Road to Nowhere
Scotland on Sunday ran a rather strange article yesterday - with blood curdling threats from trade union leaders which were all made on an anonymous basis - here are a few extracts from the piece written by Hamish Macdonell.
"Scotland is facing a 21st-century "winter of discontent" with strikes, demonstrations and industrial unrest on a scale not seen for a generation, union leaders have warned.
One senior Scottish union leader claimed yesterday that a massive wave of public sector strikes was now "inevitable" following the UK government's decision to impose massive cuts on the public sector.
Unions are waiting until October before deciding exactly how best to fight the cuts, but they have started putting private plans in place now for the strike ballots, demonstrations and protests they believe are inevitable.
One Scottish union leader said: "I do think strike action is inevitable. That will not be the first port of call. We don't want to go there but we are starting to see real redundancies, compulsory redundancies. There will be demonstrations, protests and strikes."
Now why would these people want to remain nameless and faceless?
If they have something to say, why not just come out into the open and say it - union leaders should have nothing to fear by way of any reprisals from employers.
The trade union movement sounds more and more like the industrial wing of the Labour party - incapable of independent thought or action.
A campaign of strikes and industrial action is a road to nowhere - one that may boost the egos of a few trade union leaders - but it will do nothing for ordinary union members.
"Scotland is facing a 21st-century "winter of discontent" with strikes, demonstrations and industrial unrest on a scale not seen for a generation, union leaders have warned.
One senior Scottish union leader claimed yesterday that a massive wave of public sector strikes was now "inevitable" following the UK government's decision to impose massive cuts on the public sector.
Unions are waiting until October before deciding exactly how best to fight the cuts, but they have started putting private plans in place now for the strike ballots, demonstrations and protests they believe are inevitable.
One Scottish union leader said: "I do think strike action is inevitable. That will not be the first port of call. We don't want to go there but we are starting to see real redundancies, compulsory redundancies. There will be demonstrations, protests and strikes."
Now why would these people want to remain nameless and faceless?
If they have something to say, why not just come out into the open and say it - union leaders should have nothing to fear by way of any reprisals from employers.
The trade union movement sounds more and more like the industrial wing of the Labour party - incapable of independent thought or action.
A campaign of strikes and industrial action is a road to nowhere - one that may boost the egos of a few trade union leaders - but it will do nothing for ordinary union members.
