The Tory Trade Union Bill is an unnecessary, undemocratic and unfair attack on working people

Starting on Monday 8^th, the TUC will be running #HeartUnions week; seven days of action to celebrate the vital work done by unions, their reps, and members in workplaces and in society. It comes at an important time for the movement, threatened as it is by the Trade Union Bill, the greatest attack on workers’ rights in a generation.

The Trade Union Bill is unnecessary. The UK does not have a problem with industrial strife and we already have some of the most restrictive union laws among developed economies. The number of days lost annually to strikes is at a historic low, down over 90% since the 1980s. The Government’s own review failed to find evidence of intimidation of non-striking workers and the Bill has been criticised by over 100 academics as being ‘not backed by evidence’. The Tories are stuck in the past, addressing the problems of yesterday.

The Trade Union Bill is undemocratic. By introducing ballot thresholds and allowing employers to break strikes with agency workers, it undermines the right to strike – a fundamental British liberty. 274 Tory MPs, including Sajid Javid himself failed to win the support of 40% of eligible voters, the threshold he is setting for strike ballots in ‘essential public services’.

The Trade Union Bill is unfair. It shifts the balance of power further away from working people to employers. It is not just opposed by unions and their 6 million members. It has been criticised by Amnesty International and Liberty as a ‘major attack on civil liberties’.

The Government claim that they want to boost pay, productivity and growth. The irony is that trade unions could help deliver this.

Incomes have flat-lined under the Tories with working people suffering the longest squeeze on real wages since Gladstone. Even the Chancellor recognises that ‘Britain needs a pay rise’. Unions play a vital role here. By increasing the bargaining power of working people they enable them to secure higher pay. It’s no coincidence that as union membership has fallen, so wealth has been concentrated in the hands of the few; the wage share of GDP has fallen from 57% in 1980 at the peak of union membership to 51% now. This is bad for society and bad for the economy too; NEF found that if union membership returned to its peak, the increase in the wage share would boost demand, adding £27.2bn to GDP. Higher wages are good for working families and good for the economy. Trade unions can help make this happen.

Productivity has also flat-lined under the Tories. The Chancellor recognises the need to boost productivity to compete in the ‘global race’. Yet we’re falling behind; the average worker in Germany and France now produces more in four days than the average worker in the UK does in five. There is strong evidence showing that employee involvement, including through trade unions, can boost productivity. Some of our most productive and world-leading export industries such as automotive and aerospace are heavily unionised. They have a strong employee voice, and high levels of investment, pay and productivity. Trade unions should be seen as partners in delivering a more productive economy.

The Tories claim to be the party of the workers. Javid says the Bill will ‘balance [union members’] rights with those of working people’. But the six million union members are working people; nurses and teachers; bus drivers and shop workers. Rights for unions are rights for working people; the right to fair treatment, a safe workplace, a voice at work, decent pay. This Bill is a nakedly political and partisan attack from a deeply ideological and backward-looking government. Instead, of treating unions as the enemy within, the Government should focus on building a stronger economy, based on higher skills, higher productivity and higher pay. Trade unions should be seen as partners in delivering on this agenda.

Labour must continue to work with the union movement to fight this unnecessary, unfair and undemocratic Bill. It is bad for workers, bad for businesses and bad for the country. If passed, we should challenge its illiberal measures in the courts and promise to repeal it. And we must build an alternative narrative for the economy, making clear that the country only succeeds when employers, employees, their unions and the government work together to generate inclusive and sustainable growth.

Joe Dromey is a councillor and Cabinet Member for Policy and Performance in the London Borough of Lewisham