Militant trade unions
1 November 2024
SUGGESTED
In the Media
Tom Clougherty quoted in the Times
1 November 2024
In the Media
Society and Culture
8 December 2024
Len Shackleton writes for the Telegraph
IEA Editorial and Research Fellow wrote in the Telegraph about Northern Rail, and how militant trade unions have left passengers in the 20th century.
Len said:
“While common sense might suggest it’s long past time to reform the inefficient and expensive railways and reduce the powers of their overbearing unions, Labour seems to be going in completely the opposite direction. Pay deals are being made with no commitment to reform, and the government is bringing forward measures aimed squarely at increasing the power of the unions.
“It is going to be made easier to achieve union recognition. It is going to be made easier to call strikes – as hurdles about voting turnout are removed – and a strike mandate will now last for a year without the need for another vote.
“Unions are to be given the power to enter real and virtual workplaces to recruit members, and there will be more facility time for union representatives within businesses to promote equality, diversity and inclusion – which will presumably involve attempting to tie management to commitments to meet union demands.
“So although the use of fax machines to alert drivers to changes in work scheduling may seem an amusing anachronism, it speaks of a continuing problem of reforming industrial relations and reconfiguring a huge industry which is in many ways still stuck in the last century.”
Read the full article here.
Len said:
“While common sense might suggest it’s long past time to reform the inefficient and expensive railways and reduce the powers of their overbearing unions, Labour seems to be going in completely the opposite direction. Pay deals are being made with no commitment to reform, and the government is bringing forward measures aimed squarely at increasing the power of the unions.
“It is going to be made easier to achieve union recognition. It is going to be made easier to call strikes – as hurdles about voting turnout are removed – and a strike mandate will now last for a year without the need for another vote.
“Unions are to be given the power to enter real and virtual workplaces to recruit members, and there will be more facility time for union representatives within businesses to promote equality, diversity and inclusion – which will presumably involve attempting to tie management to commitments to meet union demands.
“So although the use of fax machines to alert drivers to changes in work scheduling may seem an amusing anachronism, it speaks of a continuing problem of reforming industrial relations and reconfiguring a huge industry which is in many ways still stuck in the last century.”
Read the full article here.
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