After the tremendous success of the TUC’s “March For The Alternative” on March 26, it is clear that the priorities for the trade union movement are to build on that success and to fight – and defeat – the cuts to our public services, and to fight – and stop – the dismantling of the National Health Service.
Unions are already considering more co-ordinated campaigning and industrial action in the fight back – and how to win more public support – even as the cuts bite deep into the infrastructure of our daily lives.
As Unite’s “Don’t Break Britain” campaign makes clear, the fight is not just about the cuts to services and the changes to the NHS. It is about fighting the ideological policies of a Government hell-bent on turning the clock back decades and implementing policies that have little to do with helping economic recovery.
The Tories, using Liberal Democrats Vince Cable and Ed Davey as cover, have mounted an attack on employment rights through changes to employment tribunals and workplace justice.
The Government proposes to make it even more difficult for workers to seek redress for workplace disputes by undermining a system that has served Britain well for nearly half a century.
The Resolving Workplace Disputes Consultation 2011 has nothing to do with resolving workplace disputes. It has all to do with deterring working people seeking redress at an employment tribunal and it has everything to do with making it easier to dismiss staff.
The Government’s proposals are based on myths about employment tribunals with no evidence to suggest that they will address the economic recovery of the country. On the contrary, such proposals would bar vulnerable workers from receiving justice.
By proposing to increase the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims to two years from the current level of 12 months originally set in 1999, these proposals make it easier for unscrupulous employers to sack workers by tribunals charging a fee of £30 to £500 to lodge a claim. This panders to the usual suspects in the CBI, Institute of Directors and the small business lobby.
Indeed, when ministers published their proposals last week some in the employers’ lobby called for the Government go further. The IoD described the proposals as “timid” and the CBI opposed a fine of up to £5,000 for those bad employers found guilty of wilfully ignoring employment rights.
The proposals also change the role of ACAS from one of settling disputes – in which it has not inconsiderable skills – to one of striking out tribunal claims: something many ACAS officials and lay tribunal members oppose.
Also look out for the Government’s “back door” review into the sickness absence system. This is being led by Dame Carol Black, the national director for health and work, and David Frost, the director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce. The review will look at the “system of sickness related benefits in
the UK”.
This is possibly code for a review of the statutory sick pay scheme on which thousands of workers without decent sick schemes rely. In turn, that could affect some company schemes, negotiated by unions and employers, which include an element of SSP.
With this undoubtedly in mind Cameron launched an opening salvo this week in which he “declared war” on Britain’s so-called “sick note culture”. Providing cover for this assault is a conveniently timed PwC report which claims absenteeism “costs” British businesses £32 billion a year while Britsh workers take “twice as many” sick days as their Asian counterparts.
Whilst these issues may not immediately appear to be a frontal assault on employment rights, the trade union movement will need to make our members, those not yet in a union, and Labour MPs, aware that established rights which have perhaps taken for granted are being taken away.
On the economic front, the crisis has meant that the take home pay of those in the private sector is falling. Inflation currently stands at about 5 per cent, but research shows that, in the three months to the end of March 2011, average pay settlements in manufacturing remained static at 2.4 per cent – the same as the figure for the three months to the end of February 2011. The number of pay freezes remains at just over one in eight settlements, while almost four in five pay deals are at 3 per cent or less.
This, plus a potential skills shortage, is stoking up problems for the future. During the worst of the crisis, unions and our members helped companies through difficult times. Many manufacturers worked with us to hold onto their skilled employees and keep going. But we also witnessed some employers using the crisis as a smokescreen to cut pay and conditions or abandon well-established agreements. This caused serious resentment.
While there have been some decent pay deals in recent months, we have also seen some companies re-imposing pay freezes or at best implementing very low pay increases for the third or fourth year. As a result, we should expect to see a lot more anger from union members.
Faced with increased costs of living, higher bills at home, there are already growing requests from union reps for ballots for industrial action as living standards fall further. Meanwhile, those who caused the crisis in the first place continue earn stratospheric salaries. This week it was has been reported that earnings in the City are rising at 7 per cent a year.
A growing number of workplaces where members are in dispute and are fighting back to re-establish pay and conditions after years of pay freezes and a “take or leave it” attitude from short-sighted managers.
Unite will be supporting members wherever they work – the public services, private sector or in manufacturing – in fighting back, defending jobs and hard-won pay and conditions.
Tony Burke is assistant general secretary of Unite
