IEA Editorial and Research Fellow Professor Len Shackleton has written for City AM on the dangers of acquiescing to trade union demands.

Len addresses this further in a recent IEA research paper, where he proposes several measures that the government could employ to combat trade union militancy.

Commenting on the risks of granting concessions, Len warns:

“If the government or its intermediaries cave in to militant public sector unions they will add to already out-of-control government spending, make it more difficult to get inflation under control, and will stymie reforms necessary to boost the country’s abysmal productivity record.”   

“A determined government could take a leaf out of the Thatcher-Major playbook and develop a proper industrial relations strategy which planned for the future.”

“This year’s midsummer madness is already producing problems for us all on many fronts. It should not extend to giving a free pass to an already privileged part of the workforce.”