Barber: ''Cameron risks union conflict''

Friday, March 12, 2010

A Conservative government would need to rethink its stance on drastic cuts in public spending and opting out of EU employment law if it wanted to avoid clashes with the unions, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress has told Public Servant, writes Dean Carroll.

Having met with David Cameron and his frontbench team on a number of occasions, Brendan Barber has attempted to set out the guidelines for a potential working relationship with a Tory administration. Of his meetings with the shadow Cabinet, Barber said: "I have tried to establish a proper business-like relationship. If there was a change of government, then I would hope that they would be open to a proper dialogue with the trade union movement – recognising our bona fides as an important interest within British life, which they should engage with in a constructive way."

But following the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, Cameron pledged that a Conservative government would attempt to repatriate social and employment legislation by renegotiating the UK's relationship with the European Union. His six-point package of reforms also included a sovereignty bill and a full opt-out from the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Analysing this seemingly pro-business and anti-union position, Barber said: "The discussions with David Cameron and his team have been constructive, but clearly there are areas where we would have very sharp differences – not least, their public spending plans and their social and employment policies where the Conservatives want to somehow extricate themselves from European social policy.

"I don't think it's achievable for them to just pick and choose which bits of the European treaties they are going to stick by and which bits they want to walk away from. The signal of intent that they don't want to match up to mainstream European employment standards and rights does concern me – it could of course be a source of conflict in the future."