His welcome remarks were featured in an article by George Monbiot
in the guardian a few days later, which criticised the majority of
trade union leaders for continuing to support New Labour despite the
fact that they get virtually nothing in return for their millions.
Highlighting prime minister Gordon Brown's decision to put former
CBI boss Digby Jones in his cabinet ("the most Neanderthal boss the
CBI has ever had"), Monbiot portrays this as a deliberate act of
provocation, of calling the bluff of the union leaders. Coupled with
Brown's appointment of Damon Buffini to key government quangos, (Buffini's
private equity company made a third of the Automobile Association's
workforce redundant), it is difficult not to go along with Monbiot's
provocation theory!
But it also has to be recognised that Brown has more serious
aims. He is sending messages to big business that New Labour is safe
in his hands, that he does not herald any shift to the left. The
privatisation of public services will continue and the draconian
anti-union laws will remain on the statute book.
Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of trade union Unite,
responded to Monbiot's article citing the fact that his union
conference had recently endorsed affiliation to the Labour Party as
evidence that Unite members "believe it is the best hope for the
future". It is doubtful whether most Unite members were even aware
that this debate was taking place at their conference, let alone
endorsed its outcome.
Given the turning away from New Labour by working-class voters it
would be extremely difficult for any union to demonstrate that its
members were not part of that process.
Woodley plays down the issue of trade union finance for New
Labour, posing "strength of argument" as the union's "real power",
and cites promises of council house building to show trade union
influence in New Labour. This approach ignores the massive imbalance
in New Labour's policies as far as working class people are
concerned, and uses minor, untypical examples to suggest that more
is to follow.
This is a pipedream. Democracy in the Labour Party is largely a
thing of the past, ex-Tory MPs are imposed on safe Labour seats and
the Labour left could not even muster the 45 MPs necessary to mount
a challenge to Gordon Brown.
Workers on low pay, suffering attacks on pensions and jobs,
striking to defend themselves and anxious to defend the NHS from
further privatisation, will respond more positively to Bob Crow's
comments than Tony Woodley's.
It is not enough to threaten the return of the Tories as the main
justification for backing New Labour, not least because Brown is
clearly moving towards a cross party, 'national government'
approach.
If trade union leaders want their members to have an opportunity
to vote for a party that will defend their interests, they should
take a leaf out of Bob Crow's book. They should break the link with
Labour and look to funding candidates that back ordinary working
people, not those who attack them on behalf of big business.
