by John Stevenson
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Gordon McKay
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The STUC will mount a major event in 2008 to promote
a Trade Union Freedom Bill and campaign for the
repeal of anti-union laws.
Supporting a joint motion from the UNITE (T&G),
RMT, UNISON and BECTU unions, UNISON's Gordon McKay
slammed the words of Tony Blair when he ‘glorified'
the fact that British laws "remained the most
restrictive on trade unions in the Western World".
This would "never fail to promote distaste
and a sense of shame in the hearts and minds of
decent people throughout Scotland", said Gordon.
And UNITE (T&G) assistant general secretary
Len McLuskey pointed out that, while Gordon Brown
had praised the South African dockers for boycotting
a shipfull of arms for Zimbabwe, "British dockers
couldn't take the same action because it would be
illegal".
Gordon outlined the seriousness of the current
restrictive laws. "People have fewer rights
than they had before the passing of the 1906 Trades
Disputes Act".
In particular, Gordon pointed to the fact that
orders from tribunals to give people their jobs
back are not enforceable.
"They are only made in situations where a
tribunal believes an employer has acted wholly and
consistently unreasonably", said Gordon. "But
an employer is simply able to flout the law by refusing
to reinstate and paying an increased compensation
award".
"Can you imagine the result if a trade union
refused to comply with a court order? We would have
our funds sequestrated", he told Congress.
"It's time for the Labour government to treat
unions and big business even-handedly. That's all
we're asking for - a level playing field",
added Gordon.
Scotland's
public service union
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