Unions See Chance to Shape Brexit After May's Election Disaster

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. labor unions will gather on Sunday knowing their power is on the rise after years in the wilderness and they have the chance to shape Britain’s path out of the EU.

Just six months after Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative government brought in laws limiting their ability to engage in political action and three decades after Margaret Thatcher tried to destroy them, labor leaders will debate a strategy to protect workers’ rights after leaving the European Union.

What they decide to do will influence how the opposition Labour Party seeks to alter the terms of Brexit by exploiting the premier’s slim majority in Parliament following her Conservative Party’s disastrous result in the June 8 general election.

The better-than-expected performance by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, an outspoken supporter of the trade-union movement, has handed them more influence over the party than they’ve had since the 1970s. Far from being exposed as the electoral liability the polls predicted, Corbyn, who many unions backed, is secure in his job and ready to listen.

The merger of unions in the past decade has also concentrated power into fewer hands, potentially increasing their influence over the party. Fourteen unions are affiliated with Labour and provide the bulk of its funding, expecting a say on policy in return.

‘More Important’

“Concerns about trade union influence over Labour in the past were overstated because there were so many of them and they couldn’t agree,” Justin Fisher, professor of politics at Brunel University in west London, said in an interview. “But since they’ve merged into super unions, the larger ones like Unite have become more important.”

Len McCluskey, leader of Unite, Britain’s biggest union with 1.3 million members, and the largest financial backer of Labour, was a cheerleader for Corbyn and his left-wing anti-austerity campaign. McCluskey, who denounced Corbyn’s party opponents as “traitors,” narrowly won re-election in April and reaffirmed his support for the party leader, adding to his influence.

“Workers will be relieved that one party at least has got their backs, the Labour party,” McCluskey said on Aug. 27 after Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer announced the party will seek to stay in the EU’s single market and customs union during a transition after leaving the bloc. “Jobs and living standards are on the line here, something that seems to have escaped the hard Brexit bunch.”

Brighton Congress

Unite’s proposed motion for Monday’s debate at the TUC congress in Brighton denounces May’s “hard Brexit” and calls for “barrier-free access to European markets” and a campaign to defend workplace rights. It also echoes Corbyn’s appeal to work with socialists across Europe to get the best deal for British workers.

“Full access to European markets can only be achieved if the U.K. government abandons its ideological approach to a hard Brexit,” the draft motion says. “The trade union movement can play a vital role in ensuring such an outcome to the mutual benefit of all workers through our unique relationships with sister trade unions and governments in Europe.”

Unions met on Thursday to agree a combined statement that would include concerns cited in other motions so the movement can present a united front. Proposals on permanently staying in the single market and customs union are slated for debate in the formal agenda, alongside those on funding for technology and free movement of labor. The result of the talks is scheduled to be announced on Sunday morning, the TUC said.

Pay Agenda

The renewed sway over Labour will also let unions to push their agendas on public sector investment, pay, cuts to services and the reversal of anti-union laws. The party was created by the unions in 1900 and many union activists campaigned for it in June’s general election, further reinforcing the bond.

“This left-wing unionist group in the Labour Party are now dominating the agenda and that’s going to be the case for some considerable time,” Victoria Honeyman, who teaches politics at the University of Leeds, said in an interview. “Where the unions will want to come in is to argue that if all of this power is being transferred to Westminster, they want to see more pro-union legislation.”

Unions have faced the gradual erosion of their right to take industrial action since Thatcher was elected in 1979 and many on the left accuse Labour administrations under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown of failing to protect their rights.

Campaigns over the 1 percent cap on pay for public sector workers are also escalating towards strike action in the coming months after the Public and Commercial Services Union announced a ballot for industrial action and urged other unions to follow its lead.

“The election showed the influence that trade union campaigning on decent jobs and fair wages is having across politics and policies in support of workers clearly had traction with voters,” TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said in an email. “The government and all the parties cannot afford to ignore unions, because people are now strongly demanding fairer pay, better jobs, and stronger rights at work.”

The motions passed by delegates at the TUC Congress, including those on Brexit, may influence the agenda at Labour’s own conference later in the month. The party’s plans are still fluid and its ruling executive will not meet until a week after the TUC to finalize its schedule.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Penny in London at tpenny@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann, James Amott