THE TRADE Union Bill, to be outlined tomorrow in parliament by the Tory government, is designed to railroad through legislation which will make it virtually impossible to strike legally.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, condemned the Tory government’s plans. He said: ‘As a trade union representing ordinary, decent, hard-working men and women doing a safety-critical job to ensure passengers get the first class public transport they deserve, we have serious fears over what this government is proposing. It is ironic that this government, in the year we celebrate the civil rights brought in by the sealing of Magna Carta 900 years ago, is determined to bring in a law which strikes at the democratic heart of this country.
‘Because it is the right of every worker to withdraw his or her labour. We are not slaves and this is not a slave state. No man or woman should be forced to work by the threats of a bad employer or a bad government.’
The Trade Union Bill will also contain legislation that will change the rules on the political levy. Historically the trade unions have funded the Labour Party through the political levy. Changes contained within the Trade Union Bill will require each and every worker within a trade union to repeatedly ‘opt in’ to the political fund.
Paul Kenny, GMB General Secretary, said: ‘This proposal is clearly designed to seriously damage the Labour Party. It is clear that the Tory Party High Command intend to make the Labour Party bankrupt by cutting off the main source of funding that they have relied on since the 1930s This is also aimed at undermining political campaigning by unions on behalf of their members and communities.
‘It is intended to reduce the ability of trade unions to provide funding including donations to political parties and campaigns. This is a completely one sided approach to party funding. There are no proposals to force companies to ballot shareholders or to place a cap on donations from wealthy people when funding the Tory Party.
‘Conservatives will be able to stuff their coffers with swag money from hedge fund tax bandits and then have the cheek to lecture trade union members about accountability. Since the early part of the last century trade unions have been the only organisations in the UK not allowed to spend their general funds to support political parties. Instead they have been required to set up political funds for that purpose. In the 1980s the Tories introduced a further law requiring trades unions to hold a postal ballot of individual members every ten years on the issue.
‘GMB members have on four occasions voted overwhelmingly to retain a political fund since then – the latest vote being in 2014. This is the second time that the Tories have aimed to bankrupt the Labour Party. They did it before in 1928. The Tory class warriors want to do it again nearly 90 years later.’