Last Saturday saw the launch meeting of the new Campaign for Trade Union Freedom, created by the merger of the Liaison Committee for the Defence of Trade Unions (LCDTU) and the United Campaign for the Repeal of Anti-Trade Union Laws. And yesterday saw the launch of the People’s Assembly initiative, aiming for a mass public meeting on June 22nd, backed by UNITE, PCS, NUT, Aslef, CWU, NUJ, RMT, TSSA, and, suprisingly, UNISON.

So this is an opportune moment to consider the political and social strengths and weaknesses of the trade union movement. Personally I am firmly convinced that the cause of organized labour is the fundamental bedrock of progressive politics; it is not only a source of empowerment and self-organisation, but it also instrumental in creating communities of solidarity, which provide the ideological counterpart to the individualism and social irresponsibility of unrestrained capitalism.

There are three questions to consider: what is the current relationship of trade unions with broader society; what are the political objectives consistent with promoting the interests of trade unionism; and what is the current ability of trade unions to organize and prosecute the interests of their members by industrial means. Continue reading →