Author Archives: Anthony Fairclough

Opinion: “Workin’ 9 til 5″

By Anthony Fairclough | 23rd July 2007 - 2:07 pm

How would you feel if you told your boss you wanted a pay increase that kept up with inflation this year, and he then stopped paying you, and hired someone else to do your job, until you changed your mind? I suspect you wouldn’t be best pleased to say the least.

Nonetheless, this is pretty much what the most recent Lib Dem guidance on trades unions is suggesting.

MPs, parliamentary candidates and activists are advised, if asked about the Trade Union Freedom bill, to write something along the lines of:

“I do not believe that strikers should be paid for not working, nor that employers should be prevented from employing temporary replacement workers – it is surely reasonable for employers to take action to keep their businesses running while a strike is going on. Finally, the proposed lifting of restrictions on secondary action are a serious step backwards. They would invite a return to the disputes of the 1970s, which would not be in anyone’s best interests.”

Playing on the stereotype of militant unionists and the three-day week might be necessary to combat the claims of the Tories that we’re actually just ‘reds’ by any other name, but is it really liberal?