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6.33 pm
Mr. Bill Etherington (Sunderland, North): It gives me great pleasure, in my first contribution this year, to speak on this Bill. I have been waiting 20 years, almost a generation, for legislation that considers the common man and woman at the bottom of the pile--the real wealth creators--rather than being for the benefit of companies, employers and their balance sheets, and, perhaps more importantly, their power.
I am particularly pleased to follow last year's Back Bencher of the year. In many ways, his speech encourages me in mine. If one peels away the nice presentation and great eloquence, his party wants the employer to dominate and the employee to have the right to do as he or she is told. It is important to step back and see where we are before the Bill goes through.
Legislation for trade unions and their members is now worse than it was 100 years ago. If anyone doubts that, I recommend, particularly to Conservative Members, that they read a book by the recently deceased Henry
Pelling--most of them have probably never heard of it--called "A History of British Trade Unionism". It shows how things have fluctuated over the years.
Although I am implacably opposed to everything that the previous Government did from 1979 onwards, I am generous enough to admit that, unbelievable though it may seem, there have been times in history when the Tory party has introduced legislation beneficial to workers and trade unions that might have had a slight deleterious effect on employers and companies. What particularly pleases me about the Bill is that it begins to recognise that people have more responsibilities than just being at the beck and call of an employer.
We need to look at the vast array of legislation introduced by the previous Administration. In case Conservative Members have forgotten, when people legitimately fought for their rights, they were classed by Mrs. Thatcher as the enemy within. That is dressed up now. I was amazed to hear the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) sound sympathetic. If I picked him up right, he said that they did not make legislation to stop people who were having difficulty with their employers joining a trade union. That is tremendous progress for the Opposition.
I have an interest to declare, though not a financial one. I was formerly employed by the National Union of Mineworkers, the only decent employer that I have worked for since I left school. Perhaps I have been unfortunate, because we have heard about all these good employers. When I speak to colleagues about good employers, they say, "You know, Bill, that is a peculiar term. Are you talking about good employers or some who are better than others?" In many ways, that sums up the situation.
Mr. Ian Bruce:
The hon. Gentleman mentioned the National Union of Mineworkers. Was he one of its London employees who was sacked almost without notice when it decided to move its headquarters back to Sheffield? I remember them going on strike. That is not like a good employer.
Mr. Etherington:
The hon. Gentleman need not worry, because I have never been a London employee; being here is the nearest that I have come to it. I was not sacked by the NUM. I am not sure whether I was promoted or demoted when I came here; I am still trying to work that out.
Every piece of legislation that the Tories introduced was anti-trade union. It had the gloss of improving the rights of trade union members within their union, but did nothing to improve their rights in their relationship with their employers. That is why we have ended up with so many people working longer hours under worse conditions, often for worse wages. The Tories left a wonderful heritage to workers, and they will never be forgotten or forgiven for it.
I have one or two criticisms of the Bill, but they are comradely. I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on his elevation to the Cabinet under difficult circumstances. If today is anything to go by, he is making a good job of it. That does not surprise me, because he comes from the same part of the world as
I do and represents a similar constituency. Unlike Conservative Members, he probably has a fair grip of what it is like to be at the bottom of the employment pile.
The problem affects not middle management but people at the bottom of the pile. There is no need to mess about with any other form of words. That is what the Bill seeks to put right. I have heard all sorts of stories this afternoon about how it is easy for people to get time off and how this does not need legislation. If it were easy to get time off, there would be no need for legislation. That is the simple answer.
It must also be said that we start from a bad position. British workers, trade unionists and trade unions have the least rights of any European Union country. That will improve as times goes on and the Bill is a good start.
Mr. Ivan Henderson (Harwich):
Will my hon. Friend give way?
Mr. Etherington:
Certainly, but will my hon. Friend please keep it brief, because I have only got 15 minutes?
Mr. Ivan Henderson:
Does my hon. Friend remember in 1992 when dockers were discriminated against for belonging to a trade union? They had fewer rights and less pay. The Conservative party did nothing to protect them. They were left to lose their jobs. They went to the other place under the law, but lost their money and their jobs.
Mr. Etherington:
I totally agree. I am willing to give way to any Conservative Member who can give an example of a Conservative Member, regardless of the consequences and no matter how bad the situation, standing up to support workers in dispute with an employer when that employer has reneged on an agreement or acted in a totally abysmal manner.
Mr. Bercow:
I intervened in an employment dispute in a former company of mine on behalf of an employee who shamefully was denied a bonus that she had long been owed, but that she was scared to claim. I was absolutely determined that she should get the bonus and I am pleased to say that, through her efforts and those of others including me, she eventually did so.
Mr. Etherington:
I am pleased to hear that, but it does not answer the question I posed, which was whether any Conservative Member had ever intervened in the House on such an issue, because I have never heard of that happening. I have made that offer before, but it has never been taken up and the hon. Gentleman's intervention takes us no further forward.
I have one or two problems with the Bill. Quite a lot has been said, mostly in interventions, about the waiver for small employers. I am concerned about that, albeit not for the same reasons that Conservative Members are concerned: they do not want any rights for anybody, no matter how big the firm, so I totally dissociate myself from any of their comments on the subject. My concern is based on human rights and civil rights. I cannot come to terms with the fact that, if one firm has 20 employees, all 20 of whom want recognition for negotiation purposes and so on, and the firm next door has 22 employees, 12
of whom want recognition, it will be the employees of the larger firm who are entitled by law to recognition, not the employees of the smaller firm. That cannot be right.
I have heard the explanation given here and elsewhere by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, but I am still not satisfied. If the argument is that small businesses are special and different, I cannot go along with it. I do not want to put any additional burdens on small businesses, but the fundamental principles that should be paramount are equality of treatment, justice and civil rights. People working in small companies--about 25 per cent. of all employees--are the ones who most need the full protection and assistance of a trade union. Although I welcome the Bill, I am unhappy about that part of it.
I am very unhappy about the clause whereby employers, if they have gone through the necessary--I nearly said charade, but that is unfair--system of negotiating meaningfully with employees, will be entitled to sack strikers after eight weeks. I perceive big dangers in that, the biggest of which is that--as the courts have proved on many occasions, sometimes on technicalities--there is already a considerable hurdle in terms of legal challenge to get over before employees are able to mount a strike without the threat of the law being hung over them. If it is considered right that employees on strike should have protection, there should be no time limit.
I am very unhappy about that, but I think that the rest of the Bill represents a tremendous step forward. I am sorry to hear that it is to be the last such legislation in this Parliament, because I believe that legislation, as well as having a salutary day-to-day effect on miscreants, is a vessel for changing the attitude of society. Above all, I believe that the Bill will begin to change society's attitude.
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