6 minute read
United we stand
IT HAS BEEN 19 MONTHS SINCE THE VICTORY OF my union, the GMB, in its battle with Uber. What has been the result and what can we learn from this success?
Well, perhaps the biggest takeaway from the Uber vs Aslam case is that trade unions are not the remnants of a bygone age but are extremely relevant and necessary in the modern workplace.
In this article I will cover the history and rationale of trade unionism, why trade unions are resisted, the current attacks on trade unions and the January 2021 victory to show why I believe the above statement is correct.
A trade union, such as the GMB, is an organisation of workers whose purpose is to secure, maintain or improve the conditions of their work or employment. These conditions include securing better wages/payment, holidays, health provisions and retirement, and so on.
Trade unions came into being in Britain, other European countries and North America during and following the industrial revolution. In the early and later part of the industrial revolution unions were illegal. However, over the years unions were formed and began to obtain formal political power, leading to the establishment of sets of laws controlling the relationship between unions, their members and the employer.
During the 1970s, UK employers and owners, through their political organisations, began to curtail the power of the trade unions. The reason for this is simple. The lower the cost of workers, namely their pay and benefits, means that money can be channelled into the pockets of the bosses.
In January 2022 the Financial Times stated: “The wealth of the richest 1% of households in Great Britain was more than £3.6 million per household on average, 230 times higher than the £15,400 or less for the least wealthy 10%.” I don’t want to sound like Private Eye’s fictional left-wing ranter Dave Spart here, so I haven’t mentioned Margaret Thatcher (Err… Ed). I merely wish to briefly recap the broad history of the labour movement. So, when the GMB or another union takes on an employer we are not seeking the overthrow of the Government.
These continuing efforts to restrict the power of the trade unions have continued through a variety of laws and attacks by the media. The latter was successful in creating a division between nonunion workers and unionised members, which led the former to believe a series of myths about trade unionism and leading to a fall in membership of unions.
The recent attacks on our colleagues in the Rail Maritime and Transport union and the rail workers union ASLEF posed typical attacks such as: “Why are these unions calling for higher wages when nurses are being paid much less?” Of course, the unions respond by arguing that we should support nurses in their pay claim too.
Some drivers may have succumbed to the onslaught against trade unions and trade unionism. They may have been seduced by the shiny apps and things offered to them by organisations such as Uber, which claimed that the old relationships were over and a new era of work was here. Like me, once they saw the reality of working for organisations similar to Uber it became clear that the employers were merely wearing “new clothes”.
I believe that the Uber case clearly demonstrates the importance of trade unions in the modern era.
The decision to fight the case from the Employment Tribunal all the way up to the UK’s Supreme Court was only possible because the GMB was able to call on the resources of its members to do so. An individual driver would not normally have the means to do this.
Unions can negotiate more effectively for workers than an individual employee can for themselves.
The solidarity shown between union members is an effective tool in securing gains achieved in the workplace.
The ability to change society for the benefit of the individual is limited where the lever available is the election cycle. However, unions can campaign at any time on a range of issues beyond pay. For example, the closure of a health facility affecting an area; getting better public spaces for local people; and other issues can be undertaken by a union at the behest of their members.
Finally, while I believe that all humans are social animals I recognise that we also have our individuality. This means that while we contribute to the collective, our needs require satisfaction. Unions recognise such needs. So, the Uber case was not just about gaining benefits for all drivers but actual money for the individual.
So, the GMB defeated Uber’s contention that they were merely a “tech platform” that acted as an agent for drivers and that the latter were “workers” under the existing employment laws. Further, the case decided that the legislation prevents employers from contracting out their legal obligations.
The Supreme Court also found that the drivers’ working time for Uber was not, as Uber argued, to periods when they were actually driving passengers but included all periods when the driver was logged on to the app. These findings not only benefited all Uber driver members but all workers across the sector and workers in a similar position.
However, the result of this collective action is not only a worthy principle for all but resulted in actual cash money for the individual driver. I can state categorically that GMBmembers involved in the Uber case have received thousands of pounds and in some cases tens of thousands of pounds in lost earnings.
Other drivers, who were not members of the union, also received such backdated payments as a result of the Supreme Court decision. But here they were obliged to pay their lawyers a substantial part of their earnings which GMB members were not obliged to do.
So, whatever a person believes the role of a union to be, it is to your benefit to be a member.
