Lord Balfe
Main Page: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)Trade Unions
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Lord Balfe
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the contribution of trade unions to the British economy.
Lord Balfe (Con)
My Lords, I am pleased to have secured this debate, which I hope will enable the positive contribution of trade unionists to the British economy and the British way of life to be further recognised. I declare an interest, as I have been a TUC-affiliated trade union member since I left school at the age of 16. I would probably not be here today were it not for the encouragement and help that I had as a young trade unionist in getting from secondary modern school through university and into a professional career. Long before I was in the Labour Party, I was an active trade unionist. One thing that I learnt in my branch, incidentally, was that the Conservative Party was not the enemy. There was only one enemy, and that was the Trots—sorry, the Trotskyites, I should say, for Members on this side who are not familiar with internecine politics on the left.
Many people are surprised, but the average trade unionist today is a woman around 45 years of age who is in white collar employment and has never been on strike in her life. Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, recently said at a press lunch in the other place that fewer than half of his members voted Labour. Much evidence collected by the Conservative Central Office shows that over 30% of trade unionists vote Conservative. I recall that after the 1983 election the general secretary of my own union, AUEW-TASS, told me that a majority of our members had voted Conservative. If you take account of all those who, like almost one-third of UK citizens, do not vote at all in general elections, it is no longer possible to typecast trade unionists as being indelibly wedded to any one particular party.
The noble Lord, Lord Monks, referred last week in a debate to the constructive way in which unions faced up to difficult decisions during the recession in order to preserve jobs and capacity. Noble Lords will also probably have heard of the scheme known as Union Learn, started by the last Labour Government and continued by this Government. This partnership between employers and unions currently has 3,636 Union Learn representatives, all active trade unionists and trained through the TUC, who supported 219,091 learners in 2013-14. Of these, 14% were learners on English and maths—basic literacy—25% on ICT courses and 29% on further professional development. What they had in common was that these were all of benefit to the employee and the employer, and were almost all undertaken in premises provided by the employer. Employers benefit from a literate and trained workforce, but often it is only the trade union that is close enough to the worker to motivate them to take part and to study.
I was interested to see a recent scheme inaugurated by the Skills Minister, Matt Hancock, launched in his Newmarket constituency by the National Association of Stable Staff. This is the first in the racing industry, not one that you normally think of as being trade union organised.
Pensions is another area where unions have played a valuable role through the commission headed by the noble Baroness, Lady Drake, and in gaining acceptance for the new pension scheme being rolled out, which needs to be improved considerably. However, we are on the way.
Health and safety at work has been shown by a government study to be enhanced in unionised workplaces. A recent study identified a minimum saving of £181 million following a reduction in time lost due to occupational injuries and work-related illnesses. There is a long catalogue of good outcomes from union activity. I welcome the recent tentative moves by the TUC towards seeking places on company boards. We often rightly note the advantage that Germany has over us in manufacturing and industrial relations. Perhaps it is now time to look at the role of responsible trade unionism in Germany’s industrial and economic success and where it can be replicated here. I am particularly pleased that the TUC now seems to have changed its position on worker directors, or at least to be in the process of doing so.
We cannot have a debate without asking the Minister something or other. Therefore, will the Minister request his colleagues to stop the recent niggling attacks on minor but important areas of trade union rights, particularly in the Civil Service? I am sure many of us would agree that facility time should be clearly identified in departmental budgets, but I ask that recognition should also be given to the ways in which facility time frequently—indeed, generally—helps departments and public bodies to attain their wider objectives.
The deduction of union subscriptions is a long-standing concession, which incidentally was introduced when I was at work and was then opposed by the left on the ground that it would break the link between the subscriptions collector and the person on the floor. Of course, a huge amount of time was lost because we used to wander round during the afternoon and collect subs when we should have been working, so stopping subs collection at source will not necessarily save any time, although it might delight a few people who like going for a walk in the afternoon. This is now being withdrawn in some departments. Frankly, it would be far more sensible to assess what time is being lost. If the Government are really so hard up and wish to charge for collecting the money, I invite them to make out an economic case and sit down and discuss it with the unions and have a small deduction which, presumably, they would extend to things such as gym membership, the charge for which I understand is also collected. If this practice costs money, it should be addressed across the board and should not be a matter of prejudice in just one small area of life.
I firmly believe that we have to stop viewing unions as belonging to just one political family. They comprise bodies that do good for many people who are not in any political party at all. It was many years after I joined the union that I joined a political party. As I say, unions do a lot of good. There is clearly a need for responsibility in trade unionism and we can all point to the person who lets the side down, so to speak. However, we need to remember the huge number of people who keep Britain going and are legitimately members of trade unions—people such as pilots. Who thinks of airline pilots in this connection? However, BALPA is a very highly organised union. Who thinks of dieticians in hospitals in this connection? I recently hosted in this House a reception for the British Dietetic Association, which does an enormous amount of good work advising people in an important part of the health service. There are numerous other examples. Many unions feel that the Government could be slightly more helpful towards them. They appreciate the contact and the common bodies run by the different departments, but niggling issues such as that of facility time and stopping the deduction of subs do not make sense to us or to the unions concerned. They just add to the burden that has been put on them.
Finally, I would say to our Government that we have to get a level playing field on this. I always despair, frankly, when I hear people say, “Unions—Labour”. That is not the case; it is, “Unions—workers”. That is important. As Len McCluskey has demonstrated, trade union members, by joining, do not put themselves in a political box. That is probably not completely good news for the Opposition; but if they think about it, it should be good news because unions have a massive role to play in a successful Britain. They have a lot of useful and good things to say that people of all parties and none should be listening to. Certainly in government we should be listening to and regarding them as partners in the joint enterprise of making Britain economically strong and great. It is in that bipartisan sense that I move this Question for Short Debate.
Lord Popat
Certainly the noble Baroness is right. I read in the Times this morning about possible legislation. This is not the policy of the Government. It may the Conservative Party policy, but I do not know what its manifesto will be in 2015. I will certainly be writing to the noble Baroness.
Lord Balfe
Will the letter be sent to all of the Members who have participated in the debate, please?
Lord Popat
I will certainly do that and I will put a copy in the Library for other Peers to look at.