What will the Tory Trade Union Bill mean for YOU?

Headlines on the new Trade Union Bill and subsequent blog postings have concentrated on the threat to strike action, through the new thresholds on ballots, and on the new laws regarding picketing and strike breaking. The ability of workers to exercise the right to withdraw their labour is under threat as never before, and opposition to the bill is rightly unanimous throughout the trade union movement. The current anti trade union laws in this country are outwith international law as defined in the ILO conventions and the changes make a bad situation worse.

As local stewards however it is easy to share the outrage and then assume that the impact on the way that we go about the everyday activities that we take for granted will be minimal. The grievances and disciplines, the representation over reorganisations, the local campaigning will all still continue as long as the members still have problems and we represent the workforce. The truth unfortunately is that our role will be significantly changed, and as UNISON is based primarily on lay organisation at a local level, we will be drastically curtailed in our ability to act on behalf of our members. The devil, as always, is in the detail.

ILO issues global inequality warning

The warnings and predictions just keep on coming. Following the World Bank statement earlier this year that the rise in Global Inequality is partly due to the decline of trade unions, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has released its own warnings about accelerating global inequality. The report notes that the Global Labour Market and the nature of employment is changing significantly.
   Only 25% of workers currently have a stable, long term employment relationship with their employer. The other 75% (60% of whom do not have a contract) are exist in zero hours, self employed, part time, temporary or even intern contracts. Even in the so-called stable economies of Europe and North America over 33% of workers work in `precarious work` employment.
http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_368252/lang--en/index.htm

Tory guns loaded and targeted on trade unions

#GE2015 David Cameron's cocksure comment in last night's BBC interview that the Tories are 'only 23 seats short of a majority' should make every trade unionist reflect on what's at stake in next month's General Election. A look at the Tory Manifesto confirms an intention to outlaw public sector strikes and introduce a further raft of repressive restrictions on union freedom to organise:
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/manifesto2015/ConservativeManifesto2015.pdf

Defend the right to strike – under threat at home and abroad

Today a global day of action in defence of the right to strike is being called to highlight the serious attacks on fundamental union rights. The Institute of Employment Rights reports that the employers’ group at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is challenging the very existence of the right to strike, established under ILO Convention 87. Meanwhile a serious assault on the right to strike will be in the Tory general election manifesto with proposed minimum requirements in strike ballots of 50% turnout and 40% of all workers balloted to vote in favour – impossible hurdles to mount in large scale national ballots. Tory relic, Lord Tebbit, himself an architect of anti union laws in the early 1980’s, smugly pointed out in the Daily Telegraph this week the failure of the labour movement to deliver on pledges to reverse those attacks. The balance of power shifted against unions and quickly became a matter of political consensus. We must not let history repeat itself.

Election 2015 - What's at stake?

CLASS, the labour movement think tank, has published the first in a series of general election guides. Election 2015: What’s at stake for work, pay and unions?
    This timely publication provides excellent ammunition for organisers and stewards to explain the unfair realities of work in Britain today and why enhanced collective bargaining is the key to reversing years of rising inequality. As TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady says in her foreword: '2015 must be the year when we ensure the recovery, share its proceeds fairly and start to undo the damage done to our public services and welfare state by the crash and its aftermath. Strong unions, fair pay settlements and decent jobs with full employment rights are at the heart of how we achieve this'
http://classonline.org.uk/docs/election15_-_work,_pay,_unions_single.pdf

Tory plans will put public service unions in a legal straitjacket

Tory manifesto proposals to impose a minimum turnout (50%) and a minimum threshold of support (40% of all those balloted) will make it impossible for unions to conduct ‘lawful’ industrial action in large public service bargaining groups. Put simply, on a 50% turnout an 80% yes vote will be required otherwise the ballot will be legally invalid. An acceptable response to this attack on union rights has now gone well beyond the development of positive policies (such as on line voting and workplace ballots) and requires a sustained political campaign exposing the proposed measures as a severe attack on our democratic and human rights. It requires unions to urgently develop new strategies to challenge these attacks on our right to defend our jobs, pay and conditions.
   It is perverse that the political elite can accept as valid opinion polls based on a fraction of 1% of the electorate yet deem turnouts of say 40% as unrepresentative of a large workforce. Taken together with the imposition of expensive fees to access Employment Tribunals, attacks on time off for union reps, removal of DOCAS etc, it is clear that the Tories are working towards an end game of destroying trade unionism in Britain's public services.

Pickled Eric knows the cost of everything & the value of nothing

Tory union basher Eric Pickles MP has stepped up his war against local government unions. In March 2013, dancing to the tune of the Taxpayers Alliance, Pickles issued advice to local authorities on reducing trade union facility time. Now he has ratcheted up the attack with new requirements on councils to publish the cost of trade union facility time and numbers of union representatives involved. His so called transparency code will not require the benefits and purpose of trade union facility time to be published. The rabid right winger has previous form for union bashing. Back in September 2013 he failed in his attempt to end union subscription check off in his own DCLG department - when PCS won a legal challenge – Pickles’ obsessive anti trade unionism costing the public purse £90000.

Extension of collective bargaining is the key to redressing inequality - Hendy

#TUC14 The damage done to workers' rights by the Coalition Government - notably the two year qualifying period for protection rom unfair dismissal and the imposition of Employment Tribunals - shows how easy individual employment rights can be removed said John Hendy QC at a packed first fringe of Congress called by the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom and the IER. Only a restoration of collective bargaining and the unfettered right to strike will give workers a real voice at work and enable unions to redress pay and wealth inequality. The Minimum Wage and Living Wage - neither negotiated by unions - provide no substitute for collective bargaining structures binding on all employers.

Union repression in Colombia - eye witness report

A recent British delegation to Colombia visited imprisoned trade unionist Huber Ballesteros and human rights activist David Rabelo in La Picota prison near Bogota. The TUC's Paul Nowak reports on the visit: 'Meeting Huber and David was in turns both depressing and uplifting. Depressing to see two men, committed to the nascent peace process and progressive political change in Colombia incarcerated unjustly. Uplifting to see that, despite the dreadful conditions in which they are being held, both were clearly focussed on securing justice and are determined to continue to speak out even within the confines of La Picota'
http://strongerunions.org/2014/08/04/defiance-hope-solidarity-in-colombia/

Tebbit resurfaces to attack collective union rights

The Tory world view regards collectivism as a threat to civil liberties. This explains their fundamental opposition to trade unions. In 1975 Tory MP Norman Tebbit accused the Labour employment minister Michael Foot of 'pure undiluted fascism' for upholding the primacy of collective agreements in a unionised workplace. Tebbit went on to become an arch ally of Margaret Thatcher in rolling back union rights.
   As Tory employment minister he introduced the landmark Employment Act 1982 in order to, in his words, 'redress the imbalance of bargaining power' by narrowing the definition of a legal strike and outlawing solidarity action. Now Tebbit has surfaced to invoke his 1982 legislation as a smarter way than ballot thresholds to 'restrain the extremists of the union movement' and proposes that union immunity from civil action for damages arising from a strike be conditional on 'a minimum percentage of the relevant workforce and possibly a minimum turnout' rather than an outright ban on strikes not meeting those requirements:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/normantebbit/100279650/the-trade-union-extremists-must-be-curbed-but-making-unsupported-strikes-criminal-could-backfire/

First they came for the Police Federation? Not quite..

Does Theresa May’s authoritarian attack on the non-TUC Police Federation last week herald an intensification of the Tories’ war on trade unions? The Guardian appears to think so - ‘it's a fair bet that, if they are in power again after next May's general election, they will go after other public sector unions, the Prison Officers Association, Napo, and the Fire Brigades Union; before long even Unison and the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) could be under siege.’

Tory plan to restrict the right to strike

The prime minister yesterday revealed that a future Conservative government will introduce strike ballot thresholds in essential services – although it is not yet clear whether new laws will require at least 50% of affected workers to cast votes in a strike ballot or an absolute majority of those workers balloted to support strike action. There has been sustained lobbying for more anti union legislation from Tory MPs and big business, notably the Institute of Directors which has published a raft of proposals to restrict the right to strike, the first of which is a so called ‘double lock-in vote’ – a requirement that 50% of union members balloted must support strike action as well as a majority of those voting. This will be an impossible hurdle to overcome in large scale national ballots.

New poll backs right to strike

Conventional political wisdom, including in New Labour circles, suggests that strikes by public sector workers are irresponsible and unpopular with the public. A recent Populus poll, commissioned by the BBC, revealed strong support for the right to strike and for the statement ‘striking is legitimate in an industrial dispute if in a ballot of union members the majority of those voting call for it’. However, long term polling confirms the marginalisation of trade union political influence with only 1% of the public mentioning unions/strikes as an important issue facing Britain. On a more positive note 76% see unions as ‘essential to protect workers’ interests’.

Carr Review - a stunt or fast track to new anti union laws?

On Friday the UK Government’s announcement that the Carr Review into industrial relations (launched 5 months ago following the Grangemouth dispute) would focus narrowly on union tactics rather than wider issues such as employer blacklisting of trade unionists as originally envisaged. This led TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady to once again dismiss the review as a ‘headline grabbing party-political stunt’.
    However, Carr’s terms of reference - which are to ‘provide an assessment of the alleged use of extreme tactics in industrial disputes and the effectiveness of the existing legal framework to prevent inappropriate or intimidatory actions’ - appear to be leading directly to new anti union laws in particular a clamping down on protest by workers to win wider community and political support. Coming hard on the heels of the Lobbying Act which according to David Cameron was expressly intended to stifle union influence in general elections, this review could well result in further draconian restrictions on the freedom of expression for trade unions in the UK. There are no grounds for complacency.

US Union Organising Drive stalls at Volkswagen Plant

Much glee is in evidence on the Republican right over the ballot result on union recognition in the VW plant in Tennessee. There the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) had look set to win a ballot of the workforce in favour of a recognised trade union, alongside a European style works council. After a ferocious campaign by local Republican politicians the workers voted by a close majority not to have a union, the UAW losing the vote by 626 votes for and 712 against. This was to be a show piece battle for how the UAW was going to unionise car plants across the traditional redneck deep south, but the result has led to serious questions about the organising campaign US style.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/volkswagen-workers-reject-uaw-in-tenn-union-looks-for-plan-b-to-enter-south/2014/02/15/c35c018c-967c-11e3-9616-d367fa6ea99b_story.html

High Court upholds Con Dem attack on workplace rights

'In this country, we don’t walk on by when people are sick when people lose work when people get old'' claimed David Cameron in his speech on Scottish independence yesterday. The hypocrisy of the aloof and smug millionaire was laid bare on the same day when the High Court rejected UNISON’s challenge to the Government’s decision to introduce employment tribunal and employment appeal tribunal fees. Yes Prime Minister, it's true you don't walk on when workers lose jobs. You put your jackboot on their throat instead:
http://www.unison.org.uk/news/unison-appeal-disappointing-judicial-review-decision-on-tribunal-fees

Canadian unions stand on a precipice

James Clancy, President of Canadian public services union federation NUPGE, reflects on the stark challenges facing trade unions in Canada: 'we stand now on a precipice. What happens over the next two years will likely seal labour's fate for decades to come. We will emerge either stronger than ever or broken almost beyond repair. It is an exciting but also terrifying moment. If there's ever been a time for us to speak up loudly about why unions matter - and to actively support politicians who do the same - it is now. If we don't, we will doom our children, grandchildren and perhaps even our great grandchildren to more poverty, discrimination, and authoritarianism'
http://nupge.ca/content/11392/presidents-commentary-we-stand-precipice-we-must-speak-and-loudly-about-why-unions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=theM-xmR_yI

Maude - Confessions of a union buster

Egged on by the Tory hard right in front organisations such as the Trade Union Reform Campaign (chaired by discredited MP Aidan Burley), the Con Dem government has set about systematically ending trade union activity in the public sector. Civil service unions have borne the brunt of this offensive and Francis Maude MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, writing on the conservative home website, sets out the extent to date of the attacks on union organisation:

Lobbyists welcome passing of Lobbying Bill while civil society mourns - but trade unions the real target

It seems the world’s turned upside down when professional lobbyists welcome yesterday’s passing of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill while charities and voluntary groups raise concerns at the refusal of the House of Lords to exclude them from its scope. However in truth the target of the legislation is neither the parasitic lobby industry nor the third sector but the trade union movement. This was confirmed by the Prime Minister himself in Parliament on 4 September last year ‘We all know what is going on—they do not want the trade unions brought within the law; they want the trade unions to go on spending millions after millions trying to alter an election campaign, rather than having them properly controlled by the law. That is what the lobbying Bill is about’ (Hansard, 4 September 2013).
Labour must make a priority of repealing this anti democratic, anti trade union law.
For more on the Lobbying Bill read here: http://unisonactive.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Lobbying

A challenge to anti scrounger rhetoric – and to anti union propaganda

As the tide of anti claimant misinformation reaches a crescendo led by Channel 4 at the moment, any challenge to the “feckless shirkers” argument needs to be carefully considered. Larry Elliott in the Guardian does more than challenge the rhetoric. Not only does he provide a manifesto that any socialist would be able to sign up to - full employment, a house building programme, and an industrial strategy - but he presents an argument that tackling poverty requires the unshackling of trade union power and the reinstatement of free collective bargaining. If there is to be an end to poverty pay, zero hours contracts, and a return to permanent employment patterns it can only be achieved by restoring the balance of power in the workplace. That would really make work pay but requires more than demonising the poor. We hope Mr Miliband is reading http://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2014/jan/12/george-osborne-welfare-cuts-distortions-benefits-street