Tories should show some vigour and stand up to unions
AMONG the Tories’ many recent failures has been their weakness in the face of the trade unions, which have been allowed regularly to hold the public to ransom through a mix of bullying, intransigence and greed. Yet instead of showing resolve against this wave of militancy, the Government has indulged in appeasement and vacillation.
One of Margaret Thatcher’s greatest achievements was to tame the trade unions whose reckless addiction to stoppages in the 1970s had paralysed the country.
But the smack of firm Government that she demonstrated is absent today, particularly in the public sector where the trade unions are at their strongest. Almost 50 per cent of employees on the state payroll are trade union members, compared to just 12 per cent in the private sector, and it is in our public services where strikes are back with a destructive vengeance.
Only this week, the train drivers’ union ASLEF, led by Mick Whelan, is to hold more walkouts as part of its long-running pay dispute which has already lasted 22 months. In the same aggrieved vein, civil servants at the Office for National Statistics are to take action in protest at attempts to reduce the amount of time they can spend working from home.
A new mood of confrontation is sweeping through parts of our public workforce.
Altogether, in the 18 months from June 2022 to December 2023, more than five million working days were lost to strikes, the highest level since the 1980s.
THE NHS, schools, Whitehall, universities and councils have all been affected, while the London Underground and the rail network are now bywords for turmoil, much of it orchestrated by Mick Lynch, the uncompromising RMT boss. Like his comrade Whelan, he seems to prefer the picket line to the functioning train line.
What makes the antics of the militants even more absurd is how they present themselves as the leaders of the oppressed proletariat in a fight for justice. But this pose could not be more deceitful.
In truth they are the voice of privilege, eager to exploit their monopoly position for selfish ends. Many of the recent strikers are among the best rewarded workers in Britain, like doctors, NHS consultants, lawyers and lecturers.
The same is true of train drivers, whose basic pay at £65,000-a-year is double average earnings, though some make six figure packages through generous overtime payments. That is in dramatic contrast to bus drivers, whose average pay is just £29,000-a-year.
The strike is an outmoded, blunt instrument that belongs to a past when the working classes really were engaged in struggles for decent wages and conditions. It should have no place in a lavishly subsidized modern public sector whose staff often enjoy better pensions, longer holidays, shorter hours and greater job security than their counterparts in the private sector.
Given such realities, the Conservatives should have been much tougher with the trade unions. It is true that ministers passed legislation requiring a minimum level of service to be maintained during any strike, but this law has not been enforced to combat the mayhem on the railways.
There is other legislation that could have been passed, like the removal of the unions’ legal immunity from claims for damages arising from their action. No other corporation or individual enjoys such a status. The Government might also have considered outlawing strikes by certain categories of vital workers, such as doctors. After all, industrial action is banned in the police, the armed forces and the prison service.
There is a lesson here to be learnt from the USA in 1981, when the air traffic controllers went on strike for more pay in spite of a federal prohibition on such action.
IN A remarkable display of determination, President Ronald Reagan declared that they would be sacked if they did not return to their desks within 48 hours. The controllers refused to comply with the order. Reagan fulfilled his threat and all 11,345 strikers lost their jobs.
Supported by contingency plans like bringing in the army, Reagan’s bold move worked. The landscape of industrial relations was transformed as the power of unions was broken.
Sadly, Britain is certain to move in the opposite direction if Labour wins the election. Keir Starmer has promised legislation that would make it easier to strike. The Tories should pre-empt such steps by finally showing some vigour.
‘Many of the strikers are among best rewarded workers in Britain’