From banker bashing to union bashing?

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The UK witnessed the pinnacle of the banker-bashing season last year, and 2011 is showing all the signs of heralding the opening season for the new sport of union bashing. The Industrial Relations (Voting Procedures) Bill, recently rejected by Parliament, is an interesting case in point.

This private members bill was proposed, with much fanfare, by Dominic Raab MP (Esher and Walton) and sought to amend the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 to require the support of a majority of union members at that workplace, rather than merely a majority of those voting, to render industrial action lawful in the emergency services and the transport sector.

The motion was rejected, but only by 171 votes to 121, which demonstrates the intensity of feeling on this emotive subject. Mr Raab’s speech made it clear that in his view his Bill was ‘just one of the changes we need’; and I greatly suspect that the Bill will be seen as testing the water for more wide-ranging proposals (no doubt buoyed by business industry support) before too long.

The Bill was opposed by Tony Lloyd MP (Manchester Central) who made the valid point that Mr Raab had neglected to mention that we need an industrial framework that involves ACAS at an early stage, and includes a capacity for arbitration, and give and take on both sides.

With 6.5 million members, trade unions should not be ignored. Declining membership (albeit comparatively small) may perhaps be explained away by pecuniary restraints from the current fiscal malaise. I would hope that instead of blowing the horn to announce 2011 as the open season for union bashing, or fanning the flames by making vitriolic comments about union leaders (and of course vice versa), that constructive dialogue can now take place between the unions and the government so that the trenches dug over many decades can slowly be filled in.