While I have no problem with the public sector workers recent strike action in defence of their Pension rights, and fully support the right to withdraw ones labour in the event of dispute, I have become entirely disillusioned with Unison. Part of the problems is that Unison is so monolithic that is straddles far too many diverse sections of the world of work, and part of the problem is Unison's pointless relationship with the Labour Party.
Now don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe in Trade Union's but equally firmly believe that the old historic relationship between the Trade Union movement and the Labour Party was always one sided but is now pretty pointless. The relationship always in reality revolved around finance – the Trade Unions had it and the Labour Party lacked it and wanted it.
The relationship between the Trade Unions and the Labour Party was important but occasionally frosty at least until Blair (and successors) opened up a whole new relationship between Labour and the City. The Labour Party last seriously (and erroneously) listened to the Trade Unions in the late 1960’s when it bottled it when they watered down the ‘In Place of Strife’ White Paper in the late 1960’s.
This White Paper would have brought in secret ballots before every strike; a cooling off period of 28 days before big strikes; collective bargaining with legally binding results; a new Industrial Relations Court and penal sanctions to force unions to comply. Had Barbara Castle and her colleagues pushed their proposed legislation through then some rationality would have been brought to the world of industrial relations. And this years before Mr’s Thatcher ever appeared on the scene and the worst undemocratic excesses of the old Trade Union movement would have been curbed.
Ever since then and despite the spin put on it by the Trade Unions, the Labour Leadership has basically walked the walk, talked the talk, taken the money and delivered little if anything to the Trade Union movement and its leaders. The Blair years should have in all seriousness killed off any Trade Union interest or involvement in prolonging a dead relationship with the Labour Party.
The fact that this has not happened, is largely down to the permanent presence of Labour Party members (especially at higher levels) and activists within the Trade Union movement, than any realistic chance of extracting any benefits for their members. Whereas once the Labour Party was the political wing of the Trade Unions, the relationship has now been reversed and the Trade Unions have been taken over and are largely run for the benefit of the Labour Party rather than their own members.
Obviously this convenient arrangement works well for the Labour Party who when in government quietly started most of the plans (i.e. The Passport Office and the Forensic Science Service to name but two) to make cost savings (at the expense of jobs) with minimal resistance from their card carrying stooges within the Trade Unions. Yet when the cost saving measures came to fruition under the Con Dems the reaction from the Labour dominated Trade Union leadership was entirely different.
In some parts of Wales the Trade Unions are blatantly sectarian with leadership positions at certain levels being almost entirely dominated by Labour members. These Union officers are quite happy prevent hard working Plaid AM's from addressing rallies against job and pension cuts in Swansea and elsewhere.
It's time for Trade Unions to wise up and de-Labourise their senior officers, cease any financial contributions to the Labour Party and to concentrate on fighting for the interests of their members. I think that elected and salaried Trade Union officials should not be card carrying members of any political parties.
On personal basis I have reached and passed the point of no return when it comes to Unison. Just before Christmas I finally severed that bond (along with a few work colleagues) once and for all. I am still a Trade Unionist and still think that Trade Unions are important in the workplace, but, firmly believe that the links with the Labour Party need to be severed.
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