IT STARTED WITH NOBLE INTENT!

Where To Start? 

Where to start indeed! Trade Unions, you either love them or loathe them but, no matter your feelings towards them, they have become part of everyday life. Some might say, ‘a necessary evil’.

They were decriminalised in 1867 and legalised in 1871 and since then the ‘lot’ of the working man (and woman) has changed considerably. 

Britain’s rapid emergence as a World power did not come without considerable cost. Frequent conflicts on foreign soil took men away from home and, initially,  industry suffered through lack of manpower. These event however coincided with the dawn of the Industrial revolution in this country. On the land, in the cotton mills, the coal mines and in the steel mills, machines were taking over the roles traditionally occupied by men. Not only that but they were quicker, more efficient and more cost effective. 

When the conflicts abroad came to and end an influx of ex-service men flooded the country until another conflict drew them back into the army. This see-sawing of manpower put undue pressure on the labour market and there were, as you would expect, repercussions. 

Where work was available the owners were able, because of the abundance of labour, to dictate much lower wages. On the land this attitude to the workforce spawned the Tolpuddle Martyrs. Some might say the precursor to the formation of the Trade Union movement.

Not surprisingly, throughout the first half of the nineteenth century there was mass discontent within the labour force and frequent acts of violence and civil unrest. Once the Trade Union Congress was formed in 1871 it soon became apparent to the leaders that in order to get real change they would need a voice in Parliament. There own voice and not that of the Whig or Tory who represented their individual constituency. Hence, the Labour party, created through many collaborations and affiliates until emerging in the early twentieth century as a fully fledged political party which prospered in proportion to the demise of the Whigs (Liberal Party).

Regular readers of my blog will know that I am no lover of the Left. Neither do I hold any love for Plutocrats, two ends of the spectrum both chomping away at the man / woman in the middle. The unions were set up with noble intent. The welfare and well being of the working man being paramount. Good intent, no matter how noble, always seems to leave the door open for evil intent to slip in. So too with the Trade Union movement. From its inception it was soon infiltrated by militants and left wing radicals. Politics and not welfare became de rigueur.

The first real test for the TUC came in 1926, the coal mine owners wanted more hours from their workforce for less pay. Germany, Poland and America were producing cheaper coal and, therefore exporting more coal than Britain and since the end of World War 1 coal production in this country had steadily declined. On May 1st of that year over 1.1 millions miners were locked out and the TUC called for a strike and asked other unions to join as a show of solidarity with the miners. So it was that on the 3rd of May the country almost ground to a halt and stayed that way for the next nine days.

After talks with the Government and the mine owners, the TUC won a pyrrhic victory and work was resumed on the 12th of May. Lessons were learned, especially by the Labour Party and owners of business. 

‘If you stop a dog from barking it will eventually bite you to get attention!’

The mine workers union felt let down by the TUC and the Labour Party, an anger which carried through to the twenty first century.

Socialism grew rapidly through the Trade Union movement and was embraced by the Labour Party. Never far off the heel of the Socialists were the Communists and although they infiltrated the TUC they were banned from joining the Labour Party. As we all know, a paper Socialist can still be a card-carrying Communist.

Nationialisation of major industry was always on the agenda of the TUC and the Labour Party. It is the Left Wing mantra, control industry and utilities, control the people. Once they had achieved their objectives after the Second World War it soon became apparent that the Labour Party could not control its attack dog, the TUC.

The original noble intent of looking after the welfare of the workers became increasingly about the political aims of the TUC which they disguised through ridiculous wage claims.

Nationalised industry soon became unprofitable and a burden on the State, strikes became common place and the ugly face of violent militancy was seen on our streets.

I came up against the ugly side of Trade Unions when I left the Navy in the mid seventies. Being an engineer  I naturally applied for jobs of that genre only to come up against “The Closed Shop”. ‘We can only employ you if you join the union’, was the mantra of the day. Having volunteered to serve my country and be prepared to fight for Democracy in all corners of the Globe I felt betrayed at this blatant un-Democratic trait, prevalent throughout British industry. If I had wanted Communism, I would have joined the Russian Navy!  

I eventually found work but, spent the first three months “in Coventry”,  because I would not be forced into joining an organisation I knew nothing about.

Increasingly, through the fifties, sixties and seventies the Unions sought to rule through fear and intimidation. Weak Governments and ever strengthening Unions meant that the country was going down hill rapidly. I could never understand why, so called sagacious, politicians of the day allowed themselves to be bullied in this way when the economic fate of the country was in jeopardy. 

Thank God for Margaret Thatcher.

As if to prove that the British Electorate never learn from history, the Union backed Labour Party spent thirteen disastrous years in office, 1997 - 2010, tripling the Public Sector and bringing the economy to its knees.  Today the TUC has around 6.5 million members spread over fifty eight or so unions. Half of the membership, thanks to Labour, belong to UNISON, the Public Sector Union. The Socialist now have an even tighter stranglehold over the British people.

Most of the hypocritical Union leaders are on salaries that their members can only dream of as lottery wins. Communism is unashamedly rife amongst the leadership and the insidious BBC is wont to flaunt these characters at us through our TV screens; all in the name of Democracy of course. It is time for another radical rethink and for this a radically thinking new ideas party is needed. The old guard of LibDemLabCon will not alter the status quo, it is in their best interests, as good Socialists, to lie and scheme their way forward as they have always done. The same is true of the Union bosses. God forbid they get found out and lose their fat-cat salaries and company cars. The very things that they accuse the hard working, self-made millionaires of having at the cost of the workforce. Amazingly hypocritical!

I can see a place for Unions (no, not the bin.) in the modern workplace. Let’s face it, we have reached a position, through modern technology, where our forefathers found themselves at the start of the Industrial Revolution. Technology is replacing manpower and it is doing so at an ever accelerating pace. The Old Guard like Britain, are no longer world leaders and have to look up to the New Order, countries like China, USA, India and Russia. We cannot compete if we have the Unions pinioning our arms. They need to grow up and embrace the New Age instead of slowing the country down with pointless strikes and workplace unrest.

The likes of Cameron, Clegg and Miliband do not help this county’s cause one iota. They pontificate about Britain being the best in the World, blah, blah, blah. The reality being, as I have said, we are not. Nigel Farage realises this but he tells the truth, in his vision of the future Britain regains the “Great” by being sensible, frugal, and honest in its dealings with our trade partners. The Unions can play an active part in the county’s revival but they must revert to their founding noble principles. Those being the welfare and wellbeing of the working man and woman. Leave politics to the politicians and work with Government and not against it.

We would all like fat, Bob Crowe, salaries but we have to work for them and Unions should not expect the British people to go along with their militancy and unrealistic wage demands for those who wish to do less for more money. Yes, we do need a revolution in this country but not a Socialist revolution, what we need is a common sense revolution. Perhaps then we can regain our values, our place in the World and our self respect as a free nation.