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Back to the Future: Collectivism in the twenty-first century By John Mills and Austin Mitchell MP. Published: March 2002 Responses From Lord Bill McCarthy "The general approach is excellent, but it is surely surprising that with a title like this nothing is said about the switch to "individualism" in the labour market which has been the consequence of the decline in the coverage of collective bargaining (from 83 per cent of the labour force in 1980 to 35 per cent in 1998). This has been masked, to some extent, by the extension of individual employment rights over the same period - which is largely the result of some 30 or so EU Directives. But now there is a reaction amongst employers, lead by the CBI. The first result of this has been Parts Two and Three of Labour's current Employment Bill. Its stated aim is to reduce access to Employment Tribunals by about a third of existing case load; ie. some 35,000 fewer hearings a year. It is not easy to come up with solutions; and if one suggests the restoration of pre- Thatcher trade union rights the present leadership has a fit. (It also might not work). Somehow a way must be found to make the enforcement of existing individual rights more automatic and effective. If possible this should involve unions and assist their growth and influence, without forcing them to rely on industrial action. In short, Labour's agenda should aim to retrieve "collectivist ground" in the Labour market as well as in relation to public services, environmental degradation, poverty and economic performance. At the moment New Labour is dangerously hostile to such an advance; partly because it has fallen for CBI claptrap about the so called effects of employment protection on economic productivity and "flexibility". But also because it cannot really accept that Scargillism died a long time ago." Lord Bill McCarthy has advised past Secretaries of State for Employment and was a Labour spokesperson on Employment in the House of Lords from 1979 to 1997. |
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