Do the Right Thing

I wrote the other day about the spineless behaviour of the trade unions - at the Scotttish TUC in 1999. 

And what do you know - I came across a diary I kept at the time - which explains how the trade unions betrayed their own members over the Private Finance Initiative (PFI).

Now PFI was by far the hottest political issue of the day.

Yet when push came to shove - union bosses pulled their punches and acted in the interests of the Labour party over PFI - with the first Scottish Parliament elections only weeks away. 

Instead of standing up for their members and facing the Labour party down - union bosses did Gordon Brown's bidding - because they didn't want to rock any boats with an important election on the horizon in May 1999.   

All this time later things look very different - the trade unions are a mere shadow of their former selves - while Gordon Brown proved not to be up to the job as Prime Minister.

I wonder what would have happened if people had stayed true to their beliefs - and resisted the temptation to do a grubby deal - a quick political fix?

After all, as Martin Luther King Jnr once said - 'The time is always right - to do the right thing'.    

Sunday 18 April 1999

UNISON’s STUC delegation met on Sunday 18 April 1999 in the Central Hotel, Glasgow. Having dispensed with the normal housekeeping arrangements the discussion moved on to a main item of debate, which was PFI. The Convenor, Mike Kirby, gave a brief introduction and invited Matt Smith to offer a more detailed report.

The report from Matt, stripped to its essentials, was that earlier in the day the STUC General Council had agreed a statement on PFI .The statement was intended to offer some comfort to the Government and to take the heat out of the PFI debate scheduled for Wednesday .The statement was not so much peace in our time, as the elevation of Labour Party interests over those of our own members .The statement read:

“Congress, recognising the serious under-investment which has damaged the public service infrastructure over many years, welcomes the commitment by the Government to tackle this, including the doubling of public sector capital investment over the next three years.

Congress continues to have serious concern over the funding mechanisms being utilised to deliver this investment through PFI, including the major issues relating to staff pay and conditions of service.

Congress recognises that on these issues, initiatives such as the provision of proper framework agreements, may offer a way forward and calls for further discussions with the Government and the new Scottish Parliament to ensure that common principles, based on best practice, apply across the public sector.”

Although not a General Council Member, Matt then invited John Lambie to speak in support of the STUC’s position and to give some flavour of the discussions, which had apparently been taking place with Government and senior Labour figures in Scotland. John proceeded to lecture the delegation on his view of the realities of PFI, in the context of the election.

The delegates reacted badly and felt they were being patronised. None of these discussions had taken place inside the Scottish Management Team, nor had I been consulted about the views of the local government service group, which had the major membership interest.

The hostile reaction of the lay members was predictable, although some failed to realise that the General Council statement was already a done deal. UNISON’s General Council Members, without dissent or any indication that UNISON could not be party to such a weak, insignificant statement, had agreed the position.

No details were given about discussions with Government figures, but later it emerged that the Regional Secretaries of the GMB, T&G and UNISON had met over the weekend with the Chancellor, Gordon Brown. Gordon was also overseeing the Scottish Labour Party’s election campaign. All those present would have been individual members of the party. Talk about conflicts of interest.

A number of UNISON lay members rubbished the General Council Statement and argued initially that it should be amended and strengthened. When it became clear that this was not possible, the delegates’ attention switched to the likely way in which Government spin-doctors would use the statement.

One delegate predicted that the Daily Record, the next day, would be full of headlines about the unions’ caving in and the Government securing a peace treaty over PFI. It was then moved that UNISON put out a statement of its own proclaiming our ongoing and steadfast opposition to PFI, but this was narrowly defeated on being put to a vote.

The delegation agreed to come back to a further meeting the next evening at 6pm to review the position in advance of the PFI debate on Wednesday. I had deliberately stayed out of the discussion, but to any experienced negotiator it was all too obvious that our General Council Members had bought UNISON a poke, without holding on to the pig.