Over recent years, the TUC have been encouraging people to spend one week a year making the case for trade unions. It’s not hard to see why they feel an effort to put the positive side of unions is needed, as much of the media coverage of trade unions focuses on the disruption caused when a union goes on strike or asks why industrial action is occuring when workers in that industry have above average terms and conditions.
I don’t blame journalists for this. For those outside of the workplace, strikes are the most visible part of union activity, they do cause disruption and those striking often are doing better than the average.
What this misses is that the vast majority of union work is successful without needing to go on strike, something which now has an incredibly high legal threshold. It misses out on the fact that the disruption isn’t simply the result of the union, its the result of both the employer and their employees being unable to find a reasonable agreement, and that if strikes weren’t so disruptive that they forced employers to negotiate then there wouldn’t be any point to them. It also misses out on the fact that unionised workers receiving better than average terms and conditions isn’t a sign of greed, it’s a sign of how badly workers in ununionised sectors are at getting a fair deal. The decline in trade union membership in the UK started in the 1970s and real wages in the UK have been declining since the 1970s, working out why isn’t rocket science.
Even those in work who aren’t part of a union have benefited from the rights unions have won for all of us over the years, the greatest hits being:
- two-day weekends
- limits on working hours
- the minimum wage
- the right to equal treatment in the workplace
- maternity leave
- paternity leave
- the right to discuss your pay and conditions with your employer
- the requirement that an employer sticks to their half of a contract with you
- paid annual leave
I wonder how many of those who claim to oppose the work of unions would be honest enough to turn down the benefits unions have won for them?
If you want better pay and employment conditions at work or have someone protecting your back during tough times, I can recommend no better course of action than joining a union. To find out which union might be right for you, go to: https://www.tuc.org.uk/join-a-union
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Peter Lamb for Crawley 