TIME FOR CHANGE

But perhaps the core reason for the decline of the movement has been trade unions’ inability to come to grips with the 21st century economy — an economy where information is paramount; where services have increased in value; where adaptability of the workforce is essential to economic progress; where contract work is often more attractive for both employers and employees; and where governments must engage with globalisation in order to ensure economic prosperity.

In such circumstances, the Port and Maritime Services Ltd, which marked its tenth anniversary last Friday, may show the way forward for trade unions. The PMSL is a company that was founded by the Seamen and Waterfront Workers’ Trade Union (SWWTU), in collaboration with the private sector, when the Port Authority downsized in the mid-1990s. In delivering the keynote address at the anniversary function, Prime Minister Patrick Manning noted that such a venture is “normally frowned upon and even rejected outright by other labour organisations. They tend to view this as rather pro-capitalist and as a conflict of interest between labour and capital.”

This is quite true, and the failure of trade unions to understand that capitalism has benefited workers far more than the socialist approach has undermined both trade unions and, in countries where unions wield significant political influence, national economies. On the other hand, in those countries where the labour movement has understood the need for compromise with private sector and government interests, economic growth has helped all classes of the society to prosper.

This has been the case in East Asian nations such as Singapore and Japan, where trade unions run businesses. It has also been the case in the small nations of western Europe, such as Denmark, Norway and Switzerland, where the labour movement is integrated into the national consensus. Mr Manning asserted that the PNM administration has long pursued development of a “people’s sector” in which trade unions and cooperatives would play a critical role.

But a “critical role” means that trade unions must be able to influence public policy. However, in order for that to happen, labour leaders must demonstrate that they understand economic realities, and do not make demands which are purely self-interested. Indeed, it is an irony that, in the European nations mentioned, an open economy has often led to a greater growth of the public sector, whereas closed economies of the kind favoured by trade unionists have led to a decline or no change.

The Government must also understand that a meaningful incorporation of the labour movement into policy-making has political benefits, in that such inclusion contributes to social stability. When citizens feel that they are part of the political process, through their representatives, they are more willing to accept the compromises needed for long-term progress, because they have a sense that such progress will eventually advance their own interests.

Trade union leaders cannot truthfully deny that their movement is no longer credible and that their influence is less than they would like. But they can regain lost ground, once they understand that consensus with other interest groups is essential for their own good and the good of the country.