Looking back on some of the prominent mobilisations of 2016, the UK saw industrial action taken by Southern Rail train drivers and conductors, Royal Mail counter workers, British Airways cabin crew, and Topshop employees, to name a few.

As we look towards 2017 this post explores if Trade Unions still hold enough power to successfully win rights for workers?

In the past year, Unions have seen what Gaventa describes as “visible power: the observable decision making” (2006, p29) of the Tory Government with the introduction of a new law under the Trade Union Act requiring a 50% turnout in strike ballots of which 40% must vote yes before any action can go ahead.

More recently and motivated by the Southern Rail strikes, one Tory MP Chris Philp proposed a bill which would call for strikes in companies considered as critical national services to be deemed ‘proportionate and reasonable’ in the view of a high court judge before going ahead (Elgot and Asthana, 2016).

Increasingly, it appears that it is the Government who hold the power over workers’ rights and their right to unionise and take action.

southernrailSource: Socialist Worker

Are Trade Unions still making a difference?  

Without Unions, people could see their pension rights stolen, unfair working conditions, wage stagnation, zero-hour contracts and unachievable targets.

Unions protect the rights of hard working and often marginalised people.

In the past year Junior Doctors have negotiated a better deal than the British Medical Association first predicted, whilst Uber drivers won a court battle to be paid the national living wage via an employment tribunal led by the GMB Union.

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Source: The Guardian. Uber drivers stage a ‘go-slow’ in London over pay dispute

For Unions to continue to work for the people and increase membership, it is important to understand what power it is that they do hold.

Using Gaventa’s power cube to analyse the benefits of Unions, I would maintain that one of the most important characteristics of a Union is their ability to create a sense of “Power ‘with’” referring to “the synergy which can emerge through partnerships and collaboration with others or through processes of collective action and alliance building” (Gaventa, 2006, p24).

It is through this collective identity that industrial action often results in created spaces which are “claimed by less powerful actors from or against the power holders” and thinking specifically about the tactic of picketing, created spaces by definition allow people to “gather to debate, discuss and resist” (Gaventa, 2006, p27).

Despite the restrictions in law and changing economic climate making it more difficult for workers to strike in the first instance, Unions are still able to galvanise support and protect workers through the power structures they possess.

What does the future hold?

But this doesn’t mean Unions plan to continue as they have been. In her New Year message, Trade Union Congress General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “As we look to 2017, it’s clear that we need a new bargain between those at the top – enjoying soaring boardroom pay and insulated from economic change – and ordinary working people. Britain succeeds when working people succeed. And strong Unions are the only way to make sure working people get their share in Britain’s success.”

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 References

Elgot, J. and Asthana, A. (2016). Tories pressure Theresa May to bring in hardline anti-strike legislation. The Guardian. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/20/tories-pressure-theresa-may-hardline-anti-strike-legislation-southern [Accessed 3 January 2017]

Gaventa, J. (2006). Finding the Spaces for Change: A Power Analysis. IDS Bulletin, 37(6), p 23-33. Available from https://learning.westminster.ac.uk/bbcswebdav/pid-1769078-dt-content-rid-4458107_1/courses/7MEDS013W.1.2016/finding_spaces_for_change.pdf [Accessed 3 January 2017]