Labour leader declares war on trade unions
After deleting the party's commitment to common ownership of the means of production, Labour leader
Tony Blair's next step is to weaken the link between the party and the trade unions which created it. But as Peter Hooper reports, this will be a hard job for the right. And an important struggle for the left.
ALTHOUGH BLAIR WON a conference majority for his new statement of free-market values (see IV #266, April 1995) the vote in the unions was much closer than in the party branches. The huge Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) and the health service union UNISON opposed his changes, as did the National Union of Miners, RMT (railway) and Fire Brigades Unions. There was also significant dissent within the white collar MSF and Communications' Workers' Union (CWU) unions, whose leadership backed Blair.
As it stands, Blair is offering workers and the unions little - other than the prospect of a Labour government one day. He has refused the 'soft left' union leaders' proposals for full employment legislation, or for the introduction of a £4/hour minimum wage (34 FFR/S7 US).
But Blair also knows that the unions will make demands on an incoming Labour government. And he remembers the wave of strikes which led to the defeat of discredited Labour governments in 1970 and 1979. His goal is therefore to marginalise the unions within the Labour Party, reduce their voting strength at conferences, and cut their representation on the Party's Nation Executive
At the same time, Blair would like to see union bureaucrats in a stronger position within their unions, able to control their members and 'sit on' any left activists. The Blairists are particularly happy with the leadership of the CWU, which held a postal ballot on support for Blair's reform of the Party — so as to avoid exposing members to arguments against Blair from militants at union
The leadership of the Labour Party wants to see this kind of top-down unionism extended to questions of industrial action. National Union of Teachers' leader Doug McAvoy has already criticised his own union's conference resolutions, and announced his opposition to any vote in the union over industrial action to prevent the government increasing class sizes in state schools.
Blair's sizeable party machine (see accompanying article has also intervened in the TGWU, backing a rightist candidate against incumbent Bill Morris, a defender of Labour's traditional programme. The only reason there has not been similar interference in UNISON is that the rightwing opposition to 'soft left' leader Rodney Bickerstaffe is a shambles.
The right wing in the unions are not having an easy ride. UNISON recently endorsed a package of radical policies it wants to see included in Labour's pre-election manifesto. Blair's campaign to amend the Labour Party constitution has hardened up the left-wing currents in the unions and the party.
The Socialist Workers' Party and, to a lesser extent, Militant (the country's largest revolutionary left organisations) effectively encourages abstention in this struggle. They gave verbal support to Clause Four (committing the party to socialisation of 'the means of production, distribution and exchange'), but instead of building opposition to Blair, they counterposed their own sectarian party-building projects. What now?
The exclusive focus of the Clause Four debate on a future Labour government has slowdown in the domestic economy. especially in the privatised sectors. This is leading to new attacks on pay, jobs, conditions and hours of work. British Telecom is attempting to impose "flexible' working hours, while the Royal Mail is trying to enforce new working practices. Some 850,000 National Health Service workers are involved in pay disputes. Three of the teachers' unions will soon ballot their members on what action to take to combat education cuts. Rail workers face new fights on pay and privatisation. Tens of thousands of jobs are
Great Britain threatened by competitive tendering procedures in local government, the civil service and the National Health Service.
Some victories have been won, notably postal workers in Newcastle (NE England) and British Telecom workers in NW England. But anti-union laws overshadow the movement. Most industrial action is illegal in Britain nowadays. And almost all union leaders, 'left' and 'right', are determined to obey the law. The 'left' TGWU refuses to take (illegal) solidarity action to support the Eastern National bus dispute in Chelmsford. The greatest success of these anti-union laws is that they no longer have to be enforced. Union leaders now do the police work, and block potentially illegal action by their members.
Tony Blair and the Labour leadership have no intention of repealing these laws. But if a section of workers could overcome the inertia of the union bureaucrats, their action could prove enormously popular. This is what we saw with the recent nurses' dispute. As British Rail workers realised when they struck last year, the government is too unpopular to be able to enforce the anti-union laws. Public sector
United public sector action in defence of pay and services is crucial in the face of the government's on-going attack. The RMT has called for a demonstration against low pay and for a shorter working week in London on June 10th. This kind of initiative must be supported and build for by the whole movement. Another good initiative was the recent conference in defence of the public sector organised by Newcastle UNISON. In the education sector, parents groups and school governors have united in the Fight Against Education Cuts campaign (FACE). The far left should make sure that speakers from these movements address each of the union conferences which will be held over the summer. *
13 International Viewpoint #267 June 1995