NASTY PARTY STRIKES AGAIN

Here we go again.  The Tories have managed to spend the last five years rewriting history concerning the economy, successfully as it turned out.  People believed them.  Now they are trying to convince the British public that the majority of this country’s ills can be laid at the door of the Trades Unions.

The Cameron Government is attempting to interfere with the right to strike by demanding that 40% of eligible Union members vote before strike action is legal.  You might be forgiven for thinking that this rule was across the board, that 40% of people would need to participate in elections for, say Police and Crime Commissioners in order to legitimise them.  But no.  The new laws will only refer to strike ballots.  

Business Secretary Sajid Javid (elected by 38.3% of those eligible to vote in his constituency) said that the Tories would not “hide away from the changes we want to make”.  The key word there is “want”.  Not “need”, but want.  Despite there being no necessity for this legislation, the Tories want to introduce it, showing once again that they are driven by ideology and a desire to take away working people’s rights.

In 2012, elections were held for Police and Crime Commissioners, a pet Tory project which few saw a need for.  Total turnout was 15.1% of the electorate.  Not 50%, not even 25%, but 15.1%.  As he has made no move towards annulling these elections, one can only assume that David Cameron (first elected to Parliament with just under 30% of the eligible vote) feels that they are legitimate.  What is good for the Trades Unions should surely be good for Javid, Cameron and Police and Crime Commissioners.

Restricting the right of people to withdraw their labour is an attack on freedom.  We saw the Conservative attitude towards working people in the last Parliament when they increased the amount of time someone had to be employed before being considered unfairly dismissed from one to two years.  An opt-out from the Working Time Directive has put pressure on the lowest paid workers to accept any hours that are offered.  Zero hours contracts force them even further into the corner.  Agencies give the work to those who have signed the opt-out with little regard for anything else.

The Trade Union Bill is a pernicious attack on people’s rights.  Cameron and co will dress it up as assisting the economy, smoothing relations.  If he was serious about that, he’d make negotiation easier and make industrial relations smoother, but instead we have yet another attack on working people.  It’s time to draw the line.