When she stunned her rivals and became Tory leader in 1975, Margaret Thatcher inherited a little-known and less understood outfit called Conservative Trade Unionists that had been chuntering along for 60 years. It was dead on its flat feet, but she appointed seven full-time workers and a new head, John Bowis, a clubbable fatty then on the Central Office research staff. Within three years, CTU had more than 2,000 branches and an annual conference attracting 1,000 “delegates”, although who delegated them was always a mystery.
I used to go to these weekend gatherings, held in unfashionable conference venues such as Nottingham, for a drink and a laugh and to talk to James Prior, the Tory wet lined up to introduce the first phase of laws to curb union strength. CTU never amounted to very much, even in the civil service unions where they had more of a presence. They were a curiosity, despite Tory claims that one third of all trade unionists vote Conservative.
In the end, CTU were a victim of Thatcher’s success – success, that is, in destroying the manual power base of the labour movement. She halved union membership, smashed the heartlands in coal, steel, shipbuilding and printing, and did her level best to create a compliant leadership through compulsory secret ballots for union executives, and a compliant membership via compulsory secret ballots for strikes, and political compliance through compulsory ballots on the levy that funds Labour.
She failed in these last three tasks, because working people continued to vote for left-wing union leaders – a trend only accelerated by Tony Blair’s premiership – and unions learned how to make the fiendishly complicated system of strike votes work in their favour. And no union voted to end the political levy. It is an immense tribute to the common sense of union members that they saw through Thatcher’s fake “democracy revolution”, although union leaders played a big part in the political and industrial education that kept the show on the road.
What, I wonder, would a David Cameron government do with unions? I start from the assumption that furtherance of the Thatcher agenda is likely, because that’s what Tories do. CTU were a silly sideshow. The party of the employer hates the organisations of the employee.
Cameron and his cohorts have kept pretty quiet on the subject of labour law, but there have been a few leaks. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne came up ’ere a few weeks ago to reassure executives of the Tory-leaning Yorkshire Post that he would make it more difficult for employees to take “frivolous” claims of unfair dismissal to industrial tribunals.
In the employer’s eyes, all such claims are frivolous, because they impinge on management right’s to manage – in other words, sack – awkward workers who moan about health and safety, or refuse to kowtow to demands for longer hours, split shifts or pay freezes/cuts. We could expect a higher bar of pre-trial process or hefty, non-returnable cash deposits to deter would-be complainants.
Then there is the question of pre-strike ballots. Tories are furious that unions are winning too many – giving industrial action greater credibility, both on the shop floor and in the eyes of the public. They will make it harder, either by demanding even greater information on potential participants in strikes or more onerous notice periods or (a stroke much favoured by Boris Johnson, whose bête noire is Bob Crow) a much higher compulsory level of turnout – say 50 per cent – to diminish the chances of success. Or they could opt for all three, with other legal hindrances that their pals can dream up. Whatever, the process is not over.
Another idea being canvassed is making strikes illegal except against an individual’s direct employer. So, unless teachers at a school had a verifiable grievance against that school’s management, action would be unlawful. It could be the end of any form of national stoppage. Further, the Tories are mightily tempted to classify a much wider variety of public services as “emergency”, with walkouts banned. At present, only prison and police officers fall into this category. But what price fire, ambulance, postal and health service workers? And what about staff on railway commuter lines and key rail links to power stations? The media would lap up the idea of such legislation.
I take it for granted that the millions of pounds set aside under Labour for trade union modernisation and education would disappear faster than champagne at a Conservative ball. And there is unfinished business on the political levy. Having failed by one route, what are the odds that they won’t try another? They tried – and failed (despite Blair’s help) – to secure a £50,000 cap on union funding. CTU had a special operation to help members opt out of paying. Although their outfit now barely survives as something called Conservatives at Work, the instinct to cut Labour’s cash jugular remains strong. Without union money, the Labour Party would be bust. It wouldn’t survive six months.
So, while there are truly heartening signs of union members holding their nerve in this recession – most strongly seen in the twin successes of the Leeds bin men and the Superdrug distribution workers – there is potential political disaster ahead.
Unite and Unison, which between them pumped almost £1.7 million into Labour funds between July and September, are investing heavily in their members’ interests. The party’s debts stand at nearly £10 million, while the Tories are pulling in untold millions from their City friends who many blame for the recession. Intemperate action by RMT and the Fire Brigades Union that took them out of Labour now looks horribly self-defeating – not for the leaders, but for the members.
