Tory zealots’ plans for strike ballots

‘We are all Thatcherites now’ David Cameron once told the BBC. Well millions of us will never have any truck with the divisive policies of the 1980s, but this Prime Minister is clearly showing his true colours.

 
His contempt for British workers is all too easy to see after a neo-Thatcherite manifesto launched by the Conservatives today (April 14). It contains a crackdown on union ballots which would herald a return to the ideological right wing zeal of the Thatcher era.

 
Unite is warning that this proposal in the Tory manifesto will deny workers the democratic and legitimate right to take industrial action to defend their jobs and pay.

 
Len McCluskey, Unite general secretary said, “The Tories’ proposed crackdown on trade union rights is an attempt to turn the clock back to the era of Margaret Thatcher and her union-smashing agenda.

 
“When it comes to electoral credibility and thresholds, David Cameron must be a little red faced when so many of his own cabinet and ministers failed to win 40 per cent of the vote in the 2010 election”, he said.

 
“The fact is trade unions in the UK already face some of the most restrictive laws in Europe,” McCluskey added.

 
“If David Cameron wants to increase participation in ballots then he should join us in demanding the right to secure online voting and the ability for workers to vote in their workplaces.”

 
The Tory manifesto proposes to outlaw strikes in essential public services, such as health, education, fire and transport, unless at least 40 per cent of all those entitled to take part in strike ballots do so.

 
The move, from a rich Tory PM backed by hedge funds, is designed to hit millions of trade union members up and down the country – something they are unlikely to take lying down.