Alastair Reid: Let the Trade Unions into the Big Society
[Alastair Reid is a fellow of Girton College, Cambridge and editor of "History and Policy" (historyandpolicy.org). His latest book is "The Tide of Democracy: Shipyard Workers and Social Relations in Britain, 1870-1950" (Manchester University Press).]
The Con-Lib coalition's ambition for a "big society" based on a reduction of central "big government" and support instead for local "people power" includes community organisers, social volunteers and even employee-owned co-operatives in the public sector - but not, it seems, trade unionists. Indeed, both the government parties have a deeply entrenched hostility towards the unions.
Following the collapse of Edward Heath's half-hearted anti-union drive in the face of the national coalminers' strikes of 1972 and 1974, the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher went so far as to brand the unions as "the enemy within", and made maximum electoral advantage out of the collapse in their working relationship with the Labour government during the Winter of Discontent in 1979.
The Liberal Party, meanwhile, had long supported various forms of industrial partnership. But even in the heyday of Jo Grimond's renewed emphasis on participatory democracy from the late 1950s, it focused on local government and eventually on "community politics", with the unions generally being regarded as an integral part of the socialist obstacle.
Leaving aside assumptions about their historic role, trade unions are still among Britain's most important voluntary associations, with a combined membership of over seven million people. Like most other large voluntary organisations, they are in a position to negotiate attractive discounts on financial services, but their specific expertise in recent years has been in providing their members with legal advice and representation over such issues as unfair dismissal, discrimination and harassment: in 2007 they won a record £330m in compensation. With consultation and social inclusion being widely accepted as important elements in sustainable economic efficiency, trade unions can also provide significant benefits for sympathetic employers by channelling the voice of employees in the workplace....
Read entire article at New Statesman
The Con-Lib coalition's ambition for a "big society" based on a reduction of central "big government" and support instead for local "people power" includes community organisers, social volunteers and even employee-owned co-operatives in the public sector - but not, it seems, trade unionists. Indeed, both the government parties have a deeply entrenched hostility towards the unions.
Following the collapse of Edward Heath's half-hearted anti-union drive in the face of the national coalminers' strikes of 1972 and 1974, the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher went so far as to brand the unions as "the enemy within", and made maximum electoral advantage out of the collapse in their working relationship with the Labour government during the Winter of Discontent in 1979.
The Liberal Party, meanwhile, had long supported various forms of industrial partnership. But even in the heyday of Jo Grimond's renewed emphasis on participatory democracy from the late 1950s, it focused on local government and eventually on "community politics", with the unions generally being regarded as an integral part of the socialist obstacle.
Leaving aside assumptions about their historic role, trade unions are still among Britain's most important voluntary associations, with a combined membership of over seven million people. Like most other large voluntary organisations, they are in a position to negotiate attractive discounts on financial services, but their specific expertise in recent years has been in providing their members with legal advice and representation over such issues as unfair dismissal, discrimination and harassment: in 2007 they won a record £330m in compensation. With consultation and social inclusion being widely accepted as important elements in sustainable economic efficiency, trade unions can also provide significant benefits for sympathetic employers by channelling the voice of employees in the workplace....