THE Government put the most clear red water between itself and preceding Tory governments yesterday as its long awaited White Paper on industrial relations shifted the balance of power from the employers in favour of the workers.
The entire thrust of the package, Fairness at Work, put the emphasis on partnership between employers and employees while radically changing the hostile climate towards unions.
As The Herald revealed last week, employers will be obliged to recognise unions if they can demonstrate majority membership or win a 40% ballot vote. The Government has eased the restrictions on the unions, but simultaneously put the onus on them to attract support.
Unveiling the reforms in the House of Commons, Margaret Beckett, the President of the Department of Trade and Industry, said they were trying to reform industrial practice to make ''the best practice in the best companies the normal practice throughout the country''.
The White Paper, Fairness at Work, includes a raft of radical measures designed to redress the balance following 18 years of Tory hositility that included successive tranches of restrictive trade union laws which, together with the ravages of recession, saw union membership tumble from a peak of 12 million-plus to about 6.7 million.
The White Paper will give instant protection against unfair dismissal to seven million workers and return some of the unions' lost influence, although Prime Minister Tony Blair was quick to stress there would be no going back to the days when there were strikes without ballots and mass picketing, closed shops and secondary industrial action.
Under the measures announced yesterday, all workers will have the right to be represented by a
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union official during grievances, even at non-union firms.
Qualified support for the proposals from unions and grudging acceptance by employers will no doubt convince Ministers they have got the balance about right following their firm stand on the 40% ballot requirement, which was tempered by some last minute concessions to the unions.
The relatively warm welcome from the unions should also ensure there is no rebellion from back-bench Labour MPs with close union links. The trade union group of MPs welcomed the proposals while pledging to continue its opposition to the 40% rule.
Downing Street said the threshold was the settled will of Mr Blair, although the White Paper did include a review of the 40% stipulation ''if it is shown to be unworkable''.
Other concessions included workplace ballots as opposed to postal balloting and giving the unions the main say on how pay bargaining units, or balloting constituencies, were made up.
However, the 40% ''hurdle'' remained too high for some union leaders, who pledged to continue campaigning to have it reduced. Mr Tim Melville-Ross, CBI director general, also signalled its intention to argue for changes before it reaches the statute book.
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