Since the 1970s, the Conservative Party has been obsessed with weakening the trade union movement. The National Union of Mineworkers effectively defeated the Conservative government of 1974, instilling a determination that the party would never again surrender power due to trade union protests. It was clear to all that the next Conservative Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, was most heavily influenced by this determination.
Thatcher’s government imposed a blizzard of legislative changes designed to weaken trade union influence. A few of the reforms were reasonable, such as the requirement to hold secret ballots of members before pursuing strikes. Yet most other changes were designed to tie-up unions in red tape (odd for a government whose raison d’être was deregulation) or were blatant attacks on union members’ democratic rights, such as secondary picketing (which is more important given the proliferation in outsourced public services). The reforms have remained intact since their imposition in the 1980s, with few serious calls even from the left of the Labour Party to unpick them. Consequently, trade unions influence over governments is greatly diminished, with no prospect of an industrial dispute bringing down a government of any party.
But this hasn’t earned union members any respite from Tory attacks on their rights. The Conservatives have given the strongest indication yet that their next manifesto will include provisions making it even harder to call a strike. The next Conservative government will declare any vote for industrial action invalid unless there is a high turnout on the strike ballot. Presumably, they will not also move to invalidate election results if based on a low turnout. That would cause huge inconvenience for a government whose mandate is 35% of votes on a 65% turnout. That’s right; David Cameron was endorsed by a mere 22.75% of potential voters to run the country.
One of the most vocal supporters of this union-busting law is Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.
He was backed by 16.8% of all potential voters in 2012.
Those in glass houses shouldn’t cast stones…