Martin Kelly writes:
If the right to work is a fundamental human right, then logically so also is the right to withdraw your labour without interference from any politician. If the BA cabin crew go on strike, it is nobody's business but theirs; not Gordon Brown's, not George Osborne's, not Rupert Murdoch's, nobody's.
How does that song go - 'Britons never, ever, ever shall be slaves'? Isn't it something like that? You'd think that one group of people that maxim applies to would be the staff of British Airways, wouldn't you? For all of some trade unionists' legion and well-rehearsed faults, the effects of whose actions history has shown to have been no more economically catastrophic than those of some bankers on their recent rampage through the public finances, trade unionism exists to prevent people who work for a living from being abused. This makes it a good thing by and of itself. The castration not of trade unions but of trade unionism, as politically motivated as you could get without outlawing unions altogether and as reactionary as the Declaration of Verona, has bred a generation of people of the type who would have no problem collaborating with invading armies in times of war - I'm All Right, Jack, after all you've got to look out for Number One. Trade unionism stands foursquare against this mindset. If BA's cabin crew earn more than those employed by other airlines, blame should be laid at the door of those responsible for its privatisation. They're the ones who would have had the greatest part to play in setting terms and conditions.
Cheap travel is good. Cheap travel through someone else getting the shaft is not good. It's a form of slavery. Perhaps it's time for British Airways to behave in a British manner, and exhibit a British sense of fair play.
Hear, Hear. As we also see with the Royal Mail, strong unions are in fact safeguards of national sovereignty (and, in the Post Office's case, of the countryside), and thus of that other such safeguard, the Crown. In that case, we further see it with public ownership. Think on.
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"...a generation of people of the type who would have no problem collaborating with invading armies in times of war - I'm All Right, Jack, after all you've got to look out for Number One."
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. Just visited my old grandmother last week and she is perhaps the only person in my family who is willing to criticize our turbo-capitalist system (even though she doesn't put it in those words) for its dismal impact on families and the poor. All the Baby Boomers and their kids are happy with things so long as they are doing well personally, if not then they get mad, but usually at the wrong people.
I think there is a definite generation gap here, since I have noticed a similar tendency with a lot of older folks. All of my grandparents were 100% pro-union people and would be considered raving Leftists by today’s standards for their views on economics