Support the right to strike

Now that we have come through a long and needless contest which saw Jeremy Corbyn not only winning but increasing his majority we can concentrate on policies. Tony Benn used to say its issues not personalities that matter and he was spot on.

The mantra used to be for the unions to call for the repeal of anti-union laws. Now with a leader that has just won a mandate that others could only dream about we can move forward with a changed political direction. It’s a direction that has given us an opportunity to draw up a new framework of trade union rights.

But we don’t need to start from scratch. We have a blue print already – the Institute of Employment Right’s Manifesto for a positive reform of employment rights that sets out a new framework based on three fundamental issues.

First – the right to organize that goes further than the current law with its exemptions for small companies and employer defined bargaining units.

This right to organise must include a right of access to workers free from the influence of an employer and more importantly US style union busters.

It means having a union presence in the workplace which in turn leads to an independent ‘voice’ for workers and makes sure that workplaces are more equal and safer.

Second the framework includes the vital the right to collective bargaining. The key impact of the anti-union laws has hastened the decline of union led collective bargaining at the sectoral level leading to the widespread use of cheap labour and the iniquitous use of zero hours.

We have an epidemic of insecure working conditions more redolent of the days of the lump and the exploitation of workers desperate for jobs.

Restoration of sectoral bargaining will extend the benefits of a union negotiated agreement to all workers in an industry irrespective of their employment status.

Finally, we must have an unequivocal right to strike.

Without the right to strike collective bargaining becomes collective begging. We’ve seen unions facing countless injunctions to stop strike and dispute action, sometimes for the most trivial reasons.

Injunctions have been granted overnight on spurious challenges to ballot procedures letting companies off the hook to negotiate properly.

So my message is simple; support the right to organise; support the right to collective bargaining; support the right to strike!

• To view Tony’s speech click here