Trade unions and New Labour

With elections looming on the horizon, the relationship between the Labour party and trade unions has gained in importance. When New Labour came to power in 1997, British trade unions were jubilant. Battered by several consecutive Conservative governments with the defeat of the Miners’ Strike in the mid-1980s having been the most visible sign of the government’s attack on trade unions, the British labour movement hoped for a revival of its influence on policy-making and a strengthening of its position within industrial relations. On balance, however, New Labour has not delivered from a trade union point of view.

Right to strike under attack

The right to strike, to withdraw peacefully one’s labour, is a fundamental human right. It is the only option workers have to balance capital’s structural power in the economy. And yet, this right is under severe attack in the UK.