Throughout the 19th century, trade unions were campaigning for constitutional reform.

It was appreciated that it was vital to have representatives of the working class in Parliament if laws were to be enacted setting minimum levels of pay, maximum working hours and humane working conditions.

The Reform Acts of 1832, 1867 and 1884 gradually reduced parliamentary corrupt practices and extended the franchise, so that most working men (not women, at this stage) could vote and stand for election.

By the end of the century, there were moves to establish a political party that would directly represent the trade unions. That party was established early in the 20th century, the Labour Party.

However, from the beginning,  Labour MPs took control in such a way that the party represented them and their career interests, rather than the trade unions and their concerns. And so it continues.

Thus, it has to be admitted that the aim of the 19th century reformists to achieve a parliament in which the interests of the majority of the population are reflected in the composition and enactments of parliament, has yet to be achieved.

The railway strikes of 2022 are surely the oddest in our history. The rail workers, when on strike, forfeit their wages, but their employers not only save on their striking employees’ wages, they also receive full compensation from the government for income lost from travellers fares.

The railway trade unionists have every inducement to find a solution to the strikes, but the employers lose nothing by being intransigent.  This is the way the government wants it.  If the members of the RMT eventually lose heart by virtue of having no income, their cause may be lost and their unions smashed. The employers  –  mainly foreign-owned  companies  – will have a defeated, docile workforce and the government will boast victory against their enemies. The Labour MPs sit back and do nothing, seeing protection of their parliamentary jobs as being all-important

That is the strategy Thatcher pursued, with the connivance of the Labour MPs, in defeating the miners in 1984-5.

A strange strike, indeed. The employers are paid by the government, using tax-payers money, to prolong the strike, whilst shedding crocodile tears for the woes of the inconvenienced travelling public.

Hypocrisy rules supreme.

Between 1822 and 2022 we have moved hardly an inch. Workers have the vote, but it is doing them no good.

 

Colin Yardley

20 December 2022