TUC conference, does it have any relevance?
As a lifelong union activist, I would say that unions and the TUC re more relevant to all the working people of this country, together with the pensioners and those on benefit, than they have been at any time since Thatcher tried to destroy the unions. Unless you are one of the rich two percent who have your own organisations to protect you, then they are fighting for you as well. The error is that people who earn decent salaries, or have a large house with a mortgage they can’t afford, are somehow not working class, but they are even more the pawns of the super rich than the rest of us. I do agree, however that certain prominent figures in New Labour have proved themselves not to be the friend of the working class, and should be avoided like the plague.
No not really the Unions of old were destroyed by Maggie Thatcher and themselves. Too many Union barons stuck their noses where it wasn’t wanted but more to the point not needed, such as the CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) movement. I remember when the Unions dictated to the Labour party what they did and didn’t want, it got to the point where you didn’t know who was actually in charge and running the Labour party. It would be wise for the TUC and all its members to remember it only has two and only two responsibilities, their members pay and their members conditions of work, all else has bugger-all to do with them. If the Unions fought like tooth and nail for those two things and those two things only, Union membership in this country would soar.
