SIR: The call for compulsory arbitration as an alternative to strike action made by a Right-wing trade union leader at the TUC Conference may have a superficial attraction.
However, in reality, such a scheme is unlikely to work and involves a major attack on democratic rights. It is often somewhat naively assumed that somewhere there is somebody anxious to give workers their just desserts, whereas the opposite is the case. Workers like nursery nurses in education have suffered badly as a result of past arbitration awards. Employers could quite easily mislead arbitrators about the amount of finance available, when a strike can genuinely resolve how much they are prepared to pay to have a job done. Employers routinely break laws and long-standing pay agreements. What are workers supposed to do when they break arbitrated settlements?
The right to withdraw labour is a fundamental democratic right guaranteed under international law. Workers would be far worse off if they lost it.
Roger Bannister,
UNISON National Executive Council (Personal Capacity)
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