CASE STUDY

Unions under attack in Britain but they asked for it

The nature and scope of the Trades Union Bill removes any doubt there may have been surrounding the governments objectives. This is to reduce Britains trade unions still the enemy within as far as they are concerned to a level of insignificance hitherto unknown. Unrestrained by the Liberal Democrats, David Camerons Conservatives have launched an attack on the unions that is more radical than anything introduced by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. The proposed changes go much further than those trailed in the run-up to the election. The government position is being bolstered by an increasingly strident, right-wing media which appears hell bent on using 1970s rhetoric to paint the unions in as bad a light as possible. Union barons may well have ruled the roost four decades ago, but now they are few and far between. Unions too are a shadow of their former selves. Even so, it seems that a few days of strike action on the London Underground has the government in a state of panic and the press denouncing unions as public enemy number one. Likewise the significance of days lost due to industrial action is lost in hyperbolic statements. Although days lost in 2014 were almost double the previous year, they were roughly half the number lost in 2011. There was no good news story in the Daily Mail about that. Although the rise in 2014 is mainly attributable to a number of big public sector strikes, the upward trend does make it easier for the government to argue in favour of increased regulation. Draconian new laws If and when the new legislation is introduced, the balance of power will be firmly in the hands of employers. The extension of notification of industrial action from seven to 14 days will give the employers longer to put contingency plans in place. This, combined with the ability to employ agency staff to replace striking workers, will undermine the collective power of unions. Making unlawful picketing a criminal offence rather than a civil one is draconian and, arguably, not far short of intimidation itself. One fruitful area for employers to seek High Court injunctions to stop industrial action has been post-ballot information. Unite found it difficult to meet its statutory obligations in the British Airways cabin crew dispute when only four pieces of information were required to be communicated. The new proposals impose far greater demands on unions, up to seven separate statistics will be required. The High Court is likely to be busier in future. The tightening of the law relating to industrial action comes as no surprise, but the devil is in the detail. The definition of important public services appears fairly innocuous; health services, education below 17 years of age, fire services, transport services, nuclear decommissioning and radioactive waste management, and border security. But also included are activities that are ancillary to the provision of important public services. What these ancillary activities are remains unclear. Does this include private services contracted into the public sector? There is a danger these ancillary activities become whatever the government wants them to be and a simple means of increasing the scope of the legislation. The removal of the check-off system, through which union subscriptions are deducted from employees wages, will also have a major impact on union finances. Some are already struggling, hence the decision by the Public and Civil Services Union to sell its Clapham offices to save money. Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock may well argue this change is a modernising step. But Hancocks comment that the change makes it easier for members to choose whether or not to pay subscriptions makes the governments objective clear a reduction in union membership. Replacing the check-off with direct debits will result in some members not bothering. The evidence of the claimed 6m cost-saving on administration is somewhat tenuous. Claims that subscriptions paid under the new system will give union members greater protection under the Direct Debit Guarantee Scheme are also flimsy. The proposals create a two-tier system under which union members employed in the public sector will be subjected to more stringent rules than their private sector counterparts. Those in the public sector will be denied the check-off those in the private sector will not. Strikes in the important public services such as nursing, ambulances and fire services require a greater level of member support than elsewhere, but this might creep into other parts of the public sector and, indeed, the private sector though the backdoor. The provision of facilities time was introduced for the furtherance of good industrial relations. A distinction was drawn between duties and activities. Giving the government the ability to set (an undefined) maximum hours a public sector official can spend on union duties will do little to foster a healthy employment relationship. Asking for it Did the unions bring it upon themselves? Did they invite trouble by deliberately kicking the Tory hornets nest? Calling strikes after ballots with low turn-outs, some of which were two years old, did not break the law. They may have been questionable, but they were legal. Almost four years ago I predicted that strike action based on low turn-outs and old ballots would prompt the government to take action. Now they have done so. Unite has already thrown down another gauntlet by removing the words so far as may be lawful from its rule book. It remains to be seen whether it is prepared to follow this through. The savagery of the Trades Union Bill is not far short of the Combination Act 1799 in restricting unions ability to protect workers interests. Sadly workers still require protection from unscrupulous employers. The major challenge facing Britains unions is mobilising the apathetic membership to participate in ballots. Something they have failed to do in many cases for a very long time. Unless they can, there is a danger they will become irrelevant. (Source: The Conversations daily newsletter, August 12, 2015)

MG316 Semester 1, 2021 Case Study Analysis: Case study 2 questions

1. Compare the Trade Union movement in UK, Australia, Germany and Sweden? In doing so, also discuss the similarities and differences in their trade union movement history, and types of trade union in the 4 countries (4.5 marks).

2. Compare the Trade Union legislation or policy changes introduced in UK, Australia, USA and your country (PIC)? Discuss the similarities and differences in policy changes regarding the trade union in the 4 countries (4.5 marks).

3. Compare the employment relationship of Trade Union movement and States in UK, Australia, Japan, Germany and Sweden? In doing so, discuss the similarities and differences in the employment relationship of Trade Union movement and States in the 5 countries (3.5 marks)