On the losing side of capitalism

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

Words into action

(Thursday 20 November 2008)








GREGOR GALL surveys the stalled fight against the government's pitiful pay rises for the public sector.



IS it all over bar the shouting? At the Trades Union Congress in September 2007, the unions passed a motion to mount co-ordinated action against the government's public-sector pay restraint policy.

Yet, as the year's end approaches, the only winner now looks to be the government.


This year, no government pay offer was accepted by trade unions willingly and some deals were simply imposed.


A few union memberships voted No when it came to a ballot for industrial action, but enough unions remained to mount a significant co-ordinated campaign.


But, when public-sector union UNISON took its local government pay claim to arbitration after a two-day strike in July, this became less likely.


Civil Service union PCS has now suspended its action for 28 days after an offer of "meaningful talks" from the government. PCS has said that it will name dates for strike action if the talks lead nowhere.


Meanwhile, education union NUT has decided not to press ahead with another school strike after members voted for action by a narrow 52 per cent to 48 per cent margin on a low turnout.


In Scotland, the local government dispute which led to two one-day strikes seems now to be over after UNISON members accepted a slightly improved offer. Although Unite (T&G) and GMB members have rejected the offer, it will be difficult for them to press ahead with further action on their own.


Unite NHS members have just voted for strike action and action short of a strike on their own pay claim. The union has pledged that action short of a strike will be taken before Christmas. But it is hard to see how this will be effective when other NHS unions have already settled.


All this means that the action by PCS, NUT and UCU members on April 24 will probably be the only joint action this year. And it could mean that, for the umpteenth year, PCS is left to carry on trying to make progress on its own.


But why has the motto of "unity is strength" not become reality in 2008?
The argument for fighting for more pay still stands. If anything, the argument became stronger over the year as inflation rose sharply.
Economic uncertainty means that we do not know what level it will be in future.


Some have argued that workers could not afford to strike. But maybe workers thought that they could not afford to strike, losing a day or more's pay, to secure a mere 1 per cent rise. Then again, with the onset of recession, fears over job security may have undermined members' willingness to fight on pay.


But could it be possible that the proposed one or two-day strikes left some members feeling that the action would not be hard-hitting enough?


Single one-day strikes have been used a lot in recent years, but they seem capable of little else than getting an employer back to the negotiating table or a slight rejigging of the offer.


That's not to say that members are straining at the leash to take a week's strike action at a time. But the 1989 NALGO local government strike of one day in the first week, two days in the second week and so on was a model of a very successful strike. Current tactics, it would seem, need to be rethought.


Finally, what role has loyalty among union leaderships to Labour and Gordon Brown played? Despite much wavering, many union leaders have backed Brown and Labour as the best options that we have.


In any case, union members are again on the losing side as capitalism spirals into recession and out of control. Without action, they will be made to pay for this crisis which is not of their making.

Gregor Gall is professor of industrial relations at the University of Hertfordshire's Centre for Research in Employment Studies.