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AT the end of January, Solidarity National Executive member David Kerr hit out at the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC). At the time he attacked the STUC for their failure to defend workers at Diaego’s Johnnie Walker’s bottling plant Kilmarnock and Port Dundas distillery and cooperage in Glasgow.
He noted how quickly the campaign had foundered and wondered if there was “something going on in the background.”
In late July 2009, around 20,000 people marched through the centre of Kilmarnock to protest against the job cuts. (Johnnie Walker’s was the town’s last surviving large industrial employer). Additionally, a massive 450,000 e-mail petition was sent to Diageo bosses and leading shareholders.
Crucially, however, there was no militant action on the ground. The STUC hadn’t considered occupying the sites. Neither had they called for nationalisation – or the break-up of Diageo itself.
Therefore, just five months after the magnificent Kilmarnock march, the STUC – and more specifically the Unite and GMB trades unions – closed down their campaign. The subsequent closures will result in 900 job losses.
At the time Mr. Kerr suspected that Diageo’s workers had been sacrificed for a future Labour victory at the polls.
He noted that:
“The joint leaders of Unite - Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson – are desperate for a fourth Labour term. They say that Labour must be re-elected and that Unite should work for a Labour victory in the next election.
Has this desperation for a Labour victory affected the thinking – and actions - of the unions? The lack of any industrial action in the run up to the General Election will give Labour an easier ride.
Like all trade unionists, I’m dreading any future Tory government. However, it looks like the established unions are deliberately going soft on Labour. This begs the question: are the unions now abandoning the fight for jobs for a longer-term political objective – another Labour victory at the polls?”
Now new evidence has come to light to back up Mr. Kerr’s suspicion that workers had been sacrificed for a future Labour victory at the polls. And this time it involves Unite and its members who are British Airways cabin crew staff.
Solidarity members and supporters will recall that there has been a long-running dispute between cabin crew staff and British Airways management. The dispute centres around job cuts, pay cuts, the ripping up of working agreements and Chief Executive Willie Walsh’s Macho-style of management.
Despite an overwhelming vote for strikes by BA’s 12,000 cabin crew, Unite is stalling on setting a date for action. (The ballot for possible industrial action was conducted towards the end of January. In late February, Unite said that 78.77% of the 11,691 ballot papers issued were returned. Of those 80.7% (7,482) supported taking action with 1,789 voting against it.)
The dispute between BA and its cabin crew staff is at fever-pitch. So what’s holding Unite back? A report in the Daily Mail – by Transport Editor Ray Massey – of February 27 may hold the answer.
The Mail – certainlyno friends of the unions or the Labour Party – report said:
“Insiders say elements within Unite are now ‘desperate’ to avoid a walkout, while senior figures in the union are said to believe it could damage Labour, to which Unite donates £10 million a year, in the run-up to the General Election.”
Solidarity’s Mr. Kerr said that he believed that now that Unite will be doing everything in their power to make life as easy as possible for Nu Labour. He believes that the establishment unions in general – and Unite in particular - will drag their heels over any calls for strike action.
“Whilst there’s any chance of the Tories coming to power – or even possibly a hung parliament – they will go soft on Gordon Brown and Co. The establishment unions are desperate for another Labour victory. In fact, they are so desperate it wouldn’t surprise me if more jobs and conditions are sacrificed between now and the general election this coming May. Watch this space.”
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Comments
Unite is not too likely to rock the boat in the run-up to the general election.
Firstly, the trade union Unite is anything but united. This is due to its background. Unite (which describes itself as “2 million strong – Britain’s biggest union”) was formed in 2007, when Amicus merged with the Transport and General Workers Union.
Divisions exist between those who come from an Amicus background and those who come from a TGWU background. For instance, most of BAs cabin crew staff are members of the British Airlines' Stewards and Stewardesses Association (Bassa) which was part of the TGWU. Others belong to a group called CabinCrew89, which represents around four per cent of BA staff and was part of Amicus.
These divisions were apparent when Unite took BA to court to try to try to overturn changes brought in by the airline last year. Mr Justice Sir Christopher Holland said of Unite “The old allegiances have held sway, engendering from time to time, mutual rivalry, hostility and mistrust.”
Between February and April last year BA met 14 times with Bassa and four times with CabinCrew89. But on June 15, in negotiations with BA, the judge noted: “Bassa had a heated argument with Amicus and refused to cooperate.”
He also highlighted “a fiasco” in the autumn, when arbitration service Acas was brought in to help negotiations. “The Bassa and Amicus factions were separately represented and sat in separate rooms. Despite the efforts of Acas, they could not be persuaded to join forces for a meeting with BA.”
My guess is that one faction of the Amicus/TGWU divide is more pro-NuLab than the other. They don’t want the strike – the others do.
Another interesting factor is the one mentioned by Completely Blank (13/3/10). This is what you get when you mix politics and trade union issues.
Jack Dromey has been parachuted into becoming Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Birmingham Erdington. John Cryer, a political officer for Unite, is also standing for Labour in Leyton and Wanstead, East London. Maybe this also has something to do with the divide within Unite. Also added to the mix is Charlie Whelan, the political director of Unite. He was Gordon Brown’s spokesman from 1992 – 1999.
Talking of Gordon Brown, the London Evening Standard (of 12/3/10) noted that any mooted strikes do “not make for a Spring of Discontent. But the strikes are, nonetheless, unhelpful for the Government as it approaches an election.”
The other interesting factor concerning the BA dispute is that, ironically, this division within Unite has helped BA boss Willie Walsh. He’s managed to organize 6000 volunteers – including 1000 pilots retraining as cabin crew – to be used if and when Unite members go on strike.
He obviously knows the old saying about ‘divide and conquer’. Therefore, he’s letting the Amicus/TGWU factions of Unite to get stuck in to each other. He’s also playing other unions (like the British Airline Pilots Association) off against Unite.
The lesson to learn here is simple. If all BA staff were in one union – irrespective of what there job was – this wouldn’t happen. They need ‘one big union’ not dozens of unions who are constantly at each others throats.