Don’t count on McCluskey to make the break
LEEDS United defender Norman Hunter, renowned for his perhaps overly robust approach to defence, famous advised young footballers to ‘get your retaliation in first’. The wisecrack metamorphosed into something of a New Labour catchphrase in the mid 1990s, with the line slightly altered to ‘get your betrayal in first’. Recent statements from both Ed Balls [...]
N30: trade unions only look dead
HARDLINERS. Militants itching for a fight. Michael Gove is in no doubt about who is responsible for N30. Yet there are a couple of fundamental flaws with the education secretary’s assertion that those taking part in Wednesday’s public sector stoppage are being manipulated by an unrepresentative clique of hard left union bosses. For a start, [...]
Trades Union Congress: talking the talk
THE Trades Union Congress doesn’t need to hire Blackpool Winter Gardens anymore. Nowadays it is a small scale event with just 300 delegates, all of whom fit comfortably into the basement of the organisation’s London headquarters. Time was when there were usually that many people selling Trot newspapers outside, and everybody seriously interested in politics would [...]
The Tory who wants to ban strikes
BORIS Johnson may argue for a minimum turnout threshold on industrial action ballots, Vince Cable might make threatening noises at GMB conference. But throughout my adult lifetime, I cannot remember any public figure openly advocating that strikes should be illegal. Step forward Dr Andrew Lilico, an economist who – modestly or otherwise – styles himself [...]
Fire service cuts: just who are the fascist bastards?
MOST people assume that the acronym FBU stands for Fire Brigades Union. But Richard Simpson, a man who still sits for Labour in the Scottish parliament, obvious had other ideas about the first two of the three initials. Seven years ago, he was forced to step down from his job as deputy justice minister at [...]
Left unions scrap early anti-cuts demo plan
This is a lightly-edited cross post from Miles Barter’s new trade union blog, The Workers United, and is used by permission. What follows is bad news for those of us who hoped that Britain’s Marxist-led unions could somehow supply the necessary political initiative their mainstream counterparts are patently unable to provide: TWO UK unions with militant [...]
The Workers United
QUICK plug for a new blog from my old pal Miles Barter. The Workers United, as the name implies, covers trade union issues from an activist viewpoint. Being a journo himself, Miles is aware of the need for frequent updates to keep the punters interested. And although he is an NUJer, he seems intent on [...]
Public sector strikes: when industrial relations is not a game
TOO many of those directly engaged in industrial relations regard it as all a bit of a laugh. As a journalist who has covered numerous disputes ever since the 1980s, I know plenty of union officials and employer reps who get a kick out of showing what a clever clogs they can be across the [...]
TUC conference: unions may be too weak to fight
BRENDAN Barber doesn’t really do righteous indignation. In all my 30 years of sitting through speeches by trade union leaders, I can honestly say that he stands out in my mind as easily the dullest orator I have ever had to politely applaud. This is nothing personal; I have never met the guy. Nor is [...]
Unite: Len McCluskey or Jerry Hicks?
I AM not a member of Unite and have no factional alignment to any of the candidates in the impending general secretary contest. So much for the disclaimer. But I can’t help noticing that of the two contenders for the leftwing vote, onetime Liverpool docker Len McCluskey seems well ahead of his rival Jerry Hicks. [...]
