The Trades Union Congress has withdrawn an invitation to Vince Cable to speak at their Autumn conference.
The Financial Times (free registration required) reports that leaders of the big unions are upset about Government cuts (which might raise the issue of how they would have dealt with Labour’s £44 billion proposed cuts had they won the election).
As the FT reports:
A moderate unionist said: “It’s a serious embarrassment, a joke, I don’t know what they’re playing at.”
The TUC struck a conciliatory note, telling the FT that it would find an alternative mechanism to keep dialogue open with the business
secretary.
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15 Comments
Lucky escape for Vince. I can think of few worse ways to spend a afternoon than chewing the fat with the Union Brothers and Sisters and having to listen to their fantasy economics. A depressing mixture of half understood Keynes and Socialist infantilism masking naked self- interest.
Unions ought to be getting the best deal for their members whoever is in power. So behaving like this is ridiculous. I suspect the majority of Trade Union leaders would like Vince to turn up, but there were some who were threatening a walk out and a proper dialogue is not possible when that happens.
It’s a bit unfair to Vince really, it’s not like he really has any input of worthwhile note anyway.
Maybe when the north has turned into a manufacturing powerhouse he will be invited again
Who can blame them from not inviting him. This government are already looking at even more anti union laws , such as having minimum turnout for an industrial action ballot to be legal. Plus all the people that don’t vote including those not in the union having their votes classed as no votes, add this to yet another attempt to privatise Royal Mail and who can blame the Unions for not wanting to talk to yet another union bashing conservative spokesman when we already have the most restrictive industrial laws in the western world.
Johnj , you really dont know a lot about trade unions do you ?.
“Who can blame them from not inviting him. This government are already looking at even more anti union laws , such as having minimum turnout for an industrial action ballot to be legal.”
Yeah, it wouldn’t make sense to talk to one of the more sympathetic and powerful members to the government to get him onside? I mean, it’s much more important for them to have a symbolic hissy fit!
For the record, I would count myself as mildly pro-union, and I certainly don’t like the changes to the law the Tories are talking about. But frankly, this just counts among the number of occasions that the trade union movement are shooting themselves in the foot.
Foregone, they’ve already met him several times on the new laws and the privatisation of Royal Mail and got nowhere.
Vince wants to give 25% of Royal Mail to their members – and they are not interested.
Talk about dinosaurs. I know its not 100 percent – but if it was a workers co-op would they still call it privatisation ?
A stake in the business would give the union a real stick to get the antediluvian management sorted out. But then why grasp that opportunity when you can stick with the old worker /boss battle that they are so comfortable with – Bit like the tory-labour duopoly really.
simonsez, and the other 75% goes to the private sector which means the workers 25% means nothing. If you want to look at dinosaurs , look no further than the idea of privatisation, give me one example of where privtisation has helped either the workforce or the general public.
If cable really wants to look at something innovative , he would look further into the Unions proposal of creating a peoples bank via the postoffice, which could then help finance the use of royal mail for more services for the wider community.
Ho hum. They only hurt themselves.
Personally, I would want to be in the same postcode as the likes of Bob Crow and his merry band of Dinosaurs, but thats just me.
RynaM, you’d only like to live in the postcode of Bob Crow, personally id rather live in the postcode of one of the politicans that claim they know whats best for the average person in the country.
As for being dinosaurs, you’re obviously yet another person in the Lib dems that hasn’t got a clue as to what they’re talking about when it comes to trade unions ,as no organisation in this country has reformed more than the trade union movement in the last 20 years. I suppose you’re another that blames one side for any industrial unrest that happens without listening to the full facts. Seeing the opinion of people in the lib dem party towards trade unions quite clearly shows why the TUC has decided listening to Vince Cable would be a waste of time.
and there was me thinking your party was supposed to want to look after the poorer in society, how wrong i could be.
Oh, many Trade Unions are fantastic organizations. I don’t dispute that, I’m a Trade Union member myself and very happy with the representation that particular Union provides.
But there is a hardcore militant leftist rump, personified most by Crow, though he is by no means alone, for representing members is secondary to sticking it to the establishment and causing trouble for the hell of it. They still live in the 80’s, forever engaged in a Class war that is a straw man they construct just to justify there actions.
Lets be clear, it is that rump that have pressured the TUC to withdraw Cable’s invite, not the genuine representative Unions who put members interests first.
RyanM, what you or i think about Bob Crowe is largely irrelevant, the only people he needs to answer to is his members and as they continually support him , as it is they who both call for industrial action and take it , they must feel he is doing a good job on their behalf.
Having been involved in a fair amount of industrial action myself i can assure you people do not do it lightly and only take it as a last resort and i have no doubt that the same is exactly the same with RMT members .Do you honestly believe Bob Crowe calls for industrial action and his members just take it ?. Whats more it is not Bob Crowe who decides that the Union is going to ballot its members , its the national executive after speaking to the local representatives.
Politicians could actually learn a lot from trade unions , as they are actually run and operate in a way that political parties should which is from the bottom up. In a Union the members have the final say on all agreements that affect them which should be the principle of political parties, unfortunatley because of the egos of the party leaders this doesnt happen because being the party leaders they think they know best.
Far from being dinosaurs, Bob Crowe and the other Unin leaders show what real democracy should be ie the members having the ultimate say, its a shame the same cant be said of our political leaders.
The theory behind trades unions is great. The practice, in my experience, is of small cliques running the show, while the majority of the grassroots are simply involved for the supposed benefit of employment law advice and support, which often fails to materialise in practice.
The solution I suppose is for more people to get actively involved in the trades union movement, but while it’s perceived as being so mindlessly pro-Labour, I know I for one will be investing my energy in my local Liberal Democrat party instead.
Dave Page, you’re the minority though as there are lot more members of Trade Unions than people that voted lib dem, obviously more people have faith in their trade union helping them than they do the Lib Dems.
“They still live in the 80′s, forever engaged in a Class war”
Uh, hello. Why else would people join a union if not because there is a war to lower wages and conditions, thus cutting costs / boosting profits?