Labour, UNISON and workers rights

Listening to the radio, I was surprised to hear that the leader on Unison has said been "handing money over to the Labour Party and getting absolutely nothing in return" as Labour have brought about changes to employment rights. It is fashionable to bash Starmer, but doing this plays to the stance of Reform UK Ltd that they represent workers. 

The facts are simple. Labour have improved workers rights, Reform have promised to abolish the changes. If Unsion want a Reform UK government after the next General Election, they need to keep forgetting how Labour have not done absolutely nothing for workers.  While I understand that unions want more done, union leaders need to tell workers what Labour have done for employment rights now, or they will lose them after Farage gets elected in 2029. 

Unions and workers rights

On my YouTube feed, this video was suggested.  I though I should share it as a reminder why unions are important.  There are those on the right who are against workers having rights but they forget that unions want workers to have jobs.  A comparison of what can be done in the USA should be a reminder of the advantages of unions who have striven for workers rights and those victories should not be thrown away.  Lets face it, no one in a job in the UK wants to be treated like the employees of Twitter after Musk took charge of it. 

Workers rights

On Twitter the other day, I mentioned the importance of unions.  It is something that I have discussed before on here.  Basically, I am of the view that unions support workers and if you are against unions, you are in essence against workers rights.

I suspect that there will be those who disagree with my interpretation of this view, but the case of P&O sacking workers to rehire labour at a lower cost, in my view, proves the need for decent workers rights. 

I am in a union, and in my job, I have seen the difference in how those in a union are treated better than those not in a union.

Unions (again)

The Conservatives do not like unions. Unions are about ensuring members get to work, they are not in favour of bankruptcies of employers. They are interested in a fair deal for workers and thanks to the laws imposed by the Conservatives, strike action for many industries has more of a mandate than Liz Truss did when she was elected by a few Conservative members! 

A huge example of why unions are important is seen with Elon Musk. His actions to employees are disgusting and should not be allowed. I accept that he can get away with this abroad, but thanks to unions, other employers cannot act like this here. Unless they own a ferry company. 

Unions do not want to strike

There has been interesting discussions about unions.  Some say that they are against people being in work. Well, let me say, that considering they depend on people who are working joining them, that is an insane argument. At the moment, unions are being portrayed as being happy to strike. Those in work want to work, they, like the unions who represent them want employees to be working. But the main reason for strikes right now, in my view, is the lack of action by the government on the cost of living crisis, as well as the lack of action when it comes to energy bills.  Decent action by the government on these issues would have resulted in less of a call for increased wages. That and action to prevent bonuses being paid to the rich. Action may take place once Liz Truss is elected, but considering that she is more interested in tax cuts, I doubt that she will address things. At least she is not as bad as Rishi Sunak who has actively taken money from where it is needed to reward Conservative voting constituencies.  

Unions represent workers who want to work and want employers to engage in reasonable discussions rather than strike. Things are more difficult when the government does not allow negotiations to be fair, but the idiocy they show on this is reflected in other areas of how they are mismanaging our great nation. 

I have noted in my job, that when seeing people with work induced stress, people who are members of a union are treated better than those who are not.  Management appears to be more careful in treating a member of a union compared with those who are not in one.  Although the same laws apply to those who are or not in a union (due to the work of the unions), due to the advocacy that workers in a union get, employment law appears to be followed better in these cases.


I however had joined a union before I saw (in my job) how unions had helped others.  And by being part of a union, in one of my jobs, our employment rights, which had been bent by our employer, were followed when challenged.  We had tried to discuss this matter without the help of the union, but we got no where, but when our union was involved, they told us what we needed to do to bring about the change we asked for, and once we did that, our employer had no choice but to accept that they were not following employment law.


My union has not always been successful in bringing about change, but I know that like other union members across the planet, I have more security from being in a union, compared to not being in one.

Blaming the unions

I wish that Network Rail had averted this unnecessary strike by engaging in a meaningful way the Unions like ScotRail has. 

The unions have been blamed for the rail strike today by the government. But the government forget to tell you that the workers were balloted on strike action and the workers decided to strike.  I know this because I am a member of a union.  I have been out on strike and my union has worked to protect my rights.  Many years ago, my union acted to ensure that my employer acted within the law and had to be involved as my employer did not listen until the union was involved.

In my job, I see how employers treat those in a union fairly, but often, those who are not in a union do not get treated in the same manner.   Due to this, when I see people with stress at work, one of the questions I ask is if they are in a union, and if they are, if they have involved it.  

It is easy to try and make political capital out of this, and the government have with soundbites that do not stand up to scrutiny.  With this tweet, the wages of teachers has been mentioned.  Teachers in the UK may be considering strike action over low pay, so the answer here is to pay teaches more.  Nurses in the UK have taken strike action over pay.  I presume that this MP backs a call from them for better wages.  Also, the MP ignores how unions are formed by their members.  If workers want a ‘hard left’ person to represent them, that is their right.  I know that I want someone in charge of my union who looks out for my rights and is willing to defend them.

I do not know a union member who wants to strike over everything.  I do know loads of union members who want to work but are part of a union to ensure that their rights are protected.  Strikes are a last resort, and in this case like others, can be avoided through negotiation just like has happened in Scotland.

An Inspector Calls

We watched this last night, my daughter studying this for her GCSE. I remember reading this when it came to my GCSE, and before I watched it, I did say it was quite left wing. it was a shock for my wife who was not expecting something so depressing but it did lead to some intersting discussions about the characters. I considered the issues raised by Arthur Birling to be that of the importance of unions and union laws to protect workers rights, a contempory example of how important this is being the way P&O sacked their workforce and replaced them with cheaper labour. My daughter also pointed out how women were treated as the factory paid women less than men would have been paid. To me, Sheila Birling showed how without workers rights that people could be fired on a whim, but also could be denied the refernces needed to get a new job afterwards. In the film, hunger is how the affair starts with Gerald Croft, and this is poignant when we consider how foodbank use has increased, this being before the increases in the cost of living thanks to fuel price increases and the rise in national insurance payments. My wife was not happy with how Sybil Birling acted, but in 1912, the charitable organisation that she ran would have had to make choices about who they could fund and who they could not. Being an unmarried mother had even more stigma then than it had in 1945 when play premiered in the Soviet Union, but even then, thanks to the numbers of unmarried mothers after the war, things started to slowly change. This raises the importance of the Welfare State in helping support those who have fallen on hard times considering the lack of help otherwise. Last of all, Eric Birling the rapist. He did not mean to be one, but the victim did not want to be raped, or fall pregant due to this. Both tried to be honourable afterwards, but only one faced and died due to the consequences. I consider Inspector Goole, after watching the film, to be the dead father, though I cannot recall what I felt in the past. 

 

Even today, there is a view that the poor deserve to be poor and could have not been so if only they worked hard. This shows otherwise.

On a different note, my COVID symptoms are that of a cold. I did my work telephone calls this morning but now need to chill as I have run out of energy.  My son has continued his isolation in his room.  Hopefully he will not get this. 

Why I am part of a union

There has been interesting discussions about unions.  Some say that they are against people being in work. Well, let me say, that considering they depend on people who are working joining them, that is an insane argument.

I have noted in my job, that when seeing people with work induced stress, people who are members of a union are treated better than those who are not.  Management appears to be more careful in treating a member of a union compared with those who are not in one.  Although the same laws apply to those who are or not in a union (due to the work of the unions), due to the advocacy that workers in a union get, employment law appears to be followed better in these cases.


I however had joined a union before I saw (in my job) how unions had helped others.  And by being part of a union, in one of my jobs, our employment rights, which had been bent by our employer, were followed when challenged.  We had tried to discuss this matter without the help of the union, but we got no where, but when our union was involved, they told us what we needed to do to bring about the change we asked for, and once we did that, our employer had no choice but to accept that they were not following employment law.


My union has not always been successful in bringing about change, but I know that like other union members across the planet, I have more security from being in a union, compared to not being in one.

And the final score is - Margaret Thatcher: 87 The Unions: 0

So, the government is going to take action against the Unions. They are to criminalise unlawful picketing, allow employers to hire strike breaking agency staff and make it harder for workers to strike legally and act against union funding for Labour.

 A lot of it sounds quite reasonable so long as you just look at what they say, and not what the Conservative party are doing.

 Propose that unlawful or intimidatory picketing should become a criminal as opposed to civil offence and new protections should be available for those workers unwilling to strike. All this sounds reasonable, but it has become easier for employers to make a picket illegal. Which in effect makes it harder for workers to protest against an employer.

 Strike breaking appears understandable. After all, an employer still has to provide its function. But it is recognised in most developed nations that it is unfair for this to occur. I have to say that if this was the 1970's when unions had more power, I might be less against this, but unions in the UK have much less power than in other developed nations and there is a more confrontational attitude to unions in the UK compared to other nations where employers and unions work together to safeguard jobs and continued prosperity for the company within the economic climate.

 When it comes to political funding though, that is where I have an issue. It sounds reasonable to ensure that union members can opt in to paying money to the Labour party, but at present, they can opt out. This viewpoint does not apply to corporate donations which the Conservatives benefit from. An employee, or shareholder can not ask for the money that is given to come back to them if that is not what they wish when a corporation makes a donation. As it is, unions are limited when it comes to political campaigning, but the right wing press can smear the Labour party as much as they like.

 But my biggest gripe is with the way that voting for strike action is changing. Not only is the mandate for strike action being limited, but there is to be an electoral threshold where the government are to impose a minimum 50% turnout and for public sector strikes would need the backing of at least 40% of those eligible to vote. This from a government that was not elected by 50% of those who voted, let alone 50% of those eligible to vote. It is argued that the MP's in Parliament are not elected by 50% of the electorate of the constituencies that they serve, but the counter argument is that there was a referendum on electoral reform and the first past the post system was kept. However, when it came to the Police and crime commissioner elections for England and Wales, the turnout was much less than 50%, but the government at the time argued that they still had democratic legitimacy. So, it is all right to have less than half the electorate vote for a police and crime commissioner, but it is not acceptable for this to occur with a strike.

 Sounds unfair to me. But, I doubt that anyone will notice these issues. Which is a shame as this seems to work against having fair and accountable democracy that protects employees and employers.