British unions ‘responsible’

Press, 17 April 1979, Page 24

British unions ‘responsible’

A British trade unionist visiting Christchurch says that Britain’s success in reducing inflation from 28 per cent to 7 per cent has been largely because of the responsible attitude of the trade unions.

Mr John Pate, a shop steward in a Sheffield steel works and a member of the powerful Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers said that while the pay-restraint policy had been successful, the Trade Union Congress had now decided to adopt a policy of an orderly return to free collective bargaining. “It will be very important what is meant by orderly. I hope it means not every man for himself, but a responsible attitude for the good of the economy of the country and only being willing to press claims with an understanding that the country can afford it,” he said.

"I am convinced this represents the attitude of the majority of people,” said Mr Pate. He said the reaction of trade unionists to a Conservative Government if it won the General Election would probably depend on what policies it introduced that affected the unions.

Mr Pate is a committed supporter of the Moral

Rearmament movement and says that he was indifferent to trade unions until he began to apply the movement’s ideas and take a responsibility in the union movement.

“I did what I could to make certain that more of the ordinary workers got a say in the running of the union,” he said. “I am convinced that if more men would move from selfish apathy and begin to speak up. it would be reflected in union policies. “If more men took a responsibility in the unions and also worked for the unity of the country there would be less confrontation and more working out of solutions with the Government and management,” said Mr Pate.

There had been an improvement in managerial attitudes in recent years, but there was still room for a lot of improvement. “I still come across the attitude that management must manage and that the worker is only a cog in the machine,” he said. “If the worker is only a cog and is not consulted and ultimately asked to share in decisionmaking you will get confrontation and will not get a spirit of co-operation.”