A superb article: Ordinary workers should be protected from the evil influence of public sector unions

[longfingernails]

Bravo, Tim Pawlenty!

He has written an excellent comment piece in today's Wall Street Journal.

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703766704576009350303578410.html

Pawlenty is a bit of what we used to call a "wet" Conservative - think Ken Clarke - the Americans have the more perjorative term RINO - Republican in Name Only. But this article is spot-on.

Public sector unions should be made illegal. As the article so deftly explains, public sector unions are deeply exploitative.

A good example. NHS managers introduced and increased the use of private contractors for cleaning, which dissolved the command and control relationship with nursing staff, who previously had seen cleaners as part of a team effort against disease - ie promoting a team approach to healthcare. This was eroded by companies seeking to make profit out of contracts by undersupllying cleaners, undertraining them, and making them resentful. Nurses were prevented from asking cleaners to change their cleaningf routine or even from disciplining cleaners (not necessarily harshly just a word here or there) who were neglecting things in a way that just happens (i.e a cleaner might not notice that if she/he cleans duiring a ward round, tables aren't out and don't get cleaned for example) because the person responsible for cleaning quality is the contracts manager details just didn't get discussed.

Who opposed this naive and cost (rather than benefit-led) discussion most vociferously? UNISON. Who overruled it? Largely conservative supporting senior management.

What people forget is that Unions act as fast and sometimes aggressive lightning conductors upwards and downwards. Management decisions come through unions to bottom lefvel staff who very quickly feed their concerns directly back to management. This is far more cost-effective than waiting until all the 'detail' problems (as we've heard) magnify (into mrsa) because you are ignoring or disregarding unions, and then paying both lawyers, management consultants and change managers to solve problems that unions were trying to head off.

Of course, this last approach significantly benefits a particular ('professional') class more than following union advice would. (note fact fans that professional expectations of pay and benefits are far more protected than those of non-professional staff - once a lawyer there is no market drive for £400 per hour to read a document and write a summary.. professional bodies really are unions in disguise)

This current animosity towards unions, particularly public sector unions, is misguided. Unions were originally formed to protect some very basic human rights and it is these basic standards that have now become the norm throughout society thanks to the civilising influence of the unions. This has become established throughout history and is not something that can be understood simply via a one-off incident of labour withdrawal by a particular set of workers. It's far more complex than that and to form an opinion based on a particular (and frankly quite rare) set of actions is lazy and foolish. Members have fought hard over the years for these rights, pay for the privelege and for the most part subvert their individual values for the benefit of the collective good. If you think that individuals can protect themselves, then you are sadly wrong. Individuals can only protect themselves where they are in a position of power; generally speaking, most of us wield little or no bargaining power within an organisation and have no choice but to seek strength in collective representation.Members of public sector unions are very often badly-paid (cleaners, binmen etc) doing unpleasant jobs and the perceived enhanced benefits enjoyed by these workers was intended only to compensate for poor wages. It is only relatively recently that the private sector has slipped behind the public sector in terms of benefits-until the current passion for downsizing, outsourcing and "casualisation" of workforces the private sector was seen as more attractive to work in because wages were generally better. Unfortunately for many, unions were seen as an irrelevance and many have seen their terms and conditions gradually eroded by unscrupulous employers. If everyone exercised their right to join a trade union-or were perhaps compelled to do so-working life would be a lot better for a lot more people.

No this is a superb article.

www.leftfutures.org/2010/09/trade-unions-are-a-public-asset/

The more people who move out of the public sector and into the private sector, the better.

Longfingernails. The private sector is too busy moving jobs abroad.

heroine. It's no coincidence that uncleanliness in hospitals increased following privatisation of cleaning services.