history and its historic link with the trade
unions, and because of the small number of its members who are trade unionists.
Younger members work experience is not in TU
organised employment. A growing section of the population does not understand
what trade unions are and what their purpose is. They seem like dinosaurs.
Simply arguing the case for the Right to Strike is
not enough. Any campaign has to be founded on the positive case for trade
unions, what they have achieved, and a recognition that the right to strike is
a last resort, and that the negative aspects of striking, includes the adverse
effects on strikers, their families and communities. It is thought that the
striking dockers in 1970 lost £4m in
wages. This approach needs to be supported by public information about the
positive outcomes of many strikes. e.g. the Match Women's Strike and New
Unionism, Grunwick and Dagenham.
Preparing for the arguments inside and outside of
Parliament should link to the policy position of the International Labour
Office, as discussed in the book: ILO
Principles Concerning the Right to Strike by Bernard Gernigon, Alberto
Odero and Horacio Guido (ILO. 2000) which can be seen on Google Books, and also
the discussion on the ILO’s website: www.ilo.org/actrav/WCMS_245669/lang--en/index.htm
Leslie John Macfarlane made a strong case in his
book The Right to Strike (Penguin
1981) which should perhaps be re-printed or updated. The TUC needs to
update its 2015 document www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Activist's%20Guide%20to%20the%20Bill.pdf
Local trade union movements are incapable of
reaching large numbers of people. The key challenge is how do they reach into
the general population to influence their thinking and counter the propoganda
that the Tories will put out? Perhaps a key problem is that most trade unionism
is workplace based. Perhaps a shift to community based trade unionism needs to
be seriously examined, and supported by work based unions.
In the coming fight
between Conservative and Labour and within Labour the myths that Britain was in
decline in the 1970s because of Labour and the left will be high on the agenda.
The Conservatives role under Edward Heath between 1970 and 1974 will be
airbrushed away. John Medhurst’s 2014 article
The Myth of the 1970s is an essential read.
The trade union
version of events can be read at http://www.unionhistory.info/timeline/1960_2000_3.php
and the pages that follow.
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