Blair's "new Britain" and the unions

By Mick Ingram

The Trades Union Congress in Brighton last month showed the role of trade unions in Blair's "new Britain".

Even before the conference began, General Secretary John Monks bent over backwards to assure the press and big business that there was no fundamental conflict between the unions and the new Labour government.

Painting a picture of a Labour government committed to workers' rights, Monks told reporters that he welcomed the government's moves to reinstate unions at the GCHQ spy centre as a vote of confidence in the unions. He chose not to mention that this was on the basis of a no strike clause. He went on to praise the signing of the European Social Chapter and its commitment to new working hours legislation. On Labour's promise of legislation to force employers to recognise unions if a majority of the work-force want it, Monks said; "I've always taken Tony Blair at his word. The TUC is playing its proper part in the life of this country".

"New unionism"

To say the conference expressed the right wing transformation of the unions would turn understatement into an art form. The opening day was given over to a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, while the debate on the minimum wage was dropped because the government has set up a so-called independent Low Pay Commission. "We had no wish to repeat last year's debate", said Monks.

He began his address to conference saying: "I believe that we must capture something of that mood generated by the death of Diana. I hope that her legacy will be the flowering of a new compassion and bringing people together in rejecting rampant, uncaring individualism."

Alongside a multi-millionaire aristocrat, Monks chose Blair as his embodiment of the new spirit of compassion abroad in the country:

"Tomorrow we hear from the new Prime Minister -- the first Prime Minister to address us for 19 years.

"After the biggest election victory this century, he will deserve a very warm welcome. But today we talk about our place in the new Britain. Not just what we'd like to get, but where we can play a part. Not just what we want to see -- but what we plan to do. And not just what we want others to give -- but how we ourselves can contribute. Congress, this needs: new thinking; new action; and our new unionism".

So far down the pro-capitalist road have the TUC travelled that the proceedings took on an air of high farce. Not only was Dr. George Carey the first Archbishop to address the Congress but he ended up making the most radical noises. This rhetoric was quickly exposed when MSF union General Secretary Roger Lyons pointed out that the church refused to recognise his union which represents more than 400 clergy. "It appears that the Archbishop is commending to others that which he denies his employees", he said.

The only debate that could have led to even muted disagreement with Labour Party policy was on the repeal of the anti-union legislation. This was not to be, as National Union of Mineworkers President and Socialist Labour Party leader, Arthur Scargill, was not in the hall when his motion was due to be heard and it fell from the agenda.

Crusade for competitiveness

In his speech to the conference Blair demanded that the unions "modernise" themselves in line with "four essential challenges of modernisation":

"The first is to create an economy fully attuned to a new global market... The second is to fashion a modern welfare state... where the role of government changes so it is not necessarily to provide all social provision... The third is to modernise the institutions of the country to bring them closer to the people, which is why our devolution programme is so central to the creation of new Britain. The fourth is to create a clear identity and role for ourselves in the outside world." (Emphasis added)

Setting out his "vision of the workplace" Blair said it would be one "where we recognise that we will change jobs often and change the nature of jobs, even if we keep them. It is where demarcation is part of redundant language and where our national purpose, our response to the challenge of change, should be such." (?)

"The crusade for competitiveness has to be a national crusade," insisted Blair. "It has to be one fought in every business in the country, with everyone in those businesses fighting together."

Warning against any attempt to buck the demands of big business, Blair told conference: "You should remember in everything you do that fairness at work starts with the chance of a job in the first place, because if we as a government and you as the trades union movement do not make Britain a country of successful business, a country where people want to set up and expand and a country that has the edge over our competitors, then we are betraying those we represent..."

He called for the building of "unions that show they can work with management to make better companies."

An appeal to the bureaucracy

Blair's remarks were not "anti-union", but an appeal to the bureaucracy to work with him. Just prior to the conference, Monks led a 10 strong delegation to a 70-minute meeting with Blair in Downing Street to set out the agenda for the forthcoming congress. Union representatives now sit on eight committees and commissions and are consulted on issues such as low pay and the single currency. Monks has also held private discussions with Tory party leader, William Hague.

Blair said that legislation on union recognition would be part of a programme to encourage greater collaboration between management and unions. He warned the assembled bureaucrats:

"Agree as much as possible with employers and let there be a genuine dialogue to try and resolve some of the practical problems in any such legislation. Also, with any such right comes responsibility... We are not going to go back to the days of industrial warfare, strikes without ballots, mass and flying pickets and secondary action. You do not want it, and I will not let it happen."

Earlier John Edmonds of the GMB had remarked, "When I hear the Labour government using Tory phrases, I shiver just a little". In response Blair said contemptuously: "We will keep the flexibility of the present labour market, and it may make some shiver but, in the end, it is warmer in the real world."

For this diatribe, Blair received a standing ovation. John Monks said he saw the scope for constructive debate. "We need to agree a definition of what's acceptable flexibility and what's exploitation." He defined flexibility as a well trained work-force, quick to do new things, who are committed and loyal and who receive in return as much security as the company can deliver and flexible patterns of working hours."

Later conference gave another warm reception to the speech of Confederation of British Industry Director General, Adair Turner who stressed how much the two sides have in common, despite differences over recognition.

The TUC conference gives the lie to the claim by the middle class left that it is the trade unions who either guarantee the working class base of the Labour Party or constitute the real labour movement. The unions are with Blair in his ditching of the Labour Party's reformist past every step of the way.

Today it is not the unions pressuring the Labour government for reforms, but the Labour government insisting that the unions reform themselves in line with the interests of big business. In making this demand they are knocking on an open door.

Top of Page
Contents