I woke up yesterday with that unnerving feeling that I had been transported back in time to the 1970s. Almost expecting to see John Thaw bursting into the door shouting 'Oi, shut it!', I turned on the radio to find even worse.
Solidarity
This is a word that had almost gone out of normal use yet the person being interviewed was explaining why his fellow workers somewhere up in Teesside had down-tooled and en masse had stopped working in 'solidarity' with refinery workers in Lincolnshire. Even worse, a second interviewee from Milford Haven who was a convener for the GMB Union explained that ,'This is nothing against our BROTHERS in Italy or the rest of the Continent.'
I had to blink hard and shake my head. Strikes, Wildcat Strikes, Secondary Strikes, Solidarity, Brothers - these were terms of a nightmare past of industrial mayhem back in the 70s which culminated in the two major strikes in the Steel and Coal Industry in which finally Margaret Thatcher broke the backs of the most powerful Unions and, in her own uncompromising way, actually paved the way for a more prosperous Britain. Sadly, in the process and in the interests of Free Market Enterprise, she also gave way to the systematic destruction of the UK's bedrock manufacturing base - a legacy that has hit us very hard in the current economic climate.
So What Was Going On?
At a refinery in Lincolnshire it was discovered that an Italian Contractor had won a sizable contract for work and had decided not to allow local, skilled workers to work on the contract but had instead actively barred locals from the jobs which had been given only to Italian and Portuguese workers who were being shipped in and accommodated. There were cries of foul play as there are Pan-European agreements on the rates of pay on such contracts, it seemed to say that these workers were being employed because they were cheaper or perhaps as 'blatant protectionism' by the Italian firm - a bit of latitude here as there were other foreign workers involved.
I think most people would have sympathy with the plight of the Lincolnshire workers - surely it would be cheaper, easier and more expeditious to employ locals rather than have to ship in and accommodate a load of people from abroad, many of whom would have difficulty with the local language but at least would not go hungry given the volume of local Italian restaurants and ice cream shops. It did not seem to make economic sense, unless there was a violation of the cost-base agreements.
The local displaced workers in Lincolnshire did what they thought right - they went on strike. Pretty soon, across similar sites in the UK, other workers came out in solidarity with the Lincolnshire workers and went on strike. It was the 1970s all over again.
The Issue At Stake
While the EU allows free movement of trade, people and labour across all member borders which is a distinct advantage in some respects, it poses major problems in tougher times. Unemployment in the UK has just reached 1.92m and is rising. Britain has a large workforce of foreign workers, particularly Eastern Europeans, who see the UK as a land of opportunity as they can come in and work for less while the UK Welfare State provides a safety net. Many have brought families or got married locally, which makes them permanently part of the British fabric. It was on a similar issue that William Hague fought almost an entire Election Campaign only to be ridiculed by the then boyish and knowing smiles of Tony Blair who claimed immigration and asylum were non issues.
It is another Hallmark of this Government that popular opinion and soundbites dictate policy and there is little attention to the long term problems which we face. Immigration and Asylum were ticking time bombs.
But now we have this. A blatant snub of UK workers for local work by foreign firms (the refinery owner is French) - and we are told by Union officials that this is not the only case. Perhaps, the argument goes that Britain needs to stand its ground. As it was often the case in the 70s, strikes came about at the worst possible times when businesses were struggling to survive. The last thing needed at that time and now, is workers withdrawing their labour - Britain is on a knife edge and anything that erodes its ability to do business literally threatens business for the future.
There is a real danger that if strikes continue, the affected businesses will in turn collapse - there has to be another way. Lucky in this instance, it's an oil company but they only need the excuse.
Enter The Government
The problem with soundbites, as Gordon Brown is learning fast, is that they can come back to haunt you. In one of his rallying cries, he pledged 'British jobs for British workers' which sort of rings of Protectionism but let's not go there as this is another powerful soundbite that GB is using right now.
So as the situation unravelled, people in Lincolnshire rightly turned to our PM who had uttered the words so stridently for reassurance. Sadly, Gordon could not take their call as he was busy preaching on 'Global Confidence' and 'Creeping Protectionism' at the freebie in Davos for the rich, the powerful and Gordon Brown (be patient Gordon, the riches come later in Non-Executive roles at around £1.5m a pop - trust me).
Instead, the riled workers got Pat McFadden, the Minister for Employment Relations, who sadly was doing more important things like moving house and therefore could only say that when GB had made this pledge, he had not meant to flout EU laws on labour. A fat lot of help in the situation and little wonder it did not mollify the growing concerns. He went on to say, 'What he's saying there is, I want to see the British workforce equipped for the jobs and skills of the future and that's precisely what the government is doing,' which also did not help.
At this point, Old Lefties felt it their duty to brush the dust off their Red Books and speak out. Hilary Benn, asserted that these workers were 'entitled' to an answer as to why they were not being used. For a descendant of that old left wing war horse it really was an insipid line, but then again he is an Environment Minister and the one thing you don't ever do in New Labour is rock the boat or have a conscience, just ask Clare Short.
Talking The Talk
The PM, still somewhere in Switzerland doing another round of desperate rallying calls for global unspecific action to help save his neck, said that he had no regrets for making his statement about British jobs for British workers prior to his non-election as PM. He explained, 'I do not see a reason for regret in that the action we have taken has meant that we are now putting in place measures to ensure that British workers can have access to the vacancies that exist in the system.'
'We are now putting in place measures.' Well that really explains it.
It sums up Britain under New Labour - it's been 10 years of talk and little action from which Britain has benefited. You take a look across the Britain and while we have been prosperous it has had little to do with our disposable income which has been eroded and while our pocket has been pinched for more and more tax, we see little tangible difference in schools, hospitals, transport, crime and although unemployment went down we had a corresponding rise in those claiming on grounds of long-term disability. Because we felt prosperous thanks to the equity in our homes, all this has been swept under the carpet.
When the PM talks of getting jobs for British people, he made the fatal mistake of departing from the New Labour tried and trusted plan - never make a pledge that can be measured by real people. Sadly, losing your job to an Italian brought in on contract instead is very, very measurable.
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