In this talk I would like to deal with the sources
of the strengths of the trade union movement in Britain.
Trade unions in Britain are generally believed nowadays to be
in a position of great political strength. What is this strength
based on? I am going to suggest that it is based on three things:
political power, economic power and the protection of the law.
Well, firstly, through the influence on the labour Party they
have political power. Their influence over the Labour
Party is demonstrated by the following three facts. One is that
about one-third of the labour Party MP's are sponsored by the
trade unions. This means that a trade union who sponsors a successful
candidate will, among other things, provide the bulk of the expenses
and in some cases even pay him allowance.
The second relevant fact is that the unions are
the main source of finance for the Labour Party. In 1966, the
Party received seven times as much in affiliation fees (that is
roughly, membership fees) from the trade unions as from the CONSTITUENCY
associations.
The third fact is that the unions are in a position
to dominate decisions at the Labour Party Conference for they
control five and a half million votes as against 800,000 from
the constituencies. Through their domination of the Party Conference
they are able to influence both the policy and the administration
of the Party.
So much for the Unions' political power.
Secondly, of course, the trade unions have economic power,
in that they can take industrial action. There has been no general
strike in Britain since 1926, but certain unions are in a position
to paralyse key industries and thus bring great pressure to bear
on the government.
Thirdly, the unions have
some degree of legal protection. This takes two forms.
The first one is the protection of the labour laws. By this we
are referring to the Trade Disputes Acts of 1906 and 1965. The
act of 1996 states that " no action against a trade ... in
respect of any tort (that is, roughly, any offence) alleged to
have been committed ... shall be entertained by any court".
This puts the unions, in a sense, outside the law.
Another kind of legal immunity is that trade unions
are excluded from MONOPOLY legislation. If a manufacturer uses
total control over certain goods or services to push up prices,
that is an offence. But it is not an offence for unions to use
monopoly over the work-force to push up wages, and, consequently
prices
So we therefore have three sources of strength
for the unions: political power through their influence on the
Labour Party; economic power based on their right to strike; and
legal protection.
Adapted from: Wallace, M. J. (1980) Study
skill in English
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