Some musings on how to neutralise the unions

[longfingernails]

I think we should have some common sense changes to strike laws, and political donation laws, which will help update the Thatcher era legislation (which was excellent, but did not go far enough) to clamp down further on the union menace.

The political levy could be directed at whichever party the union member wishes - not just Labour. Union bosses must not be able to veto donations to any legitimate party.

The default option for political levies must be to opt out. Union members must make an active effort to opt in.

Unions must have a minimum turnout of 50% for a ballot for strike action to be legitimate.

Unions must not be allowed to ballot for a strike of more than 24 hours at a time.

The notice period for a strike should be extended to 3 months.

If strikebreakers have more effective job performance during strikes than the standard workers, it should be legal to fire the striker and hire the strikebreaker in their place.

It should be encouraged in legislation to allow a worker's striking/strikebreaking to be taken into account when determining performance related bonuses and other discretionary pay/perks.

Far more jobs, including those on the Tube, should be counted as "essential occupations" and be forbidden from striking.

And the big one: unions must pay back the cost of each strike, as decided by an independent arbitration panel, to the employer.

What do you all think?

What demands has Bob Crow made that were unreasonable?

Claig, I'm impressed

ilovemydog, our positions are getting closer.
It won't be long until you change your name to ilovemydogandGeorgeBush

ilovemydogandwarcriminalsgeorgebush perhaps?

I 'm not a fan of George Bush. But George Bush just does what he is told, the same as Tony Blair and all the rest.

No!

But the serious point being that the clear cut policies of left and right have been blurred.

As far as the unions are concerned, what hits the headlines are the sensational stories, i.e. ballot for industrial action, strike dates announced etc. What often is not reported are the agreements secured, the concessions made, the agreements on the table, not to mention how far the union is willing to negotiate with management so that workers do not have to walk out.

ilovemydog- There is a broad consensus on the centre ground. All 3 major partys broadly agree on the broad framework on how the country should be run there are few ideological battles.