Working Better
Together
Frances O’Grady Adam Marshall Dave Prentis
Andrew Harrop Brendan Barber Adam Memon
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18/08/2015 10:43:56
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GFTU.indd 1
18/08/2015 11:23:51
CONTENTS
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4
10
8
Could unions disaffiliate from Labour?
Restrictions on striking: fair or foul?
The history of strike action
Working Better Together
It was once suggested that
there is no such thing as society.
Yet even as public spending
is cut by historic levels, larger
forces are pushing us together.
The internet, in particular, has
provided a means for sharing
information and experiences
on a vast scale, while Airbnb
and Uber appear to be ushering
in what pundits call “the sharing
economy”. The connections
between us, and their value, are
becoming ever more visible.
At the same time, however, the
relationships between some of
our longer-standing institutions
appear to be under threat. We need
look no further than the Labour
leadership contest, in which the
support for Jeremy Corbyn from
the likes of Unite and Unison
starkly illustrates the widening
gulf between the trade union
movement and the mainstream
parliamentary party. Andrew
Harrop has assessed the rocky
relationship between Labour and
the unions in recent years, and his
analysis is on pages four to six.
Meanwhile, the election
of a Conservative-majority
government presents the trade
union movement with an even
bigger challenge. The Trade
Union Bill is poised to impose
fundamental restrictions on how
unions may engage with their
members, specifically when
balloting for strike action or raising
money for political activities.
Dave Prentis and Adam Memon
make the cases for and against the
bill on pages eight and nine.
It is also evident that
relationships are changing across
geographic borders. As David
Cameron looks to renegotiate
Britain’s membership of the
European Union, Frances O’Grady
looks at what this might imply for
worker rights and how (page 13),
while Grahame Smith explores
how the decline of Labour in
Scotland is leading to new
alliances between Scottish trade
unionists and the SNP (page 14).
Finally, there’s the age-old
relationship that lies at the heart
of the trade union movement:
the one between employer
and employee. Brendan Barber
reveals the ingredients of a good
relationship that will improve
conditions for workers without
the need for strike action. If the
Trade Union Bill passes, the art
of negotiation may become more
important than ever. l
This, and other policy reports, can be downloaded from the NS website at newstatesman.com/page/supplements
COVER: SHUTTERSTOCK/DESIGN BY FFILL ME IN
First published as
a supplement to the
New Statesman
of 21-27 August 2015.
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4 Andrew Harrop
14 Grahame Smith
Labour-union relationship faces historic threat
Trade unionists are building links with the SNP
A link on the brink
Embracing the unions
8 Dave Prentis v Adam Memon
15 Vox Pops
Are ballot restrictions necessary or ideological?
How do we solve the UK’s productivity puzzle?
Within striking distance
Working smarter not harder
10 Peter Ackers and Jim Moher
18 Brendan Barber
How industrial action has changed over the decades
Listening is key to employer-employee relations
Striking parallels
Not just tea and toilets
13 Frances O’Grady
23 Listings
EU renegotiation must protect worker rights
Key contacts in the union movement
Continental drift
Trade union directory
21-27 AUGUST 2015 | NEW STATESMAN | 3
Untitled-2 3
18/08/2015 10:59:26
LABOUR AND THE UNIONS
A link on
the brink
By Andrew Harrop
Political disagreements, potential changes to the law and hardening public attitudes have
put the relationship between the Labour Party and the unions at tipping point
more humdrum reality is that they had
the money, people and expertise to run
highly professional selection campaigns,
working within the party rules to win secret ballots.
Yet despite the affiliated unions’ success in shifting the parliamentary arithmetic, the Labour-union link is under
threat. Indeed, the next five years could
present the greatest challenge to a united
labour movement in over a century. The
story begins in 2010 with the election of
Ed Miliband as Labour leader. He won
because of union endorsements – and
also because some of the affiliates directly
promoted his candidacy alongside ballot
papers. But the manner of his election
always cast a shadow over his leadership
and his relationship with the unions.
The next five years could
present the greatest
challenge in over a century
Miliband was the most left-leaning
prime ministerial candidate in a generation. But throughout the 2010 to 2015
parliament the trade unions were uneasy
about Labour’s overall direction and the
management of party-affiliate relations.
One low point came in 2012 when Ed
Balls failed to provide advance warning
before endorsing the coalition’s cap on
public-sector wage rises. Informal discussions after the Falkirk crisis were also
badly mishandled. Miliband’s previous
association with the unions was a prime
driver behind the radical reforms to the
union link which followed.
But the unions’ real beef was with the
leadership’s approach to austerity. As the
election neared, the Institute for Fiscal
Studies highlighted the huge gulf in the
fiscal plans of the parties; but many in the
union movement believed that Labour
was failing to do enough to defend public
spending. Some on the left were always
going to be dissatisfied, but Miliband and
Balls also obscured how much leeway for
spending they had, choosing to present
their plans as more hawkish than they
really were.
Despite all their concerns, the unions
played a major part in the election campaign, pouring money into the national
party coffers and manpower into critical
marginal seats. But as the scale of the defeat became clear, a new rupture emerged.
Subsequently, all the mainstream candidates for the party leadership concluded
that Labour would only win again by
reaching out to the centre ground. They
talked tough on the public finances and
seemed to position themselves to the
right of Miliband.
As a result, many of the unions initially felt reluctant to endorse a candidate;
eventually, several of them backed Jeremy Corbyn, the standard-bearer of the
far left and a man with no chance of being
elected as prime minister. This marked
a new chapter in their relationship with
Labour, which must put the long-term
affiliation of unions such as Unite in
t
T
he 2015 general election was a terrible setback, not just for the Labour
Party, but for the trade union movement, too: within days of coming to power, the new Conservative government
had unveiled an assault on union freedoms on a scale unseen since the 1980s.
There could not be a starker reminder of
how the fortunes of the trade unions and
the Labour Party are joined. Ever since the
formation of the Labour Party in 1900, it
has been Labour MPs who have championed trade union rights, and Tory governments that have undermined them.
But for the affiliated unions the minutiae of the election results offered some
small consolation. Although the overall
number of Labour MPs elected was far too
low, the 2015 intake is probably the most
pro-trade-union cohort in decades. Many
are former union officials – people such as
Richard Burgon, Vicky Foxcroft, Rachael
Maskell, Chris Matheson, Melanie Onn,
Angela Rayner and Daniel Zeichner – and
others are unquestionably on the left of
the parliamentary party.
The composition of the new intake
reflects the general sentiment of Labour
Party members under Ed Miliband’s leadership, with constituency parties keen
to signal a break from the Blair/Brown
years. But it is also a consequence of the
huge efforts made by the big affiliates to
win parliamentary selection contests.
The rumours and allegations surrounding the Falkirk selection gave the impression that the unions were trying to subvert Labour’s selection processes. The
4 | NEW STATESMAN | 21-27 AUGUST 2015
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18/08/2015 13:02:44
UK government crackdown on trade union
rights tears another strip off Magna Carta
By Philip Jennings, General Secretary of UNI Global Union
The Conservative government crackdown on trade union
rights goes against the spirit of the Magna Carta, which is
celebrating its 800th anniversary this year. Freedom and
justice enshrined in that document are under attack by
Cameron’s anti-trade union laws because they aim to
take away a worker’s right to legally protest. According
to the recent ITUC global index on the world’s worst
countries for workers, the UK is now down in the third
division with countries such as Russia and Albania. The
Tory government’s trade union proposals are in danger of
sinking the UK’s human rights reputation still further while
tearing another strip off the Magna Carta. Cameron is
out of step and out of time – the proposals not only go
against the 800 year old Magna Carta, they go against the
decent work aims of the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable
Development Goals.
The proposals are putting legal manacles on the right
to strike. Even when the legal limits have been satisfied,
employers will be allowed to use agency workers as strike
breakers. The Conservative government has failed to do
its homework – bringing in temporary workers as strike
breakers is inconsistent with international conventions.
The international body representing the interests of
agency work businesses, CIETT, has always been clear
that agency employees should not be used to replace
striking workers – a position confirmed by CIETT in a
Memorandum of Understanding with UNI Global Union.
These measures are an attack on the British trade union
Untitled-3 5
movement and will widen the income divide in the UK
to catastrophic levels – at a time where inequality is being
recognised as a killer of growth by organisations as diverse
as the IMF, the World Bank, the OECD and the central
banks. The IMF has admitted that the fall in unionisation
in advanced economies and its impact on workers’
negotiation power is a key contributor to the rise of
economic inequality. We know only too well what happens
when workers are not allowed to protest or withdraw their
labour. When workers at the Rana Plaza garment factory
complex in Bangladesh were forced to work in a building
known to be unsafe the results were deadly.
The Government is bringing its over-the-top, antiunion activities to social media as well as the streets with
proposals for intrusive control of trade union protests.
For example, the government will require trade union
members to provide their employers with two weeks’
notice of what they plan to post on Facebook or Twitter
during a period of industrial action; and unions will be
penalised if a member uses a loudspeaker at a protest
without first having informed the authorities. The waste of
police time that will have to go into implementing these
plans is hardly something you would expect given the UK’s
proud tradition of liberty.
UNI Global Union and its 20 million members stand
with the TUC in demanding that the government’s trade
union bill is ripped up, rather than shredding the principles
of justice represented by the Magna Carta.
18/08/2015 13:02:44
LABOUR AND THE UNIONS
Some unions have backed Jeremy Corbyn (centre right) in the Labour leadership race
REX FEATURES
t
doubt. While Unite’s vast membership reflects Britain at large, and includes
a great many Conservative and Ukip voters, its leadership is now well to the left of
mainstream Labour.
In 2014, the press reported debate within Unite on whether to disaffiliate in the
event of Labour losing the election, perhaps to support a radical workers’ party.
Many of Unite’s Scottish activists, meanwhile, sought independence in order to
build links with the Scottish National
Party. Then, as the leadership election
began, the Unite general secretary, Len
McCluskey, spoke of the possibility of
disaffiliation if the “correct” candidate
was not elected. Whatever the outcome
of the contest, if the link between Labour
and Britain’s biggest union is to survive,
strenuous efforts will be needed to reset
the relationship.
However, these political disagreements
are only the backdrop to an even greater
threat to the union-Labour link: the Conservatives’ Trade Union Bill, which if
passed in its current form, will practically
kill union political funds. Currently these
funds are worth £24m a year and are used
for non-party campaigning, as well as to
support Labour, in the case of the affiliated unions. The affiliation fees themselves
account for £8m – almost a quarter of the
party’s annual budget.
Today the levies that finance the political funds are “opt-out” and union
members do not necessarily pay less if
they choose not to contribute. Under
the proposed legislation, every member
will need to “opt in” and pay extra to do
so; they will have to give their permission again every five years, in a narrow
three-month window; and consent must
be in writing, not electronically or by recorded phone call. With these conditions
in place, it is inconceivable that more than
5 per cent of union members will opt in –
it could even be much less than that.
This would certainly reflect experience
of the new “opt-in” arrangements for union members to take part in Labour Party
elections. Some unions have decided they
cannot justify the resource of a big campaign to sign up their members as “affiliated supporters”. But even Unite, which
is actively recruiting using call centres,
has signed up only 50,000 of its 1.3 million members in Great Britain.
These changes to Labour’s rules, implemented after the 2013 Falkirk selection
scandal, were hailed at the time as a means
of rejuvenating the relationship between the party and rank-and-file union
members. The laudable aim is to turn the
members of the affiliated unions into true
party supporters, with the long-term goal
of drawing them into local campaigning
and activism. But with low sign-up rates,
the influence of union members has been
much less in this leadership election than
in the past. And it will be harder for the
unions to justify their affiliation – or at
least the numbers they choose to affiliate
– if very few members have actively chosen to be party supporters. In any case,
Labour’s voluntary attempts to democratise the union link – and the understandable concerns they have generated – are being overtaken by events. Labour’s union
funding already looked likely to fall, but
the Trade Union Bill and the near death
of political funds will lead it to an almost
complete end. Only the House of Lords
stands between the proposals (which
were not included in the Conservative
manifesto) and the statute book.
The whole labour movement will unite
to resist this nakedly political assault.
But that should not be an excuse for an
unquestioning defence of the status quo.
There are grave flaws with the way the
link works, which hurt the party and the
unions alike. The left needs its own agenda for reform.
In particular, the union link is no longer working as a conveyor belt to bring
typical shop-floor, non-graduate workers into parliament. This is because union
membership in the private sector is too
low; many union-backed candidates are
professional union officials, not ordinary
members; and the unions are as guilty as
anyone else in creating an “arms race” in
parliamentary selection contests, which
increasingly leads to the exclusion of candidates from diverse backgrounds.
While the Labour Party is on the defensive about its relations with the unions, affiliation does not even serve the
latter’s policy interests. The 2015 general
election offers the perfect illustration.
Labour’s 2015 manifesto made just one
mention, in more than 80 pages, of the
phrase “trade union”.
Ed Miliband was the unions’ man and
he championed the reform of capitalism. But because of his union baggage, he
could never state the blindingly obvious:
that a fairer economy requires stronger
collective bargaining. l
Andrew Harrop is the general secretary
of the Fabian Society
6 | NEW STATESMAN | 21-27 AUGUST 2015
Untitled-3 6
18/08/2015 13:02:47
PUBLIC MEETING
THE PEOPLE’S POST RALLY
A debate on the future of the British Postal Service and the
People’s Assembly week of action
MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL
MONDAY 5TH OCTOBER
7PM
SPEAKERS
Dave Ward CWU General Secretary
Terry Pullinger CWU Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Owen Jones – Political Commentator
Lindsey German - People’s Assembly
Kevin Maguire – Associate Editor Mirror
Mark McGowan – Artist Taxi Driver
Ellie Mae O’Hagan – Class Thinktank
Further speakers to be confirmed…….
#PeoplesPost
cwu.indd 1
#NoMoreAusterity
18/08/2015 11:25:15
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Within striking
distance
By Dave Prentis and Adam Memon
The government’s proposed changes to trade union
rules have divided opinion
N
o one willingly loses a day’s pay. But
sometimes, when every attempt to
resolve a dispute with an employer
has failed, union members have no choice
but to take action. Nurses, teaching assistants, hospital cleaners and council refuse
collectors take no delight in disrupting
the public, but unfortunately that is the
nature of industrial action. If no one notices that a strike has taken place, it has
probably not been worth having.
For five years the government has either frozen pay in the public sector or
awarded pay rises below the cost of living,
and now there are four more years of pay
restraint to come. With public-sector pay
falling by about 20 per cent in real terms
since 2009, it is little wonder that council,
National Health Service, police and probation staff have all voted to take strike
action in the past year.
NHS workers in England were understandably aggrieved when they held
their first national strike action over pay
in more than 30 years, after Jeremy Hunt
couldn’t even honour the 1 per cent rise
recommended by the independent pay
review body.
Yet, despite these short national strikes,
the disputes were settled. Overall, days
lost to strike action across the economy
are at a historic low.
An outside observer could only conclude from the new Trade Union Bill
proposals that ministers have publicservice workers and their unions firmly in
their sights. Not on the basis of any firm
evidence of a need to curb strikes – but as
more of an ideological obsession.
The Trade Union Bill is no friend to
working people who might want to protest at years of pay cuts and freezes, or
take a stand over unsafe or unfair decisions taken by bad employers.
Unfortunately, none of Unison’s recent
national pay disputes – in health, in higher education, on behalf of police support
staff, in local government or probation –
would have passed the test of a 50 per cent
turnout threshold. However, many local
disputes, where the numbers involved are
smaller, often fare better.
Under the government’s proposals, any
disputes in “important public services”
would have an even higher bar to pass.
Forty per cent would have to vote Yes
before any legal strike action could take
place. That means anyone who abstains
counts as a vote against. Yet in no other
ballot or election is that the case.
Unions will fight against this vindictive
bill wherever and whenever we can, even
if it requires taking a legal challenge to the
highest court in Europe. We will join civil
liberties groups to protect the right of
working people to have a voice.
The government says it is on the side
of working people – but not, it seems, if
they are in a union and want a pay rise.
Unions are made up of working people,
and if ministers are worried about industrial unrest, they should take a long, hard
look at why their public servants are so
unhappy at work.
Turnout in strike ballots should and
could be higher – but not if we are limited
to 20th-century methods of communication and voting. If working people were
able to take part in strike ballots using
their phones, tablets or secure workplace
ballot boxes, more people would have
their say.
But the government isn’t interested
in increasing participation. Ministers
want to stop the unions from winning
for working people, and in doing so they
are giving a green light to bad employers to act without fear of provoking a
dispute. Even where unions pass every
ballot threshold the government throws
at them, employers will be able to break
­legal strikes by bringing in groups of
agency workers.
There is also a raft of other new, highly
unreasonable, human-rights-breaching
measures on notice periods, criminalising picket lines and requiring the unions to register their social media plans
in advance. Not content with last year’s
Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party
Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act, which prevented charities,
campaign groups and unions from talking to the public, in effect gagging them
(while at the same time leaving the superrich and shadowy business associations
unregulated), the Trade Union Bill attacks
union political funds yet further with a
bureaucratic opt-in process.
The government is using the language
of the 1970s when it talks about unions,
but although the public might not like
the inconvenience of strike action, few
people seriously think that unions are too
powerful these days. l
Dave Prentis is the general secretary
of Unison
8 | NEW STATESMAN | 21-27 AUGUST 2015
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18/08/2015 11:00:46
The Conservatives’ new Trade Union Bill aims to make it harder for workers in the “essential public services” to go on strike
REX FEATURES
K
eir Hardie would be aghast if he
could see the state of the trade union
movement today. Its reputation has
been trashed and the sad truth is that, too
often, this is completely justified. Kneejerk, reactionary opposition to even modest reform inflicts misery and heavy economic costs on the public.
Unions have failed to keep up with
changes in the labour market. They have
become intransigent and complacent and
too often do not adequately represent the
interests of workers. If they don’t accept
the need for change, they will become
increasingly irrelevant and a relic of the
past. Unfortunately, many union leaders
seem hell-bent on continuing with this
self-destructive approach. In response to
proposed reforms, some have threatened
civil disobedience and unlawful strike action, and have compared the reforms to
Nazi policies. This only serves to discredit the unions and alienate them from their
membership and the population at large.
The new bill proposes to switch the
levy for union members affiliated to a political party to an opt-in. Unions provide
important services and support to members; many political activities are secondary for most of them. If politically affiliated unions want to funnel a portion of
members’ pay packets to the Labour Party,
then they should have to make a proper
case and persuade them to make an active
decision to do so, rather than simply relying on inertia. Elsewhere, the government
wants to tackle intimidation of non-striking workers and ensure strikes cannot be
based on ballots held years ago. Arguing
against these self-evidently sensible plans
will prove utterly unproductive.
The more contentious and important
of the reforms is to ballot thresholds.
The reason why industrial action has become so monstrously unpopular, even
though the number of days lost to strikes
is far lower than in the 1980s, is that when
a union votes to strike, the costs are not
only felt by the employees and the employers. When the NUT goes out on
strike action, teachers lose pay and parents have to take a day off work or pay
for childcare. Single parents can be hit
hardest. When the RMT and Aslef strike,
people are late for work and miss hospital
appointments.
Strike ballots are not the same as other
votes because – even before considering
the significant external costs – if a union
votes to strike on an absurdly low turnout,
all members are expected to support that
decision and lose a day’s pay. This economic damage hurts people who have nothing
to do with the dispute and is rarely internalised in negotiations. It is deeply unjust
that they should suffer as a result.
The impact assessment undertaken by
the Department for Business, Innovation
and Skills estimates the new thresholds
would reduce the number of work stoppages by about 65 per cent and have a net
economic benefit of more than £100m.
Unions that resort to action too early
and without widespread support will lose
out. However, those that can pass these
thresholds could see their bargaining
power increase because they will be able
to claim real legitimacy and a clear mandate for action. l
Adam Memon is the head of economic
research at the Centre for Policy Studies
21-27 AUGUST 2015 | NEW STATESMAN | 9
Untitled-4 9
18/08/2015 11:00:48
STRIKE HISTORY
Striking
parallels
By Peter Ackers and Jim Moher
Historically, strikes have been necessary for change. Today requires
a partnership between Labour and the trade unions
I
n Britain, the number of strikes is at
its lowest in generations. This reflects
changed patterns of worker behaviour
and a severe loss of union strength since
the early 1980s.
The early-20th-century syndicalists
dreamt of one gigantic general strike
that would paralyse capitalism and allow
trade unions to take over the running of
industry. Since then, sections of the communist and Trotskyist fringe have seen
strikes as ways of raising the political consciousness of workers and preparing for
the overthrow of capitalism. However,
the mainstream trade union movement
has regarded strikes in more mundane
terms, as a necessary bargaining tool in
the power struggle that is the employment relationship. In this view, the main
countervailing power of ordinary workers lies in the ability of trade unions to
organise a withdrawal of labour to the
detriment of employer profits.
There is truth in this viewpoint, but it
neglects three things. First, strikes inflict
costs on employees, too, leading to oneday strikes that are more symbolic than
a proper threat to business. Second, trade
unions may have other sources of “soft
power”, which are more effective than
the withdrawal of labour. This is particularly true when unions have alternative
avenues for dispute resolution, such as
arbitration or independent review bodies.
Finally, strikes are one of a variety of
tactics, each appropriate to different historical conditions. In the 19th century,
large-scale strikes usually collapsed
quickly without employer involvement.
However, by the Victorian era strikes
were more cost-effective, whereby labour
was withdrawn from a few bad employers until they complied with the union
standard, while those on strike were supported by a levy of other union members.
The major strikes of largely unskilled
workers from the docks and elsewhere
from 1889 to the Great War and its after­
math were often inspired by socialist and
syndicalist activists. They were about
wages, but most importantly they were
recognition strikes for the establishment
of stable collective bargaining. Once employers and the state began supporting
collective bargaining as industrial relations good practice, industry pay disputes became a ritualised and regularised
tactic of last resort in annual negotiations.
In the 1930s these strikes were rare and
again fairly low-cost.
The great exception to this picture of
growing industrial relations order was
coal mining, where Marxist union leaders
often met ruthless anti-union employers,
and fluctuating prices undermined cooperation. Thus the 1926 General Strike –
the only apparent instance of this radical
socialist/syndicalist tactic in UK history – was really a short sympathy strike to
support the embattled miners.
Radicals saw some prospect of overthrowing capitalism, but in truth the dispute was a huge setback for such flawed
strategies and led the TUC and all the
major trade unions to abandon such confrontational approaches.
The new welfare capitalism, following the Second World War, gave scope
for a return to more aggressive tactics in
disputes driven from below, notably in
engineering. But, once more, the miners
dominated strike statistics, first through
the unofficial disputes of the 1950s and
1960s and then through the two great
national set pieces of the 1970s. Other industries rarely experienced a strike.
Given the destructive power of strikes
for both sides of industry, attempts to
find some institutional alternative began
as soon as employers realised that the unions were here to stay. In the 19th century,
coal miners agreed to a sliding scale that
linked wages automatically to the price
of coal and obviated the need for an annual battle.
Another alternative was some form
of compulsory, third-party arbitration,
which became the backbone of the entire
Australian system of industrial relations.
During and after the Second World War
a similar system was established in the
UK and this is a policy idea that has never
really gone away. So in the 1980s the electricians’ union and others struck singleunion/no-strike deals with pendulum
arbitration to achieve recognition from
incoming Japanese employers such as Nissan and Komatsu.
The postwar social-democratic settlement of full employment, strong trade
unions, welfare state and mixed economy
10 | NEW STATESMAN | 21-27 AUGUST 2015
Untitled-5 10
18/08/2015 11:01:31
REX FEATURES
In the 1980s, strikes such as the 1984-85 miners’ dispute were carried out against the unsympathetic backdrop of Thatcherism
unintentionally encouraged a new variety: the unofficial strike, especially in engineering. In the 1950s and 1960s, when
workers could leave one job on a Friday
and start another on the Monday, short
“wildcat” walkouts were an extremely effective and low-cost form of action.
In the longer term, this spawned the
“British industrial relations problem” of
strikes, inflation and restrictive practices
and began the process of eroding public,
state and employer support for trade unions. In this era, demarcation disputes between unions about who did what were
another corrosive form of industrial action.
The failure by TUC and Labour leaderships in the 1960s and 1970s to address the
problem of strikes and inflation played
into the hands of the emerging New
Right, making union power and how to
curb it a critical political issue. Unofficial
strikes in manufacturing rarely impinged
on the well-being of the general public. At
worst, they damaged the profits and efficiency of private industry, weakening the
national economy. But, from the 1970s, a
new form of public-sector national strike
was directed primarily at inconveniencing the public in order to put pressure
on governments to step in and concede
higher pay. Thus, the 1972 and 1974 miners’ strikes were pay disputes that in one
case led to power cuts and a three-day
week, hitting not only other businesses
but citizens in general. They also led to
mass picketing, which blocked access to
workplaces and caused public disorder.
Labour needs a popular
and constructive trade
union movement
Defensive strikes by the print unions
and miners in the 1980s, against job losses
and changed working practices, caused violent mass picketing and became a symbol
of disruptive impotence. In the new, unsympathetic context of Thatcherism, not
only were strikes ineffective but they gave
trade unions an uncooperative, antisocial,
disruptive image. Hence, in the 1990s,
the TUC, under John Monks, promoted
partnership between employers and employees. The legally binding Royal Mail
agreement, concluded as an alternative
to an overwhelming Yes ballot for strike
action against privatisation, includes detailed procedures to avoid or resolve disputes at every level.
For the future, Labour needs a popular
and constructive trade union movement,
while the unions need a sympathetic
and supportive Labour Party. Looking
ahead, a strong TUC, working closely
with the Labour leadership, would make
it easier to address this problem. In the
short term, the emergence of a few megaunions, public-sector “austerity”, and
further government legal restrictions on
ballots and industrial action, will all make
this hard to achieve. For the long-term
health of the labour movement, however,
a “root-and-branch” review of its trade
union strategy, including strike tactics, is
surely needed. l
Peter Ackers is a professor of employment
relations at De Montfort University
Jim Moher is a former national union
official at the TGWU and CWU
21-27 AUGUST 2015 | NEW STATESMAN | 11
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18/08/2015 11:01:34
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EUROPEAN UNION
Continental drift
By Frances O’Grady
A strong European Union needs sustainable growth,
more employment, better training and higher wages.
But is that what David Cameron will secure?
REX FEATURES
D
avid Cameron is being uncharacteristically coy about what exactly his
shopping list for renegotiation of
Britain’s position in the European Union
contains. But what seems clear, and is of
great concern to trade unionists, is that
his strategy aims to fulfil a long-standing
Conservative ambition to water down or
undermine workers’ rights.
Obviously, I want to prevent any backsliding on workers’ rights, but I don’t
want to be forced into defending everything that the EU does in order to prev­
ent things from getting worse. I want to
campaign for a positive agenda of change
in Europe, with sustainable growth,
more and better jobs, better training and
higher wages.
The European Trade Union Confederation has called for a “New Path for
Europe” to promote green jobs at good
wages, building and insulating homes,
extending broadband coverage and improving transport links. And it is not just
in Britain that wage stagnation has reduced living standards and held back demand: Europe needs a pay rise, too.
We need to defend the paid holidays,
rest breaks and work-life balance that the
Working Time Directive delivered for
British workers. And we need to maintain the protections for agency workers,
part-timers and temporary workers, not
least because they act as a bulwark against
exploitation of migrants, and stop bad
bosses using those migrants to undercut workers’ existing wages and working
conditions. The French and German governments (and others) understand this
problem, and we are working with trade
unions in those countries to get their governments to reject the attack on workers’
Will Cameron deliver for us in Europe?
rights in the Prime Minister’s agenda, as
we did with trade unions in Ireland and
Italy when Cameron visited those countries in June.
More pernicious than Cameron’s attack on these basic rights is his call for a
moratorium on future social measures.
The world of work keeps changing, with
zero-hours contracts just the latest development. If workers’ rights do not evolve
in line with those changes, they will fall
into disuse, and abuses and insecurity
will spread. We also ought to be doing
more for the rights of working carers.
Yet the European Commission’s socalled better regulation strategy, and the
failure to introduce any substantial new
rights in the past decade, suggests that
Cameron’s agenda is already being implemented. No one is against better regulation, but better doesn’t mean less, and it
doesn’t mean weaker.
The former European Commission
president Jacques Delors famously said
that no one would fall in love with a common market. The social model that he
championed is a fundamental part of the
design of the EU, and our polling straight
after this year’s general election suggests
it is also fundamental to popular support
for Britain staying in the EU.
I have warned British business leaders that they should be careful what they
wish for. If they press for reducing workers’ rights, they will lose votes from people at work – especially those most likely
to be attracted to the Eurosceptic case – for
staying in the huge and profitable market
that Europe represents. My discussions
with business leaders tell me that access
to that market for goods and services is far
more important to them than gratefully
seizing whatever falls from the deregulatory tree. My message to these leaders
is clear: you can’t campaign for Europe
at the same time as cutting rights by the
back door.
Polling published in May by the TUC
showed that British people are far more
likely to want to remain part of the EU if
it leads to better pay and rights at work.
In the survey of 4,000 UK voters, 55 per
cent said they would be more supportive
of Britain’s membership of Europe if it
did more to help working people get decent pay and conditions at work. In contrast, fewer than one in four (23 per cent)
said they would be more supportive of
the UK’s EU membership if it did more to
cut red tape for businesses.
Europe is at its best when it meets the
interests of both business and workers.
Abandoning this blueprint would be a
disaster for the UK and the EU. l
Frances O’Grady is the general secretary
of the Trades Union Congress
21-27 AUGUST 2015 | NEW STATESMAN | 13
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18/08/2015 11:04:10
SCOTLAND
Embracing the unions
By Grahame Smith
The SNP’s trade union group has more members than the entire Scottish
Labour Party. Is this the new progressive force north of the border?
REX FEATURES
T
he Scottish Trades Union Congress’s
analysis of the 2015 general election
result in Scotland leads us to the
conclusion that trade union members
voted for the SNP at least as enthusiastically, and probably in even greater proportion, than the Scottish public overall.
Support for the SNP is driven by a number of factors but opposition to austerity and disenchantment with the current
Westminster institutions, including the
main parties, is a significant factor.
There is an ongoing debate in Scotland
and further afield about the political nature of the SNP and the motivation of
its supporters. Some on the left find it
inconceivable that a “nationalist” party
can be anything other than on the right
of the political spectrum. The SNP’s opponents often suggest that the party talks
left but acts right, and certainly the SNP
is open to the accusation that its policies
on wealth redistribution have not always
matched up to its stated ambitions. Only
recently was the policy of reducing corporation tax jettisoned. The council-tax
freeze is now entering its eighth year and
continues to benefit the better-off. Critics have also highlighted how inadequate
levels of funding and poor policy design
within health, education and local government have contributed to a failure to
tackle disadvantage.
However, policies that fail to match
the rhetoric are hardly an unusual phenomenon. It is also important to remember that the Scottish government’s room
for manoeuvre continues to be limited
by the impact of Tory cuts, although its
anti-austerity credentials will come under greater democratic scrutiny as further
tax-raising powers are devolved.
The SNP worked with the unions at Grangemouth
In key areas of policy such as tax, welfare and immigration, SNP policy positions are relatively progressive, and its
approach to trade unions is quite clearly
distinct from that of the UK government.
This was illustrated by the Scottish reaction to the 2013 Grangemouth dispute.
While the UK government sought to use
the dispute to attack unions through the
discredited Carr review, the SNP, at the
instigation of the STUC, commissioned
an inquiry, the Working Together review,
into the positive role unions play in the
workplace, and across the economy and
society. As a direct consequence, the Fair
Work Convention has now been established as a partnership between unions
and employers to improve the quality of
work, extend workplace innovation and
promote union/employer co-operation
in the workplace.
While the Trade Union Bill starts from
the false premise that unions are bad and
our activities need to be curtailed, the
Scottish government has actively sought
to promote the very positive role unions
play. As the First Minister said when she
addressed our congress in April: “We
value highly the role of collective bargaining in ensuring decent pay and working
conditions – something that is especially
important in low-wage sectors.”
SNP MPs were initially widely derided,
both in Scotland and south of the border.
But any fair assessment of the quality and
motivation of those on the SNP benches
could not but conclude that there are people of ability and with progressive politics
at least to match those they replaced. The
STUC did not need Mhairi Black’s maiden speech to go viral to understand this,
even if many others did.
It should of course be recognised that
the SNP neither is nor aspires to be a labour movement party, whereas, irrespective of its current situation, the Labour
Party is. The SNP does, however, have a
trade union group whose membership
outnumbers that of the Labour Party in
Scotland by some distance, and an increasing number of SNP members are
also trade union activists. Those active in
that group would admit that the meteoric
surge in its membership presents challenges. Will the group’s purpose be to
drive the SNP’s agenda within the trade
unions, as opposed to driving the trade
union agenda within the SNP?
As we seek to find an answer, we will
continue to engage constructively with
the SNP administration, something that
is both necessary and advantageous for
our members. l
Grahame Smith is the general secretary of
the Scottish Trades Union Congress
14 | NEW STATESMAN | 21-27 AUGUST 2015
Untitled-7 14
18/08/2015 11:07:08
PRODUCTIVITY
Working smarter
not harder
How to solve the productivity puzzle? It requires government, businesses and
employees all to work better together, according to our commentators
Productivity – a word banished during
the financial crisis and subsequent recession, as all eyes focused on employment
rates – is back with a vengeance. From the
Chancellor’s summer Budget to the government’s Productivity Plan, sorting the
UK’s chronically poor productivity performance appears to have become a mantra once again.
Part of the productivity debate in the
UK is, frankly, a red herring. Why do we
wring our hands, if we can compare the
UK’s productivity performance (GDP per
hour worked) to that of France, with its
inflexible labour market and years of economic underperformance? Why do we
place so much emphasis on productivity
statistics when we know that they often
do not capture improvements in the UK’s
dominant services sector? Some of the
elements that make up Britain’s productivity “puzzle” seem to get acres of undeserved column inches.
Yet a big chunk of Britain’s productivity
lag is structural and deadly serious. It is
a toxic combination of underinvestment
and bureaucratic inertia that ultimately
threatens the UK’s competitive future.
Decades of underinvestment – in infrastructure, people, plant and premises
– are the result of failures by both our
governments and business itself.
Britain’s road, railway, aviation, energy
and digital infrastructure lag behind key
competitors because successive governments have underinvested, deferred crucial planning decisions, or failed to push
sectoral regulators to deliver stronger
competition. The consequences of three
decades of depressed public infrastructure
spending are now obvious, and represent
a brake on trade at home and overseas.
Skills deficits, which plague British
companies in the form of recruitment
difficulties and unfilled vacancies, are
the fault of companies and governments
alike. Too many businesses have failed to
invest adequately in training, in part because of their own lack of internal capacity, and they in turn have been failed by
continuous changes to the infrastructure
of education and training. The net effect
of all this has been to render the training
system all but illegible to most companies;
so it’s no wonder they don’t engage.
For too long, governments have been
content to rake in rates, make short-term
decisions about tax policies or investment allowances, and ignore the finance
gap facing the most ambitious businesses
seeking to expand. Some companies have
in turn become too comfortable – plateauing at a certain size, shunning export
opportunities, or favouring sell-out over
expansion and risk.
Recent moves by the government to
tackle some of these barriers to higher
productivity can best be described as
careful steps forward, but are positive.
Now, however, courage, conviction and
vision are required from both ministers
and company boards alike. After all, if
ministers can’t or won’t take a controversial decision to progress an infrastructure project, boards may do the same on
investment. The choice is clear: either
we act boldly, or we talk more about our
productivity problems in 20 years’ time.
I know which I’d choose.
Dr Adam Marshall is the executive
director of policy and external affairs at
the British Chambers of Commerce
The UK needs more than just
a flexible labour market
Steve Hughes
We measure productivity by recording
how much output the economy gets from
workers’ input, and growing it should
imply higher wages and living standards.
But it hasn’t been growing. Productivity
has been stagnant since 2007 and we’re
not sure why.
In the aftermath of the financial crisis,
employment levels were resilient beyond
expectation and unemployment did not
rise commensurate to the drop in economic activity. This provides the headline
maths of why productivity stalled, but the
way employers managed their workforce
under these conditions provides nuance.
Some focused staff time on finding new
customers as demand dropped; some paid
existing customers more attention; others
had to devote more resource to complying with new regulations, rather than new
business. In each case, employees could
be working as hard, or harder, but for less
output, and so productivity suffered.
t
The lag is structural and
deadly serious
Adam Marshall
21-27 AUGUST 2015 | NEW STATESMAN | 15
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18/08/2015 13:04:27
PRODUCTIVITY
t
Keeping on staff who produced less
came at a price. As pay packets fell in real
value, essentially buying employment,
new approaches were taken to control
wage bills. Some firms began linking pay
to output, rather than inflation; some imposed shorter working hours; some took
on younger, cheaper employees despite
their lack of experience.
The lesson learned is that, by and large,
labour and business have been flexible,
which has supported the UK through
the worst economic crisis in a generation.
Indeed, some of the examples above are
reversing as the recovery continues. If the
UK, however, is really to boost its longterm productivity, it needs more than a
flexible labour market.
The government believes having
skilled workers, good infrastructure and
competitive markets will help to improve
the UK’s productivity performance, but it
could go further. Introducing a new generation of government-sponsored prizes
for basic research and innovation, further
liberalising the planning system, and fostering a regulatory policy that supports
permissionless innovation would be good
places to start.
The coalition government had an impressive record on employment. This
new government needs to ensure it has
an impressive record on productivity.
Steve Hughes is the head of economic and
social policy at Policy Exchange
Investing in people
boosts productivity
Alex Bryson
The UK’s GDP has yet to recover from
the recession of 2008. In 2014, output per
hour remained 0.4 percentage points below pre-recession levels; in other words,
labour productivity was 15-16 percentage
points below the level it would have been,
had it kept growing at pre-recession rates.
Initially workers bore the brunt, working harder while experiencing a decline in
real wages not seen since the 19th century.
There were pay freezes in the public sector and nominal wage cuts in the private
sector. These measures may have kept
people in work, but they didn’t lead to
MU ad 127x178_Layout 1 10/08/2015 10:21 Page 1
growth in productivity. So what might?
There are three short-term ways employers can increase labour productivity,
and two longer-term solutions that require government intervention.
First, increasing worker well-being improves workplace performance. Greater
well-being can be engineered by enhancing job autonomy. Second, workers
and employers can adopt mutual gains
practices that permit employers to speed
the rate of workplace innovation, while
avoiding detrimental effects on workers’
well-being. This can be facilitated where
trade union representatives have a say in
workplace innovations. Third, employers can invest in a good employment relations climate. Workplaces that did this
before the recession performed better.
In the long run, the UK needs to sustain its investment in future generations
of workers by continuing to invest heavily in education. It also needs to grapple
with the underperforming tail of poorly
managed firms, most of which managed
to survive the recession. A good place to
start would be the quality of management
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16 | NEW STATESMAN | 21-27 AUGUST 2015
Untitled-8 16
18/08/2015 13:04:27
practice. Governments are usually reluctant to interfere with managers’ right to
manage, even when those managers appear poorly equipped for the job. In contrast, some of those countries with higher
productivity levels have greater levels
of state intervention and, in some cases,
strong industrial strategies supported
by government.
Finally, the wages question needs to be
addressed. Some firms can sustain poor
productivity because they can draw on
a plentiful supply of low-waged labour.
Cutting off this option might kick-start
growth, just as the uprating of the minimum wage began to do at the very bottom of the labour market.
Alex Bryson is head of the employment
group at the National Institute of
Economic and Social Research
Better-paid jobs can lead
to higher productivity
Louise Woodruff
Half of the 13 million people living in poverty in the UK are from households where
at least one person is in paid work. However, many people earning low incomes
fail to meet basic standards of living. New
research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation polled 5,000 low-income household employees and conducted in-depth
focus groups to ask about working lives
and what employers could do to make
work better.
Many reported that they had to go to
work to make ends meet even when they
were sick, saw little chance of promotion
and didn’t always receive training. Others said they worked long hours, didn’t
always take their breaks and felt their employment was precarious. Few were paid
the living wage and many had more than
one job. Some employees said that not
being able to meet their household living
costs had a direct impact on their performance at work. These people are unlikely
to be as productive as they could be.
Crucially, this research also looked at
the things employers are doing that make
a significant difference to low-paid workers, such as discounts on goods in store,
having a say at work and free meals at
work. Being paid a living wage was considered the most valuable benefit of all.
Just last month, Ikea became the first major retailer to announce that it will pay the
Living Wage, saying it was “not only the
right thing to do for our co-workers, but
it also makes good business sense”.
Increasing productivity at this end of
the labour market does not have to remove the personal touch from customer
service or slice care packages to the point
of being meaningless and possibly harmful. Businesses that offer better-paid jobs
with well-designed progression schemes
(including for those who work part-time),
flexible working, good-quality training
and good benefit packages can help make
a big difference to the living standards of
employees and their families, as well as
improve productivity.
The evidence that a revolution for
workers in usually “low-cost” settings
will increase productivity is stacking up.
The time is now. l
Louise Woodruff is a policy and
research manager for the Joseph
Rowntree Foundation
STOP THE ATTACK
ON WORKERS’ RIGHTS
STOP THE CUTS
21-27 AUGUST 2015 | NEW STATESMAN | 17
Untitled-8 17
18/08/2015 13:04:28
EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
Not just tea
and toilets
By Brendan Barber
I
t might sound like a tautology, but
perhaps the most important part of
“employee voice” is not necessarily
voice at all: it’s the listening that counts
just as much. This involves employees
listening to what the business has to say,
and the business listening to employees.
It sounds simple enough. But making
it happen often involves three things that
can be difficult: acknowledging common
sense; asking for a helping hand to change
mindsets when needed; and continually revisiting the business case for what
makes employee voice so fundamental to
good employment relations.
Let’s start with the evidence. “Good
voice” arrangements have been shown to
help employees feel more engaged and enjoy better well-being, but also have a positive impact on the bottom line. The 2015
European Company Survey highlighted
“win-win” benefits of employee involvement in day-to-day decision-making,
and confirmed that this is a phenomenon
shared across countries. Nor is it a coincidence that in a new publication issued by
Acas, employee voice comes out as one
of the “seven levers of productivity” (for
more on productivity: see pages 15-17).
Good intentions and the right procedures can get you so far, but employee
voice only thrives if it is nurtured in an
environment of trust. When parties come
to Acas, the symptoms they present are
often to do with breakdowns in communication, but the underlying cause usually
relates to a loss of trust.
To create an environment where employment relations are positive and trust
is maintained, communication needs to
Share, listen, feed back
be a regular feature of working life, rather
than an exception. This might take place
via reps, some kind of forum or through
direct contact. The important point is
keeping the channels open and not letting
the issues stack up for a rainy day – keep
agendas clear and not onerous, and allow
time for consideration when it comes to
the big issues.
There’s a mantra that tea and toilets are
the death knell of genuine communication and consultation. In fact those humdrum issues round the edges at work can
turn into the emotive ones; issues such
as car parking or the office redesign can
descend into conflict if not given air. But
communication has to go deeper. Matters
on the agenda should include everything
from terms and conditions to the strategic
plan, and from people policies to opportunities for innovation. It may be a cliché,
“from small acorns . . .” and all that, but
discussions about tea and toilets can often
lead to creative dialogue about how to improve working practices and job design.
Effective consultation assumes a certain mindset. All those involved must
recognise the benefits (and parameters)
of sharing information, and collaborative
working and consultation must involve
deep listening to concerns. Writing off em­
ployee suggestions without consideration
creates the wrong atmosphere. Making
informed decisions and providing feedback on suggestions is more productive.
Research suggests that consultation is
becoming narrower in scope. Acas analysis of the 2011 Workplace Employment
Relations Study found the proportion of
managers who said they use committees
mainly to seek feedback had fallen from
45 to 39 per cent, while those saying they
seek feedback on a preferred management
option had risen from 9 to 28 per cent.
Finally, who are the key players? In
face-to-face meetings, the benefits come
from getting a range of employees at the
table, representing a good cross-section
of staff, including senior managers. An
occasional visit from the leaders of the organisation can also have a positive impact.
With a long background in the trade
union movement, I have seen many
times how union representatives can be
the “right players”. This was particularly evident during the recession, when
many agreements were reached to keep
businesses afloat. But as the trade union
movement would be only too quick to
acknowledge: unions are a conduit. They
can help to safeguard the voice, but it’s
the quality of engagement that counts. l
Brendan Barber is the chair of the
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration
Service (Acas)
REX FEATURES
The quality of engagement is what drives results
when negotiating on employee welfare
18 | NEW STATESMAN | 21-27 AUGUST 2015
Untitled-9 18
18/08/2015 11:14:32
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SPONSORED BY THE GENERAL FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS
The value of
trade unions
Doug Nicholls argues that the most astute politicians are the
99 per cent of the population who are working people
T
rade unions are bigger, older,
stronger and more popular
than all of the political parties
put together. There are nine times
more trade unionists than political
party members. Add our families
and those who benefit from our
work, and it is fair to say we represent the entire workforce.
For every job there is a relevant
and informed union. Some such as
the Public and Commercial Services Union are bigger than the Labour Party. Unions are the largest
voluntary organisations in Britain.
We exist because of the voluntary
commitment of active members.
Our roots go back long before the
formation of the Conservative and
Liberal Parties. And of course in
1900, unions, including the GFTU,
created the Labour Party to campaign for trade union rights in parliament and for accountable MPs.
These roots go deep into the
democratic struggles not just for
social justice, but for the extension
of the franchise; to ensure that it
was not only the few property owners who could vote, but, as of 1928,
all men and women over the age
of 21. Trade unions are inseparable from the age-old struggle for
democracy, equality and liberty.
Untitled-10 20
This struggle for the universal
franchise was associated with an
extension of the public sphere, active citizenship, public services and
free education, and was eventually
joined by free health care, nationalised industries and utilities, a collective caring culture and a welfare
state. It was a hard, generational
struggle opposed all the way by
big business. The famous phrase
“there is no such thing as society”
was code for break up the unions,
break up the public good and break
up democracy.
We remain a determining
voice, the largest social
force in the country
Trade unions were central to the
creation of more extensive democratic participation and power at
the workplace and in government.
They helped civilise the country
from rulers content to keep the majority of the population in poverty,
disease and ignorance.
We now demand the fulfilment
of the democratic struggle, votes
for all at 16 years of age and control of our country through a new,
clear and written constitution that
supports the people and not profit.
At the high point of trade unionism in the late 1970s, when collective bargaining extended to more
than 70 per cent of workplaces, inequality was at its lowest and there
was a sense of national pride that
the public ownership of key areas
of the economy gave purpose and
direction to the national culture.
Our unions pioneered religious and
political tolerance and anti-racism.
Unions united workers in Scotland,
Wales and England when employers wanted to divide and break up
the nation.
We have been at the forefront
of the struggles for peace and
have given strong assistance to
thousands of just causes around
the world. When there is suffering overseas – a disaster such as
the Bhopal gas tragedy in India, or
a reign of terror as in Colombia or
the former apartheid South Africa –
or when there is genuine progress
as in Venezuela, trade unions here
have been in the forefront of international solidarity.
Unions are also massive providers
of adult education; we raise skills,
offering unique chances for members to return to learning, as well as
to develop political and economic
18/08/2015 11:16:36
understanding for active citizenship. Few politicians appreciate an
educated, organised working class
– they prefer a superficial appeal
on the doorstep.
Television
programmes
are
brought to us by Bectu technicians
through communications technology engineered by Prospect
members. The actors we applaud
are in Equity, the footballers in the
PFA, the cricketers in the PCA, the
reporters in the NUJ, the musicians
in the MU. Our children are taught
by teaching union members, our
services are staffed by union members, and our planes are flown
and crewed by union members.
Who administers your contact with
local and national government?
Union members.
Strength in the face of adversity
Yet trade unions have been the
number-one target for the forces of
reaction that have ruled this country since 1979. Heavy industry and
engineering were sacrificed to try
to destroy the NUM (National Union
of Mineworkers), the AUEW (Amalgamated Union of Engineering
Workers), print and steel workers.
Utilities and public services were
privatised to weaken collective
social obligations, boost the rate
of profit and weaken public-sector
unions. And so the list of vandalism
goes on; the country sold to the
highest bidder against the constant
warnings of the unions.
Despite membership loss, despite
the most anti-trade-union and antiworker legislation in the western
world; despite the continual lies
and distortions about us in the
media; despite a complete lack of
education about trade unions in
schools and universities; despite
food banks for the working poor;
despite the daily attacks on collective bargaining; despite the loss of
the intelligence of manual workers
in the leadership of the movement,
we are not just still here, we remain
a determining voice, the largest social force in the country.
Our values put the rulers of our
country to shame. The most astute politicians are working people – 99 per cent of the population – and we should have greater
power. Those genuinely committed
to the majority will first and foremost remove the legal shackles
on the trade unions, and enable
the people to end the madness of
the market.
As long as there are workers
there will be trade unions and professional associations. We are here
for the duration. By contrast, politicians and pundits are here today,
gone tomorrow. The voice of the
people, the democratically agreed
policies of the unions for manufacturing renewal, renationalisation,
public investment and regulation of
the financial sector will win through.
Unions make democracy and all of
us much stronger. Our voice and
vision will prevail.
Doug Nicholls is the general
secretary of the General Federation
of Trade Unions (GFTU)
Campaigning for
adult education
since 1903
www.wea.org.uk
Facts about orthoptists
(eye health professionals)...
they are part of the 130,000 strong Allied
Health Professionals workforce and...
• Provide value for money (without a drop in quality) by
replacing more costly medics in primary, community
and acute eye care services
• Improve quality of life and people’s independence by
correcting eye movement disorders and double vision
• Mainly work in the NHS, are best placed to ensure the
delivery of comprehensive children's vision screening
with no post code lottery.
The British Orthoptic Society
Trade Union supports and
represents the majority of
orthoptists in the UK.
www.orthoptics.org.uk
21-27 AUGUST 2015| NEW STATESMAN | 21
Untitled-10 21
18/08/2015 11:16:36
Greetings to
all delegates
attending TUC
2015 from
all at TUFI.
100 years of the best and
boldest writing on politics
and culture
Edition 1 & 2 now available
on the ipad edition
www.newstatesman.com/century
• Bringing together Israeli, Palestinian
and UK trade unionists
• Supporting a two-state solution
Quarter page vertical century.indd 2
18/08/2015 11:36:39
Representing over 80% of the profession
in Scotland we are not only the largest,
but also the most inclusive professional
association. The EIS includes teachers and
lecturers across all grades and sectors –
nursery, primary, secondary, special,
further and higher education.
www.eis.org.uk/join
p22 tufoi house ad and eis.indd 1
18/08/2015 13:10:02
DIRECTORY
The guide
TUC head office
Trades Union Congress (TUC)
Congress House
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3LS
020 7636 4030
[email protected]
www.tuc.org.uk
Press line: 020 7467 1248
Press office email: media@tuc.
org.uk
General secretary
Frances O’Grady
Assistant general secretary
Paul Nowak
TUC regional offices
TUC Midlands
24 Livery Street
Birmingham B3 2PA
0121 236 4454
[email protected]
TUC North
Commercial Union House
39 Pilgrim Street
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 6QE
0191 232 3175
[email protected]
TUC North-west
4th floor
Jack Jones House
1 Islington
Liverpool L3 8EG
0151 482 2710
[email protected]
TUC South-east
Congress House
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3LS
020 7467 1220
[email protected]
TUC South-west
Ground Floor,
Church House
Church Road, Filton,
Bristol BS34 7BD
0117 947 0521
[email protected]
TUC Wales
Transport House
1 Cathedral Road
Cardiff CF11 9SD
029 2034 7010
[email protected]
TUC Yorkshire and the Humber
Room 101, West One
114 Wellington St
Leeds, LS1 1BA
0113 242 9696
[email protected]
TUC services
Unionlearn
Congress House,
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3LS
020 7079 6920
[email protected]
www.unionlearn.org.uk
Director
Tom Wilson
Trade union education manager
Liz Rees
Scottish trade union
services
Scottish Trade Union Congress
STUC Centre,
333 Woodlands Road
Glasgow G3 6NG
0141 337 8100
[email protected]
www.stuc.org.uk
General secretary
Grahame Smith
Affiliated trade
unions
Accord
Simmons House
46 Old Bath Road
Charvil,
Reading
Berkshire
RG10 9QR
[email protected]
www.accord-myunion.org
Main trades and industries
Staff of HBOS
General secretary
Ged Nichols
President
Chris Goldthorpe
Advance Union
2nd Floor, 16/17 High Street
Tring, Herts HP23 5AH
01442 891122
[email protected]
www.advance-union.org
Main trades and industries
Staff of Santander
General secretary
Linda Rolph
Association of Educational
Psychologists (AEP)
4 Riverside Centre,
Frankland Lane
Durham DH1 5TA
0191 384 9512
[email protected]
www.aep.org.uk
General secretary
Kate Fallon
President
Sean O’Donoghue
Association of Managers in
Education
Merged with the ATL
Association of Flight Attendants
(AFA)
United Airlines Cargo Centre
Shoreham Road East
Heathrow Airport
Hounslow
Middlesex TW6 3UA
020 8276 6723
[email protected]
www.unitedafa.org
Main trades and industries
Airline cabin crew
International President
Sara Nelson
Association of Teachers and
Lecturers (ATL)
7 Northumberland Street
London WC2N 5RD
020 7930 6441
[email protected]
www.atl.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Teachers, lecturers and
support staff in nursery,
primary, secondary schools,
sixth-form and further
education colleges
General secretary
Mary Bousted
Deputy general secretary
Peter Pendle
President
Mark Baker
Associated Society of
Locomotive Engineers
and Firemen (Aslef)
77 St John Street,
Clerkenwell
London EC1M 4NN
020 7324 2400
[email protected]
www.aslef.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Railways (drivers,
operational supervisors
and staff)
General secretary
Mick Whelan
National organiser
Simon Weller
President
Tosh McDonald
Bakers, Food and Allied
Workers’ Union (BFAWU)
Stanborough House,
Great North Road
Welwyn Garden City,
Herts AL8 7TA
01707 260150
[email protected]
www.bfawu.org
Main trades and industries
Food industry workers
General secretary
Ronnie Draper
Britannia Staff Union (BSU)
Court Lodge,Leonard Street,
Leek
Staffordshire ST13 5JP
01538 399627
[email protected]
www.britanniasu.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Staff of Britannia Building
Society
General secretary
John Stoddard
British Air Line Pilots
Association (Balpa)
BALPA House,
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DIRECTORY
5 Heathrow Boulevard
278 Bath Road,
West Drayton
UB7 0DQ
0208 476 4000
[email protected]
www.balpa.org
Main trades and industries
Airline pilots and flight
engineers
General secretary
Jim McAuslan
Head of industrial relations
John Moore
President
Tim Pottage
Broadcasting Entertainment
Cinematograph and Theatre
Union (BECTU)
373-377 Clapham Road
London SW9 9BT
020 7346 0900
[email protected]
www.bectu.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Backstage, technical,
production and support
workers in broadcasting,
film, theatre cinema, live
events and digital media.
General secretary
Gerry Morrissey
Assistant general secretaries
Spencer McDonald
Luke Crawley
President
Jane Perry
Twitter
@bectu
Facebook
/bectuoffical
British Dietetic Association
(BDA)
5th floor, Charles House
148-149 Great
Charles Street
Birmingham B3 3HT
0121 200 8080
[email protected]
www.bda.uk.com
Main trades and industries
Science of dietetics in the
private and public sector
Chief executive
Andy Burman
Head of employment relations
Debbie O’Rourke
British and Irish Orthoptic
Society (BOS)
Salisbury House
Station Road
Cambridge CB1 2LA
01353 665 541
[email protected]
www.orthoptics.org.uk
Chair
Lesley-Anne Baxter
Chartered Society of
Physiotherapy (CSP)
14 Bedford Row
London WC1R 4ED
020 7306 6666
[email protected]
www.csp.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Chartered
physiotherapists,
physiotherapy students
and assistants
Director of employment
relations and union services
Claire Sullivan
Chair of national industrial
relations committee
Jill Barker
Community
456 Caledonian Road
London
N7 9GX
0800 389 6332
[email protected]
www.community-tu.org
Main trades and industries
Steel, textiles, footwear,
betting shops, social care,
voluntary sector, logistics
General secretary
Roy Rickhuss
Deputy general secretary
Joe Mann MBE
Community and Youth Workers’
Union
National Section of T&G/
Unite the Union
Transport House
211 Broad Street,
Birmingham
B15 1AY
0121 643 6221
kerry.jenkins@
unitethe union.org.uk
www.cywu.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Youth workers,
mentors, play workers, personal advisers
General secretary
Doug Nicholls
The Communications
Union(CWU)
150 The Broadway,
Wimbledon
London SW19 1RX
020 8971 7200
[email protected]
www.cwu.org
Main trades and industries
Postal and
telecommunications
workers
General secretary
Dave Ward
Senior deputy general
secretary
Tony Kearns
President
Jane Loftus
CWU – ALGUS National Branch
Carlton Park,
Building 3
Ground floor,
Narborough
Leicestershire LE19 0AL
0116 200 3620
[email protected]
www.cwualgus.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Staff of Alliance and
Leicester
Secretary
Debbie Cort
Chairperson
Pete Greenwood
Equity
Guild House
Upper St Martin’s Lane
London WC2H 9EG
020 7379 6000
[email protected]
www.equity.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Performance workers in
theatre,film,
television and radio
General secretary
Christine Payne
President
Malcolm Sinclair
GMB
22 Stephenson Way,
Euston, NW1 2HD
020 8947 3131
[email protected]
www.gmb.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Local government, NHS,
education, retail, security,
distribution and utilities
General secretary
Paul Kenny
Educational Institute of
Scotland (EIS)
46 Moray Place
Edinburgh EH3 6BH
0131 225 6244
[email protected]
www.eis.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Teachers, lecturers and
associated
educational staff in
Scotland
General secretary
Larry Flanagan
President
Tommy Castles
Fire Brigades Union (FBU)
Bradley House
68 Coombe Road
Kingston Upon Thames
Surrey, KT2 7AE
02085411765
[email protected]
www.fbu.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Local authority
fire brigades
General Secretary
Matt Wrack
Assistant General Secretary
Andy Dark
President
Alan McLean
Hospital Consultants and
Specialists Association (HCSA)
1 Kingsclere Road
Basingstoke,RG25 3JA
01256 771777
[email protected]
www.hcsa.com
Main trades and industries
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FDA
8 Leake Street
London
SE17NN
08454701111
02074015555
[email protected]
www.fda.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Senior managers and
professionals in public
service. The FDA Unison
Joint Venture Managers
in Partnership represents
senior managers in the
NHS.
General secretary
Dave Penman
Musicians’ Union (MU)
60-62 Clapham Road
London,
SW9 0JJ
020 7582 5566
[email protected]
www.musiciansunion.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Music profession
General secretary
John Smith
Assistant general secretaries
David Ashley
Horace Trubridge
Medical specialists and
consultants
General secretary
Eddie Saville
NAPO – Trade Union and
Professional Association
for Family Court and
Probation Staff
4 Chivalry Road, London
SW11 1HT
020 7223 4887
[email protected]
www.napo.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Probation and family court
staff
General secretary
Ian Lawrence
Assistant general secretary
Dean Rogers
National Association of Colliery
Overmen, Deputies and
Shotfirers (Nacods)
Wadsworth House
130-132 Doncaster Road
Barnsley, S70 1TP
01226 203743
natnacods@
googlemail.com
www.nacods.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Mining
General secretary
Rowland Soar
President
Terry Fox
National Association of
Co-operative Officials (NACO)
6a Clarendon Place
Hyde, Cheshire
SK14 2QZ
0161 351 7900
[email protected]
www.naco.coop
Main trades and industries
Managers and professionals
in the co-operative
movement
General secretary
Neil Buist
National Association of
Schoolmasters Union of Women
Teachers (NASUWT)
Hillscourt Education
Centre, Rose Hill, Rednal
Birmingham B45 8RS
0121 453 6150
nasuwt@
mail.nasuwt.org.uk
www.nasuwt.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Education
General secretary
Chris Keates
Deputy general secretary
Patrick Roach
President
Graham Dawson
National Union of
Journalists (NUJ)
Headland House
308-312 Gray’s Inn Road
London WC1X 8DP
020 7843 3705
[email protected]
www.nuj.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Journalism
General secretary
Michelle Stanistreet
National Union of Mineworkers
(NUM)
Miners’ Offices
2 Huddersfield Road
Barnsley S70 2LS
01226 215555
www.num.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Coal mining
National secretary
Chris Kitchen
President
Nicky Wilson
National Union of Rail,
Maritime and Transport
Workers (RMT)
Unity House,
39 Chalton Street
London NW1 1JD
020 7387 4771
[email protected]
www.rmt.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Railways and shipping,
underground and road
transport
President
Peter Pinkney
National Union of Teachers
Hamilton House,
London WC1H 9BD
020 7388 6191
[email protected]
www.teachers.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Teachers
General secretary
Christine Blower
President
Philipa Harvey
Nationwide Group Staff Union
Middleton Farmhouse
37 Main Road
Oxfordshire
OX17 2QT
01295 710767
[email protected]
www.ngsu.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Staff of Nationwide
Building Society Group
General secretary
Tim Poil
President
Gill Grocott
Nautilus International
1-2 The Shrubberies,
London, E18 1BD
020 8989 6677
[email protected]
www.nautilusint.org
Main trades and industries
Campaigning for secure jobs,
fair reward, decent pensions
and dignity at work in the
Lloyds Banking Group, TSB &
Equitable Life
I love being part
of a friendly union
that makes a positive
difference.
visit www.accord-myunion.org
email: [email protected] call: 01189 341808
Ged Nichols General Secretary
Chris Goldthorpe President
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DIRECTORY
Maritime professionals at
sea and ashore
General secretary
Mark Dickinson
Prison Officers’ Association
(POA UK)
Cronin House,
London,
N9 9HW
020 8803 0255
[email protected]
www.poauk.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Prison, correctional
and secure
psychiatric workers
General secretary
Steve Gillan
Deputy general secretary
Andy Darken
National chairman
PJ McParlin
Professional Footballers’
Association (PFA)
20 Oxford Court,
Manchester,
M2 3WQ
0161 236 0575
[email protected]
www.thepfa.com
Main trades and industries
Professional football
Chief executive
Gordon Taylor
Prospect
New Prospect House
8 Leake Street,
London SE1 7NN
020 7902 6600
[email protected]
www.prospect.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Professionals, managers
and specialists
General secretary
Mike Clancy
Deputy general secretaries
Garry Graham
Dai Hudd
Leslie Manasseh
President
Alan Grey
Public and Commercial
Services (PCS)
160 Falcon Road,
London SW11 2LN
020 7924 2727
[email protected]
www.pcs.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Civil and public servants
General secretary
Mark Serwotka
Assistant general secretary
Chris Baugh
President
Janice Godrich
Society of Chiropodists and
Podiatrists (SCP)
1 Fellmongers Path,
London,
SE1 3LY
020 7234 8620
[email protected]
www.scpod.org
Chief executive
Joanna Brown
Society of Radiographers (SoR)
207 Providence Square
London SE1 2EW
020 7740 7200
[email protected]
www.sor.org
Main trades and industries
National Health Service
Chief executive officer
Richard Evans
Transport Salaried Staffs’
Association (TSSA)
Walkden House,
London,
NW1 2EJ
020 7387 2101
[email protected]
www.tssa.org.uk
Main trades and industries
White-collar transport
workers
General secretary
Manuel Cortes
Undeb Cenedlaethol Athrawon
Cymru (UCAC)
Ffordd Penglais,
Aberystwyth
SY23 2EU
01970 639950
[email protected]
www.athrawon.com
Main trades and industries
Welsh teachers’ union
General secretary
Elaine Edwards
President
Elen Davies
Union of Construction, Allied
Trades and Technicians (UCATT)
UCATT House,
London, SW4 9RL
020 7622 2442
[email protected]
www.ucatt.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Construction and building
General secretary
Steve Murphy
Union of Shop, Distributive
and Allied Workers (Usdaw)
188 Wilmslow Road
Manchester M14 6LJ
0161 224 2804
[email protected]
www.usdaw.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Retail and distribution
sectors
General secretary
John Hannett
Deputy general secretary
Paddy Lillis
President
Jeff Broome
Unison
UNISON Centre,
130 Euston Road
London NW1 2AY
0800 857 857
www.unison.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Local government, health
care, utilities, education,
transport, voluntary sector,
housing associations,
police support staff
General secretary
Dave Prentis
President
Chris Tansley
Unity
Hillcrest House,
Staffs, ST1 2AB
01782 272755
[email protected]
www.unitytheunion.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Ceramics industry
General secretary
Harry Hockaday
University and College
Union (UCU)
Carlow Street,
London, NW1 7LH
020 7756 2500
[email protected]
www.ucu.org.uk
Main trades and industries
Academics, lecturers,
and related staff working in further and higher education
General secretary
Sally Hunt
Unite the union
Unite House,
128 Theobald’s Road
Holborn,
London WC1X 8TN
020 7611 2500
www.unitetheunion.org
Main trades and industries
Manufacturing,
engineering, energy,
construction, aerospace,
civil aviation, health, IT,
youth work
General secretary
Len McCluskey
United Road Transport
Union (URTU)
Almond House,
Stanley Green Business Park
Cheadle Hume
Cheshire SK8 6QL
0161 486 2100
[email protected]
www.urtu.com
Main trades and industries
Drivers, warehousing,
ancillary workers in the
logistics and food sectors
General secretary
Robert Monks
President
Phil Brown
Writers’ Guild of Great
Britain (WGGB)
134 Tooley Street
London, SE1 2TU
020 7833 0777
[email protected]
www.writersguild.org.uk
General secretary
Bernie Corbett
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Yorkshire Independent Staff
Association
Yorkshire House
Bradford, BD5 8LJ
01274 472453
[email protected]
Main trades and industries
Yorkshire Building Society
staff
association
Confederations
of unions
Confederation of Shipbuilding
and Engineering Unions
128 Theobalds Road
London, WC1X 8TN
Council of Civil Service Unions
160 Falcon Road
London SW11 2LN
020 7223 8340
[email protected]
General Federation of
Trade Unions
The Lodge
84 Wood Lane
Leicestershire,
LE12 8DB
01509 410 853
[email protected]
www.gftu.org
Non-affiliated
unions and staff
associations
British Medical Association
(BMA)
BMA House
London, WC1H 9JP
020 7387 4499
[email protected]
www.bma.org.uk
Chief Executive
Keith Ward
Macadam House
275 Gray’s Inn Road
London
WC1X 8QB
0845 5210 262
[email protected]
www.nus.org.uk
Chief executive
Simon Blake
Lloyds TSB Group Union (LTU)
St John’s Terrace,
Bedford,
MK42 9EY
01234 262868
[email protected]
www.ltu.co.uk
General secretary
Mark Brown
Northern Ireland Public Service
Alliance (Nipsa)
Affiliated to the Irish
Congress of Trade Unions
Harkin House,
Belfast,
BT9 6DP
028 9066 1831
[email protected]
www.nipsa.org.uk
General secretary
Brian Campfield
National Association of Head
Teachers
1 Heath Square
West Sussex,
RH16 1BL
0300 30 30 333
[email protected]
www.naht.co.uk
General secretary
Russell Hobby
British Dental
Association (BDA)
64 Wimpole Street
London, W1G 8YS
Electricity Sector Trades
020 7935 0875
Union Council
[email protected]
New Prospect House
www.bda.org.uk
London SE1 7NN
Chief executive
020 7902 6600
Peter Ward
1508
aslef statesman party conf_1508
New Statesman party 87 wide x 127
1 Union of Students
[email protected]
President
National
www.prospect.org.uk
Alasdair Miller
(NUS)
For train drivers, trade
unions & the Labour
Party since 1880
Passengers are fed up with the poor
value they are being
offered by Britain’s privatised train
companies and want the government
to do something about it. Because
the privatised railway isn’t working
properly; the privatised train
companies are ripping off the
taxpayer and ripping off their
passengers.
Offshore Industry Liaison
Committee (OILC)
106 Crown Street,
Aberdeen, AB11 6NQ
01224 210118
oilc.rmt.secretary@
gmail.com
www.oilc.org
Regional organiser
Jake Molloy
The whole
world loves the
BBC and yet our
own government
is attacking the
Corporation.
Now’s the time
for everyone
who values BBC
output to step up.
Sign the petition here:
bit.ly/1gXhoT2
Follow @bectu for campaign updates.
Let’s help build a better railway
for Britain in 2015
Mick Whelan, general secretary
Tosh McDonald, president
Simon Weller, national organiser
www.facebook.com/BECTUOfficial
@bectu
www.bectu.org.uk
The media and entertainment union
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DIRECTORY
Police Federation of England
and Wales
Federation House,
Highbury Drive,
Leatherhead
Surrey KT22 7UY
01372 352 000
[email protected]
www.polfed.org
General secretary
Andy Fittes
Chairman
Steve White
Retail Book, Stationery and
Allied Trades Employees Association (RBA)
PO Box 3855,
Swindon, SN4 4EB
01793 855 786
[email protected]
www.the-rba.org
President
David Pickles
National officer
Paul Lee
Royal College of Midwives
(RCM)
15 Mansfield Street
London, W1G 9NH
0300 303 0444
[email protected]
www.rcm.org.uk
Chief executive
Cathy Warwick
President
Lesley Page
Royal College of Nursing (RCN)
15 Mansfield Street
London W1G 9NH
0300 303 0444
[email protected]
www.rcn.org.uk
General secretary
Peter Carter
President
Cecilia Anim
Scottish Police Federation
5 Woodside Place
Glasgow G3 7QF
0141 332 5234
[email protected]
www.spf.org.uk
General secretary
Calum Steel
Chairman
Brian Docherty
Voice (the union for education
professionals)
2 St James’ Court,
Derby DE1 1BT
01332 372337
contact@voicetheunion.
org.uk
www.voicetheunion.org.uk
General secretary
Deborah Lawson
International
organisations
Education International
5 Boulevard du Roi
Albert II
B-1210 Brussels, Belgium
00 32 2 224 0611
[email protected]
www.ei-ie.org
General secretary
Fred van Leeuwen
President
Susan Hopgood
European Economic and Social
Committee (EESC)
99 Rue Belliard
B-1040 Brussels Belgium
00 32 2 546 9011
[email protected]
www.eesc.europa.eu
General secretary
Luis Planas Puchades
President
Henri Malosse
IndustriALL
ITUH, Boulevard du Roi
Albert II, 5 (Boîte 10) B-1210
Brussels, Belgium
00 32 2226 0050
[email protected]
www.industriall-europe.eu
General secretary
Jyrki Raina
President
Berthold Huber
European Public Services Union
(EPSU)
Rue Joseph II, Boîte 5
B-1000 Brussels,
Belgium
00 32 2 250 1080
[email protected]
www.epsu.org
General secretary
Jan Willem Goudriaan
President
Annelie Nordstrom
European Federation of Building and Wood Workers (EFBWW)
45/3 rue Royale
B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
00 32 2 227 1040
[email protected]
www.efbww.org
General secretary
Sam Hagglund
President
Domenico Pesenti
European Trade Union
Committee for Education
(ETUCE)
5 Boulevard du Roi
Albert II
B-1210 Brussels
Belgium
00 32 2 224 0692
[email protected]
www.csee-etuce.org
General secretary
Martin Rømer
President
Christine Blower
European Federation of Food,
Agriculture and Tourism(EFFAT)
38 Rue Fossé-aux-Loups
Boîte 3, B-1000 Brussels
Belgium
00 32 2 218 7730
[email protected]
www.effat.org
General secretary
Harald Wiedenhofer
President
Bruno Vannoni
European Trade Union
Confederation (ETUC)
5 Boulevard du
Roi Albert II
B-1210 Brussels, Belgium
00 32 2 224 0411
[email protected]
www.etuc.org
General secretary
Bernadette Ségol
President
Ignacio Fernandez Toxo
European Federation of
Journalists (EFJ)
Résidence Palace
155 Rue de la Loi
B-1040 Brussels
Belgium
00 32 2 235 2200
[email protected]
http://europe.ifj.org
General secretary
Ricardo Gutiérrez
President
Mogens Blicher Bjerregård
European Trade Union Institute
for Research, Education, Health
and Safety (ETUI- REHS)
Boulevard du Roi Albert II,
Boite 4, B-1210 Brussels,
Tel: 00 32 2 224 0470
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.etui.org
Director
Philippe Pochet
European Federation of
Textiles, Clothing and Leather
Merged with IndustriALL
European Transport Workers’
Federation (ETF)
Rue du Marché aux Herbes
105, Boîte 11, B-1000
Brussels
00 32 2 285 4660
[email protected]
www.itfglobal.org/etf
General secretary
Eduardo Chagas
Deputy general secretary
Sabine Tier
International Federation of
Building and Wood Workers
(IFBWW)
54 Route des Acacias
CH-1227, Carouge-Geneva
Switzerland
00 41 22 827 3777
[email protected]
www.bwint.org
General secretary
Ambet Yuson
President
Per Olof Sjoo
International Federation of
Journalists (IFJ)
International Press Centre
Block C, 155 Rue de la Loi
B-1040 Brussels, Belgium
00 32 2 235 2200
[email protected]
www.ifj.org
General secretary
Beth Costa
President
Jim Boumelha
International Labour Office
310 Nelson House,
Dolphin Square
London
SW1V 3NY
020 7798 5681
[email protected]
www.ilo.org/london
International Labour
Organisation (Geneva)
4 Route des Morillons
CH-1211 Geneva 22,
Switzerland
00 41 22 799 6111
[email protected]
www.ilo.org
Director general
Guy Ryder
International Trade Union
Confederation
5 Boulevard du Roi Albert II
B-1210 Brussels, Belgium
00 32 2 224 0211
[email protected]
www.ituc-csi.org
General secretary (HQ)
Sharan Burrow
President
João Antonio Felicio
Irish Congress of Trade Unions
31/32 Parnell Square
Dublin 1, Ireland
00 353 1 8897777
[email protected]
www.ictu.i
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Trade Union Friends of
Israel
London, WC1N 3XX
020 7222 4323
[email protected]
www.tufi.org.uk
Main trades and industries
TUFI was established to
strengthen the links
between the Israeli,
Palestinian and British
trade unions movement.
TUFI aims to build
support for the Middle
East peace process in the
UK labour movement and
promote efforts towards
finding a just and lasting
peace settlement for both
Israelis and Palestinians.
Battersea and Wandsworth TUC
London SW4 6DZ
020 8877 7304
[email protected]
www.bwtuc.org.uk
Demos
London SE1 2TU
0845 458 5949
[email protected]
www.demos.co.uk
Centre for Local Economic
Strategies
Manchester M4 5DL
0161 236 7036
[email protected]
www.cles.org.uk
Department for Transport
Great Minster House,
33 Horseferry Road,
London, SW1P 4DR
0300 330 3000
www.dft.gov.uk
Centre for Policy Studies
London SW1P 3QL
020 7222 4488
[email protected]
www.cps.org.uk
Department for Work and
Pensions
London, SW1H 9NA
020 7712 2171
www.dwp.gov.uk
Certification Office for Trade
Unions and Employers’
Associations
London
NW1 3JJ
020 7210 3734
[email protected]
www.certoffice.org
Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills
London SW1H 0ET
020 7215 5000
[email protected]
www.bis.gov.uk
Child Poverty Action Group
London N1 9PF
020 7837 7979
[email protected]
www.cpag.org.uk
UNI Global Union
8-10 Avenue Reverdil
CH-1260 NYON
Switzerland
+41 22 365 21 00
www.uniglobalunion.org
Main trades and industries
Service sector, including;
cleaning, security,
commerce, finance,
gaming, graphical and
packaging, hair and
beauty, information,
communication and
technology aervices,
media, entertainment and
arts, post and logistics,
sport, temporary and
agency workers, tourism.
General Secretary
Philip Jennings
Deputy General Secretary
Christy Hoffman
Useful contacts
Association of Liberal Democrat
Trade Unionists (ALDTU)
London E10 6JH
aldtu.blogspot.co.uk
Citizens’ Income Trust
London SE10 0QQ
020 8305 1222
[email protected]
www.citizensincome.org
Department of Health
London SW1A 2NS
020 7210 4850
[email protected]
www.dh.gov.uk
Disability Rights UK
London EC1V 8AF
020 7250 3222
enquiries@disabilityrightsuk.
org
www.disabilityrightsuk.org
Discrimination Law
Association
PO Box 63576,
London N6 9BB
0845 478 6375
[email protected]
www.discriminationlaw.org.
uk
European Commission
(UK office)
London SW1P 3EU
020 7973 1992
www.ec.europa.eu
Fabian Society
London, SW1H 9EU
020 7227 4900
[email protected]
www.fabians.org.uk
www.hse.gov.uk
Independent Police
Complaints Commission
London
WC1V 6BH
0300 020 0096
[email protected]
www.ipcc.gov.uk
Class: Centre for Labour &
Social Studies
London, WC1X 8TN
020 7611 2569
[email protected]
www.classonline.org.uk
Communist Party of Britain
Croydon CR0 1BD
020 8686 1659
office@communist-party
.org.uk
www.communistparty.org.uk
Conservative Party
London SW1H 9HQ
020 7222 9000
www.conservatives.com
Co-operative Party
London SE1 3SD
020 7367 4150
[email protected]
www.party.coop
Corporate Watch c/o
Freedom Press,
London E1 7QX
020 7426 0005
[email protected]
www.corporatewatch.
org.uk
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DIRECTORY
Industrial Injuries Advisory
Council
London SW1H 9NA
020 7499 5618
[email protected]
www.iiac.org.uk
Institute for Public Policy
Research (IPPR)
London WC2N 6DF
020 7470 6100
[email protected]
www.ippr.org
Institute of Employment Rights
Liverpool L3 8EG
0151 207 5265
[email protected]
www.ier.org.uk
International Centre for Trade
London SW4 9RL
020 7498 4700
[email protected]
www.ictur.org
Labourstart.org
London N3 2LG
07846 658571
[email protected]
www.labourstart.org
Keningtons Chartered
Surveyors
Keningtons Chartered
Surveyors
72-75 Marylebone High St
London W1U 5JW
020 7224 2222
www.keningtons.com
timpoulston@keningtons.
com
Low Pay Commission
London WC1B 4AD
020 7271 0450
[email protected]
www.lowpay.gov.uk
Labour Party
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 6PA
0845 092 2299
www.labour.org.uk
Labour Research
Department
London
SE1 8HF
020 7928 3649
[email protected]
www.lrd.org.uk
Labour Women’s Network
[email protected]
www.lwn.org.uk
Keele University
Centre for Industrial
Relations,
Keele Management School
Darwin Building,
Keele University
Keele,
Staffordshire ST5 5BG
01782 734367
[email protected]
www.keele.ac.uk
London Coalition Against
Poverty
London E1 7QX
07932 241737
[email protected]
www.lcap.org.uk
Liberal Democrats
London,
SW1P 3AE
020 7222 7999
[email protected]
www.libdems.org.uk
Liberal Party
41 Sutton Street,
Liverpool
L13 7EG
northwestliberalparty@
hotmail.co.uk
www.liberal.org.uk
Moorish Solicitors
Oxford House,
Oxford Row
Leeds LS1 3BE
033 3344 9600
info@morrishsolicitors.
com
www.morrishsolicitors.
com
Senior partner
Paul Scholey
National Institute of Adult
Continuing Education
Leicester LE1 7GE
0116 204 4200
[email protected]
www.niace.org.uk
National Shop Stewards
Network
PO Box 54498,
London E10 9DE
[email protected]
www.shopstewards.net
New Unionism
Cheshire WA14 2PX
00 64 27 8191 999
[email protected]
www.newunionsim.net
NHS Support Federation
113 Queens Road
Brighton BN1 3XG
01273 234822
[email protected]
www.nhscampaign.org
Pensions Regulator
Brighton BN1 4DW
0870 6063636
customersupport@
thepensionsregulator.gov.uk
www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk
Popularis
Southampton SO40 3LR
0116 254 2259
[email protected]
www.popularis.org
Prison Reform Trust
London EC1V 0JR
020 7251 5070
[email protected]
www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk
Public Concern at Work
London SE1 9QQ
020 7404 6609
[email protected]
www.pcaw.co.uk
Ruskin College
Dunstan Road,
Oxford OX3 932
01865 554331
[email protected]
www.ruskin.ac.uk
Fair pay for
s
e
c
i
v
r
e
s
y
t
i
l
qua
Claire Sullivan Director, Employment
Relations and Union Services
001312-ad-NewStatesman.indd 1
Jill Barker Chair, Industrial
Relations Committee
12/08/2015 10:23
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Scottish Women’s Aid
2nd floor, 132 Rose Street
Edinburgh EH3 3JD
0131 226 6606
info@scottishwomensaid.
org.uk
www.scottishwomensaid.
org.uk
Shelter
88 Old Street
London EC1V 9HU
0808 800 4444
[email protected]
www.shelter.org.uk
Social Market Foundation
London SW1P 3QB
020 7222 7060
[email protected]
www.smf.co.uk
Social Security Advisory
Committee
Caxton House,
Tothill Street
London SW1H 9NA
020 7412 1506
[email protected]
www.ssac.org.uk
Socialist Educational
Association
6 Preston Avenue,
E4 9ML
020 8531 9836
[email protected]
www.socialisteducation.org.
uk
Society of Labour Lawyers
12 Baylis Road
London, SE2 7AA
020 7837 2808
[email protected]
www.societyoflabourlawyers.
org.uk
Solidarity Federation
PO Box 29,
SW Postal Delivery Office
Manchester M15 5HW
0161 232 7889
[email protected]
www.solfed.org.uk
Stonewall
London SE1 7NX
Tel: 020 7593 1850
[email protected]
www.stonewall.org.uk
Thompsons Solicitors
London WC1B 3LW
020 7290 0000
[email protected]
The POA are the largest union in the UK
representing uniformed prison, detention, secure escort staff in
the public and private sector, along with staff working in the field
of secure forensic psychiatric care.
The POA is restructuring to meet the challenges of the future.
Our structures will be relevant to the needs of our members
wherever they work.
We want all our members to have a voice in their trade union.
No member, irrespective of where they work or who their
employer is, will go unheard.
We are dedicated to serving and promoting the best interests
of all our members.
As a specialised trade union we provide advice,
support and representation.
For further information contact the POA
The POA
The Professional Trades Union for Prison, Correctional
and Secure Psychiatric Workers
Cronin House 245 Church Street London N9 9HW
www.thompsons.law.co.uk
UK National
Workstress Network
9 Bell Lane, Syresham,
Brackley, NN13 5HP
07966 196033
[email protected]
www.workstress.net
Unions 21
7 Northumberland Street
London, WC2N 5RD
020 7782 1535
[email protected]
www.unions21.org.uk
United Campaign to Repeal the
Anti-Trade Union Laws
39 Chalton Street
London NW1 1JD
0151 702 6927
[email protected].
uk
www.unitedcampaign.org.uk
The Work Foundation
London SW1H 0AD
0207 976 3565
[email protected]
www.theworkfoundation.
com
Workers’ Educational
Association
4 Luke Street
London
EC2A 4XW
020 7426 3450
[email protected]
www.wea.org.uk
Working Lives
Research Unit
London Metropolitan
University
166-220 Holloway Road,
London,
N7 8DB
020 7133 5132
workinglives@londonmet.
ac.uk
www.workinglives.org
Belfast, Cardiff,
Edinburgh, London and
all points in between
Wherever you are in the UK, you are never very
far from a Prospect member. They work on our
energy infrastructure, conserve our world-class
heritage, make sure our flood defences are as
good as they can be and provide logistic and
maintenance support for our armed forces.
The outcome of the general election will produce
political, social and workplace change across the
UK. Prospect believes that progressive workplaces
are key to solving the UK’s economic challenges.
www.prospect.org.uk
Telephone: 020 8803 0255
www.poauk.org.uk
21-27 AUGUST 2015 | NEW STATESMAN | 31
professionals working
for a better Britain
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7114_AntiAusterity_Ad_3_Layout 1 10/08/2015 16:12 Page 1
End Austerity Now
Protest the
Conservative Party
Conference!
manchester
Saturday 3rd October Wednesday 7th October 2015
The Tory
government is
attacking the
rights of people
in work, and
imposing cuts
that will harm
everyone on a
low income, in
or out of work.
They continue
to punish the
most vulnerable
for a crisis they
did not create –
while rewarding
those that did.
This government will divide our country and spread inequality. We need to stop them.
You can help by getting involved:
• Please support the People’s Assembly’s week of protest and creativity as we tell the people’s stories
• And join us on the march at the TUC’s National Demonstration in Manchester on Sunday 4th October.
Watch out for the People’s Assembly events going on all week:
Theatre performances, gigs, People’s cinema, comedy, tent cities plus
discussions on privatisation, our NHS, climate change, education, TTIP,
Europe, and real alternatives to austerity.
AGAINST
Participants throughout the week include: Jeremy Corbyn MP,
Frankie Boyle, Charlotte Church, Sam Fairbairn, Frances O'Grady, Len
McCluskey, Mark Serwotka, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Owen Jones, John
Hillary, Terry Christian, Sam Duckworth, Kate Marlow, Mark McGowan,
Kevin Maguire, Francesca Martinez, Mark Steel, Jeremy Hardy, Dave
Ward, Sara Pascoe, Lindsey German, Christine Blower, Kevin Courtney,
Richard Burgon MP...and more to be announced!
AUSTERITY.
THE
PEOPLE
S
ASSEMBLY
Affordable transport and accommodation will be available. These details and a full timetable
of events will be available soon at www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk
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