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| We need unions. But not as Labour's bankers | We need unions. But not as Labour's bankers |
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| Effective trade unions are vital components of a strong economy and a vigorous society. Today their weakness is hindering economic recovery. There will be no sustained increase in consumer spending without a rise in real wages, together with the confidence among consumers that these gains are durable. Innovative companies need confident customers whose wages are rising to buy their goods and services, allowing them to break into the virtuous circle of more production, technical innovation and greater spending. | Effective trade unions are vital components of a strong economy and a vigorous society. Today their weakness is hindering economic recovery. There will be no sustained increase in consumer spending without a rise in real wages, together with the confidence among consumers that these gains are durable. Innovative companies need confident customers whose wages are rising to buy their goods and services, allowing them to break into the virtuous circle of more production, technical innovation and greater spending. |
| Nor do the positive effects of unions stop there. Efficiency and productivity in the workplace are also closely linked to high trust and trust comes best between partners who are sure they will be heard. Disorganised, atomistic workforces, where workers are disposable commodities always fearful of being sacked, whose voice is neglected or ignored, are mistrustful and low-productivity places, particularly where an employer requires his or her staff to think on their own. | Nor do the positive effects of unions stop there. Efficiency and productivity in the workplace are also closely linked to high trust and trust comes best between partners who are sure they will be heard. Disorganised, atomistic workforces, where workers are disposable commodities always fearful of being sacked, whose voice is neglected or ignored, are mistrustful and low-productivity places, particularly where an employer requires his or her staff to think on their own. |
| Unions are part of our social glue. When they work well, they are sites of social interaction, a place where men and women can socialise. Much of our social contact is at work. Unions help make that a reality. It is no accident that Germany and the Nordic countries have strong trade unions, as well as durable economies, resilient societies and a thriving middle class. What is becoming obvious in both Britain and the US is that weak trade unionism in the private sector has undermined middle-class incomes. Everyone but the top 1% has been dragged down by the relentless assault on people's living standards. | Unions are part of our social glue. When they work well, they are sites of social interaction, a place where men and women can socialise. Much of our social contact is at work. Unions help make that a reality. It is no accident that Germany and the Nordic countries have strong trade unions, as well as durable economies, resilient societies and a thriving middle class. What is becoming obvious in both Britain and the US is that weak trade unionism in the private sector has undermined middle-class incomes. Everyone but the top 1% has been dragged down by the relentless assault on people's living standards. |
| For three decades, the very idea of unionism has been under assault. The doctrine has been that the more workers are on their own, and the more managers are free to hire and fire them at will, then the better everyone will be. The baleful results are everywhere to see. Profits are at a postwar high as a share of GDP and wages at a postwar low. The average wage would be £7,000 a year higher if wages represented the same share of GDP as they did a generation ago when unions were stronger. | For three decades, the very idea of unionism has been under assault. The doctrine has been that the more workers are on their own, and the more managers are free to hire and fire them at will, then the better everyone will be. The baleful results are everywhere to see. Profits are at a postwar high as a share of GDP and wages at a postwar low. The average wage would be £7,000 a year higher if wages represented the same share of GDP as they did a generation ago when unions were stronger. |
| We were told that this would be the recipe for an investment boom. Instead, companies are hoarding their profits and withholding investment, while workers are having their wages squeezed. Britain ranks 159th in the international league table for investment as a share of GDP. Meanwhile, by the next election, in 2015, real wages on average will be 10 % lower than in 2010. Britain is locked in a vicious circle of minimal investment and innovation because of uncertain demand, while ever more insecure workplaces are delivering falling real wages and even more uncertain demand. | We were told that this would be the recipe for an investment boom. Instead, companies are hoarding their profits and withholding investment, while workers are having their wages squeezed. Britain ranks 159th in the international league table for investment as a share of GDP. Meanwhile, by the next election, in 2015, real wages on average will be 10 % lower than in 2010. Britain is locked in a vicious circle of minimal investment and innovation because of uncertain demand, while ever more insecure workplaces are delivering falling real wages and even more uncertain demand. |
| We need stronger trade unions that can bargain for higher wages across whole industries. The phasing out of free collective bargaining has proved an economic and social mistake. It needs to be reversed. We now need to make the case for unionism, free collective bargaining, good work and higher wages as enthusiastically and vigorously as possible. | We need stronger trade unions that can bargain for higher wages across whole industries. The phasing out of free collective bargaining has proved an economic and social mistake. It needs to be reversed. We now need to make the case for unionism, free collective bargaining, good work and higher wages as enthusiastically and vigorously as possible. |
| But this argument is impossible to win in Britain as long as the link between the Labour party and the union movement is framed as it is and especially when a large union such as Unite is so flagrantly packing local party electorates in order to shape the selection of MPs. Nobody outside the labour movement can make the principled case for unionism because in effect it is an argument for the Labour party and potentially an endorsement of political opponents. Nor can Labour make the argument without the accusation that it is being self-serving and, worse, turning a blind eye to the abuse of democracy within its own ranks, such as has apparently occurred in Falkirk. | But this argument is impossible to win in Britain as long as the link between the Labour party and the union movement is framed as it is and especially when a large union such as Unite is so flagrantly packing local party electorates in order to shape the selection of MPs. Nobody outside the labour movement can make the principled case for unionism because in effect it is an argument for the Labour party and potentially an endorsement of political opponents. Nor can Labour make the argument without the accusation that it is being self-serving and, worse, turning a blind eye to the abuse of democracy within its own ranks, such as has apparently occurred in Falkirk. |
| Unfortunately, the general secretary of Unite, Len McCluskey, whose union is accused of trying to influence the outcome of the selection process in Falkirk by importing extra voters into the local Labour party, may be right to say that he broke no rules. The problem lies with the fundamental relationship between the party and the unions that brought it into existence, and that has left a legacy of rules that are so open to corruption. | Unfortunately, the general secretary of Unite, Len McCluskey, whose union is accused of trying to influence the outcome of the selection process in Falkirk by importing extra voters into the local Labour party, may be right to say that he broke no rules. The problem lies with the fundamental relationship between the party and the unions that brought it into existence, and that has left a legacy of rules that are so open to corruption. |
| The privileging of unions in the Labour party constitution could be justified at the party's birth in 1900 when socialist thinkers believed that the party was the political wing of a labour movement that would transform capitalism and in practical terms needed all the financial help it could get. But now it locks trade unionists such as McCluskey into a mindset that the union interest can best be advanced by entryism into the Labour party. It paints trade unionism not as the friend of ordinary working people who want better wages and conditions but, rather, as a partisan bureaucratic machine. Outside the public sector, union membership is a trivial 14% of the workforce. A growing number of union members prefer to pay their membership by direct debit from their bank accounts rather than directly from their wages: they don't want their private sector employers to know they are union members. This cultural mindset has to be turned round and part of that is having a good answer to the question of how unions connect to the political process. | The privileging of unions in the Labour party constitution could be justified at the party's birth in 1900 when socialist thinkers believed that the party was the political wing of a labour movement that would transform capitalism and in practical terms needed all the financial help it could get. But now it locks trade unionists such as McCluskey into a mindset that the union interest can best be advanced by entryism into the Labour party. It paints trade unionism not as the friend of ordinary working people who want better wages and conditions but, rather, as a partisan bureaucratic machine. Outside the public sector, union membership is a trivial 14% of the workforce. A growing number of union members prefer to pay their membership by direct debit from their bank accounts rather than directly from their wages: they don't want their private sector employers to know they are union members. This cultural mindset has to be turned round and part of that is having a good answer to the question of how unions connect to the political process. |
| The link as framed today is no less disabling for Labour. It needs to be a mass party with strong, working-class roots. Middle-class professionals may dismiss health and safety as political correctness: working-class construction workers know it is a matter of life and death and their voice needs to be part of the national conversation. Trade unions could be a means to that end, but not as currently constituted, which enfranchises union leaders but not individual members. There are only two ways forward: either formally to break the link altogether or to make every union member who pays the political levy a member of the Labour party. | The link as framed today is no less disabling for Labour. It needs to be a mass party with strong, working-class roots. Middle-class professionals may dismiss health and safety as political correctness: working-class construction workers know it is a matter of life and death and their voice needs to be part of the national conversation. Trade unions could be a means to that end, but not as currently constituted, which enfranchises union leaders but not individual members. There are only two ways forward: either formally to break the link altogether or to make every union member who pays the political levy a member of the Labour party. |
| After an uncertain and faltering start, Ed Miliband has had a good Falkirk crisis, not hesitating to be tough on his former backer, Len McCluskey, whose defiance has been ill-judged. In today's Observer, Miliband signals his determination to establish a new relationship between his party and the unions. But he must go much further, with a programme of specific and far-reaching reforms and a clear timetable for implementation. The prize could be a genuine mass membership party and a revived trade union movement. But that will not be achieved as matters currently stand. Mr McCluskey, unintentionally, may have done Britain's liberal left a great service. | After an uncertain and faltering start, Ed Miliband has had a good Falkirk crisis, not hesitating to be tough on his former backer, Len McCluskey, whose defiance has been ill-judged. In today's Observer, Miliband signals his determination to establish a new relationship between his party and the unions. But he must go much further, with a programme of specific and far-reaching reforms and a clear timetable for implementation. The prize could be a genuine mass membership party and a revived trade union movement. But that will not be achieved as matters currently stand. Mr McCluskey, unintentionally, may have done Britain's liberal left a great service. |
| THE UNITE AFFAIR | THE UNITE AFFAIR |
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