I am not a fan of the Trades Union movement, but give me a 100 Jack Jones rather than one Bob Crowe or, and yes I know he's passed away too, Jimmy Knapp - two men who IMO have/did nothing but antagonise the British public, especially commuters in London for years.
After retiring Jones worked very hard for pensioners rights. A good man.
[cite]Posted By: stilladdicted[/cite]What Leroy said. Not many genuine tub thumpers left these days. RIP.
I remember as a kid watching the likes of Jack Jones, Mick McGahey & Eric Heffer in action at various TUC/Labour Party conferences. Usually vying for coverage with the snooker on BBC2 on September afternoons when you were off school sick or something....
Eric Heffer! What a dinasour!! I remember him walking out of the Labour Party Conference when Neil Kinnock started announcing his reforms. Shame he went as that was the begining of Labour becoming electable, ok it took another 8 years or so but what a effin disaster it's been.
[cite]Posted By: Chirpy Red[/cite]Eric Heffer! What a dinasour!! I remember him walking out of the Labour Party Conference when Neil Kinnock started announcing his reforms. Shame he went as that was the begining of Labour becoming electable, ok it took another 8 years or so but what a effin disaster it's been.
Yes, because the Tories were doing such a great job in the 90's weren't they? Maybe we should just have one-party rule and be done with it.
''I think my mum used to go out with Eric Heffer!''
If true, I think you should keep that to yourself. I knew Eric Heffer well, and worked with him closely when I was editor of Tribune in the early 1980s. During that time I used to visit him and his wife Doris regularly at their flat in Dolphin Square. Doris who, was actually more left-wing than Eric, was also his parliamentary secretary. They met in the CP during WW2, were married for 50 years and devoted to each other...
[cite]Posted By: Chirpy Red[/cite]I am not a fan of the Trades Union movement, but give me a 100 Jack Jones rather than one Bob Crowe or, and yes I know he's passed away too, Jimmy Knapp - two men who IMO have/did nothing but antagonise the British public, especially commuters in London for years.
After retiring Jones worked very hard for pensioners rights. A good man.
Does anyone still belong to Trades Unions in the UK these days? My dad was a life long member of the NUJ - but i have never been a member, or approached to be a member of any union in 20+ years of working life. Now here in Canada-land the Unions are still quite strong & well organised, you certainly see Teamsters stickers & info around a lot of workplaces.....
[cite]Posted By: Chirpy Red[/cite]I am not a fan of the Trades Union movement, but give me a 100 Jack Jones rather than one Bob Crowe or, and yes I know he's passed away too, Jimmy Knapp - two men who IMO have/did nothing but antagonise the British public, especially commuters in London for years.
After retiring Jones worked very hard for pensioners rights. A good man.
Does anyone still belong to Trades Unions in the UK these days? My dad was a life long member of the NUJ - but i have never been a member, or approached to be a member of any union in 20+ years of working life. Now here in Canada-land the Unions are still quite strong & well organised, you certainly see Teamsters stickers & info around a lot of workplaces.....
Sadly the Trade Union movement in this country is becoming ever more marginalised. I was chair of the Trade Union Side in a former job - representing close to 2000 members from three different unions (PCS, IPMS, FDA) in negotiations with management over everything from pay to terms & conditions and industrial tribunals. They made it as difficult as possible - and this was in a reasonably union-friendly environment (civil service, DCMS). Every year they parachuited another load of management-speak tosspots in who just gave themselves hefty salary increases, implemented cuts then f***ed off. Unfortunately, most people under the age of 30 in this country don't even know what a Union IS, let alone get offered to join one. Thatcher completely crushed the life out of them, and there are now so many anti-union laws in place that the effect of a TU is pretty much negligible in a lot of places.
Of course, there are still exceptions (like the RMT - love 'em or hate 'em, at least they still have some form of power) but they're getting fewer and more far between. In this economic climate, if we had a stronger TU movement the working class of this country might actually be able to exact some form of meaningful change - withdrawing labour would be easier with better union funding (from more members), more pressure could be put on the wide-boy city tosspots who have saddled the population with humungous levels of debt for the next thirty years and industrial action CAN make a difference (just look at France for an example, where regular industrial action DOES actually achieve tangible benefits for those willing (and legally able) to strike)
My dadworked for IPC in the seventies & eighties - he could only get his work published if he was a fully paid up member of the Union as the printers wouldn't touch non-Union stuff from what i recall.
When he switched to work for the antiquated, union hating DC Thomson - i think he had to hide his membership activities from them.
[cite]Posted By: Oakster[/cite]My dadworked for IPC in the seventies & eighties - he could only get his work published if he was a fully paid up member of the Union as the printers wouldn't touch non-Union stuff from what i recall.
When he switched to work for the antiquated, union hating DC Thomson - i think he had to hide his membership activities from them.
All seems an age ago..........
That was the problem Oakster, the unions in some of the trades went completely OTT and - you have to say - that the printers in particular brought Wapping on themselves by blocking the deployment of modern technology.
Their behaviour gave Thatcher and her corporate pals the excuse - not that she needed much of one - to crush them.
Speaking as a wide-boy City tosspot, I think your views are a little blinkered. Because Trades Unions were too powerful in the 70's, bringing down or blackmailing governments, they had to be pulled back. Maybe legislation went too far, but something needed to be done.
I have been in full employment for over 25 years and have never had the need for others to fight my battle. I was a member of BIFU in the early 80's but that was just to get my full discount at the Banks S&S Club.
I am not some ponce born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I am working class stock. My Dad had to pay into a Union as he was contracted in, he worked as a manual in various oil refineries in Silvertown all his working life, He was chuffed to bits when he was legally allowed not to pay money to any union. In his opinion they were just troublemakers who did no real work except stick up for the workshy employees.
There is a place for unions, no worker should ever be opressed, but to go back to the awful days of the 70's when unions called strikes over very trival matters would be a massive step backwards.
[cite]Posted By: Chirpy Red[/cite]Speaking as a wide-boy City tosspot, I think your views are a little blinkered. Because Trades Unions were too powerful in the 70's, bringing down or blackmailing governments, they had to be pulled back. Maybe legislation went too far, but something needed to be done.
I have been in full employment for over 25 years and have never had the need for others to fight my battle. I was a member of BIFU in the early 80's but that was just to get my full discount at the Banks S&S Club.
I am not some ponce born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I am working class stock. My Dad had to pay into a Union as he was contracted in, he worked as a manual in various oil refineries in Silvertown all his working life, He was chuffed to bits when he was legally allowed not to pay money to any union. In his opinion they were just troublemakers who did no real work except stick up for the workshy employees.
There is a place for unions, no worker should ever be opressed, but to go back to the awful days of the 70's when unions called strikes over very trival matters would be a massive step backwards.
Reasonable comments, not that far from my own views TBH.
[quote][cite]Posted By: Oakster[/cite]My dadworked for IPC in the seventies & eighties - he could only get his work published if he was a fully paid up member of the Union as the printers wouldn't touch non-Union stuff from what i recall.[/quote]
I wonder if your dad would have known my friends dad Jack Parker from his IPC days (he edited 'Look & Learn' I think) he took me to the valley for the first time and is responsible for 30+ years of me being a Charlton Fan !!!
[cite]Posted By: Oakster[/cite]My dadworked for IPC in the seventies & eighties - he could only get his work published if he was a fully paid up member of the Union as the printers wouldn't touch non-Union stuff from what i recall.
I wonder if your dad would have known my friends dad Jack Parker from his IPC days (he edited 'Look & Learn' I think) he took me to the valley for the first time and is responsible for 30+ years of me being a Charlton Fan !!!
It's very possible - I know he he illustrated for that magazine.
By the way AA - this blinkin' snow sucks! Canmore was well & truly dumped on today! Did Calgary get it too?
[cite]Posted By: nigel w[/cite]''I think my mum used to go out with Eric Heffer!''
If true, I think you should keep that to yourself. I knew Eric Heffer well, and worked with him closely when I was editor of Tribune in the early 1980s. During that time I used to visit him and his wife Doris regularly at their flat in Dolphin Square. Doris who, was actually more left-wing than Eric, was also his parliamentary secretary. They met in the CP during WW2, were married for 50 years and devoted to each other...
Why would I keep it to myself FFS
My mum is 74 and knew him many, many years ago when they were in the CP
"There is a place for unions, no worker should ever be opressed, but to go back to the awful days of the 70's when unions called strikes over very trival matters would be a massive step backwards."
I'm with you there, but I'll never forget how much the Unions changed my working life for the better. We know now Who Governs Britain but a choice between two Conservative parties isn't exactly the result I wanted.
I was proud to count the Heffers as friends and Doris invited me to the funeral when Eric died. Respect to your mother if she was of their circle, for Eric and Doris were fine people with unimpeachable values.
[cite]Posted By: Goonerhater[/cite]It was Trade Unions that gave us much of what the working man/woman takes for granted these days. Was in a Union at 16.
The ultra left destroyed the Unions as much as Thatcher did.
Tru dat. loonyleftism in the eighties made memberhip of a TU something to be ashamed of.
Comments
After retiring Jones worked very hard for pensioners rights. A good man.
I remember as a kid watching the likes of Jack Jones, Mick McGahey & Eric Heffer in action at various TUC/Labour Party conferences. Usually vying for coverage with the snooker on BBC2 on September afternoons when you were off school sick or something....
Yes, because the Tories were doing such a great job in the 90's weren't they? Maybe we should just have one-party rule and be done with it.
If true, I think you should keep that to yourself. I knew Eric Heffer well, and worked with him closely when I was editor of Tribune in the early 1980s. During that time I used to visit him and his wife Doris regularly at their flat in Dolphin Square. Doris who, was actually more left-wing than Eric, was also his parliamentary secretary. They met in the CP during WW2, were married for 50 years and devoted to each other...
Does anyone still belong to Trades Unions in the UK these days? My dad was a life long member of the NUJ - but i have never been a member, or approached to be a member of any union in 20+ years of working life. Now here in Canada-land the Unions are still quite strong & well organised, you certainly see Teamsters stickers & info around a lot of workplaces.....
Of course, there are still exceptions (like the RMT - love 'em or hate 'em, at least they still have some form of power) but they're getting fewer and more far between. In this economic climate, if we had a stronger TU movement the working class of this country might actually be able to exact some form of meaningful change - withdrawing labour would be easier with better union funding (from more members), more pressure could be put on the wide-boy city tosspots who have saddled the population with humungous levels of debt for the next thirty years and industrial action CAN make a difference (just look at France for an example, where regular industrial action DOES actually achieve tangible benefits for those willing (and legally able) to strike)
Its sad.
When he switched to work for the antiquated, union hating DC Thomson - i think he had to hide his membership activities from them.
All seems an age ago..........
That was the problem Oakster, the unions in some of the trades went completely OTT and - you have to say - that the printers in particular brought Wapping on themselves by blocking the deployment of modern technology.
Their behaviour gave Thatcher and her corporate pals the excuse - not that she needed much of one - to crush them.
I have been in full employment for over 25 years and have never had the need for others to fight my battle. I was a member of BIFU in the early 80's but that was just to get my full discount at the Banks S&S Club.
I am not some ponce born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I am working class stock. My Dad had to pay into a Union as he was contracted in, he worked as a manual in various oil refineries in Silvertown all his working life, He was chuffed to bits when he was legally allowed not to pay money to any union. In his opinion they were just troublemakers who did no real work except stick up for the workshy employees.
There is a place for unions, no worker should ever be opressed, but to go back to the awful days of the 70's when unions called strikes over very trival matters would be a massive step backwards.
Reasonable comments, not that far from my own views TBH.
I wonder if your dad would have known my friends dad Jack Parker from his IPC days (he edited 'Look & Learn' I think) he took me to the valley for the first time and is responsible for 30+ years of me being a Charlton Fan !!!
It's very possible - I know he he illustrated for that magazine.
By the way AA - this blinkin' snow sucks! Canmore was well & truly dumped on today! Did Calgary get it too?
Why would I keep it to myself FFS
My mum is 74 and knew him many, many years ago when they were in the CP
I'm with you there, but I'll never forget how much the Unions changed my working life for the better. We know now Who Governs Britain but a choice between two Conservative parties isn't exactly the result I wanted.
Because in that case, your mother was six when Eric and Doris got together!
you are a strange guy, Nigel, you really are
I was proud to count the Heffers as friends and Doris invited me to the funeral when Eric died. Respect to your mother if she was of their circle, for Eric and Doris were fine people with unimpeachable values.
Shame really.....
The ultra left destroyed the Unions as much as Thatcher did.