Union members will be more than a little alarmed at reports
that union officials have been having secret talks with someone called Richard
Balfe, who is Tory Leader Cameron’s ‘special envoy’ to the trade unions. Those
who lived through the last Tory government and remember all too well their
vicious attacks on trade union rights as part of their plan to destroy the
union movement will be amazed, to say the least, at the fact that a) the Tories
have a trade union envoy and b) that some of our leaders are prepared to talk
to him.
Who is Richard Balfe? He was a minor figure in the London
Labour movement who served for a time as a committee chair on the Greater
London Council, and later on became an MEP. When he fell out with the party
hierarchy in 2001, he jumped ship in a hump and joined the Tories – an act
which went completely unnoticed by just about everybody. Now he has convinced
Cameron who, being a toff would not know any better, that he has ‘the common
touch’ and is able to start up a dialogue with the unions – or more to the
point its paid officials. So far it appears that Ucatt and Unite have refused
all contact, offered in a letter sent to all unions by the Tories. PCS
initially assumed the letter was a joke and have not responded either. However,
according to a report in the Guardian dated May 29th, around 20
meetings have already taken place with various officials. Balfe was also
intending to ‘pay a visit’ to last month’s TUC conference in Brighton.
No doubt some will say that given the strong position of the
Tories in the opinion polls, the unions should start some sort of dialogue with
the people who may well be in power within a year or so. Other will think that,
since the current government is so right wing, what’s the difference anyway?
However, we should
be clear – having talks with the Tories is nothing short of madness. The Tories
are the party of capital and big business. They hate the union movement and
will be looking to take revenge for the humiliation of being out of office for
so long. The fact that Cameron and co. are trying to look all nice and cuddly
at present should not blind us to the fact of the behind the scenes preparation
of a right wing agenda for power which they will implement once they have won
any future election. What interests them at present is finding out which union
leaders are weak and malleable with no intention of launching any fightback
against any coming attack. Alas there are already no shortage of such
individuals. You only hope that it is just naivety which has convinced some
officials that they will be really listened to in these little chats with Balfe.
Rather than talking to Tories, these officials would
be better off looking to get Labour to change course and start defending the
interests of working people instead. This would be the best way of stopping the
Tories getting back in and would, at a stroke, render Balfe redundant. Labour, armed with a socialist programme and
a fighting leadership, could be more than confident of winning the next
election with ease – which is not the case at present.
