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论文题目 The Adjustments of the Relations between the British Labor Party and the Labor Union during the Times of Blair government

课程名称 当代西方国家政治制度 课程号及课序号 11803002 学 号 201321016 姓 名 庄晓旭 班 级 一班 提交时间 2013-12-31

The Adjustments of the Relations between the British Labor Party and the Labor Union during the Times of Blair government

The British labor party born from the movement of labor union and is based on the working class and believes in the democratic socialism. The labor union plays a great role in the initial stage of the founding of labor party. It is the economical source of labor party and the labor party in turn will represent the labor union on the congress and strive for the profit of labor union. The labor party?s coming to power will help the party to conduct policies that are favorable for the labor union, but at the same time the labor party as a mature modern political party gradually notices their limitations by working only for the labor party. The labor party comes to power with the help of the labor union, but as a political party it cannot solely strive for the benefit of the labor union. The labor party is facing an uphill battle in becoming an All Peoples Party from the Working Class party. This article will discuss the adjustments of the relations between the British Labor Party and the Labor Union during the times of Blair government with the adjustments? background and the influences on the labor union being considered.

I. the Background of the Adjustments of Relations between the Labor Party and the Labor Union

The adjustments of the relations between the British labor party and the labor union have Profound historical backgrounds which includes the slowing down of the economy, the development of technology and the policies against the labor union taken by the conservative party.

A. During 1970s to 1980s, the British masses deem that the labor union has possessed too much power which is the crucial reason for the “British disease”. The negotiations between workers and businessmen are the principal means to solve the disputes between them. When the employers don't make any compromises, the labor party will choose to strike or stop working as method to force the employers to compromise. During the times of prosperities of or the times of less frequent conflicts, general public hold the understanding, sympathetic and even the supportive attitude towards the labor party. But during 1970s to 1980s, there?s a breakout of “British disease”. The economic growth slows down, the rate of inflation rises and unemployment rate remains high.1 The British masses deem that the labor union has possessed too much power which is the crucial reason for the “British disease”.2

B. The scientific and technical revolution and speedup of economic globalization form a strong impact on the British social structure. British manufacturing industry declines. Its status in national economy drops while the new emerging industries are soaring. There?s a great decrease of traditional manual workers,3 consequently, there?s a great decrease of

1

David Marsh, The New Politics of British Trade Unionism: Union Power and the Thatcher Legacy, p. 164.

2

Ludlam, Steve, J. Smith, Martin eds., New Labour in Government, New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001.p.ll4.

3

Henry Felling, Alastair J. Rcid, A short history of the Labour Party, 11th edition. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire :

labor unions, and the member of labor unions. The overall strength and status of labor union are greatly weakened.

C. From 1979 to 1990, the conservative party leading by Margaret Hilda Thatcher strongly represses the labor union. The conservative party leading by Margaret Hilda thatcher deems that the British long-term economic stagnation is closely related with the labor union?s unlimited power, obstination and arrogance and the one-sided pursuit of group interests. Therefore the change of the labor union is the prerequisite of the revolution of other things.4 With this being the case, the conservative party has begun to repress the labor union the moment it came to power with various means. For example, in 1980, 198,1984,1988 and 1990, it has enacted and amended the Employment Act and Trade Union Act for 5 times. The conservative party has put various limitations on the strikes? Legitimacy, scopes, target sand actions for supports. They intervene the election of leaders of the labor union and the establishment of political fund. The conservative has made full preparation to confront the movement of the labor union with retaliating attitude.

II. the Adjustments of the Relations between the British Labor Party and the Labor Union during the Times of Blair government

After the induction of Prime Minister Tony Blair, he starts to reform the labor party. There?s various means among which the adjustment of the relations between the British Labor Party and the Labor Union is the crucial part.

A. Prime Minister Tony Blair alienates the relations between the labor party and the labor union, but he doesn?t break off with trade unions.5 The close relationship between the trade union and the labor party has become a major obstacle for the development of the labor party. If the labor party wants to come to power with the support of voters, it must get rid of this close relation as fast as they can. Blair has said in a transport federation of trade unions that:” there has been a time when the labor union makes a decision and people take for granted that the labor party will act in accordance with it. It is the time that will never show up again. Times shall not go back, now the employers? ideas should be heard as well as the workers. But neither side will direct the labor party anymore. We will try our best to rule representing the whole country?s benefits, we Advocates convincing people by reasoning rather than making unreasonable demands.” ?We change the labor party, change the means of election of Labor MPs and change the way of making policies only to eliminate the pressures from outside and successfully practice what our beliefs.” From the words of Blair we can see that the labor party is trying hard to transform from a working class party to a national one, greatly reduce the influence from labor party on the right decision of the labor party and adjust the relations between the labor union and the labor party. The labor party doesn?t play a special role in the general election of labor party, just as it doesn?t receive any special help from the government of labor party.6 The labor party will take care of the reasonable and due profits of the labor union, but when it makes unreasonable demands the labor party has the right to refuse. The organizational and financial support of the labor

Macmillan Press, 1996,p. 193.

4

Duncan Tanner and others, eds, Labour?s First Century, Cambridge University Press, 2000,p.235. 5

Steve Ludlam, Martin J. Smith; New Labour in Government, Macmillan Press LTD,2001,pp.110-112.

6

Steve Ludlam, Martin J. Smith: New Labour in Government, Macmillan Press LTD,2001,p. 115.

union makes it hard for the labor party to totally break off with the labor union. Also the historical relations between them and the closeness of the ideology of them make it hard for the labor party to break off with the labor union.

B. The labor party reduces the dependence on the labor union financially. Historically, most of the money of the labor party comes from the political fund and donations of the labor union. Thatcher has tried to lessen the labor union?s political fund to the labor party to limit the labor party. To reduce the influence from the labor union?s handling of the finance, the labor party has decided to reduce the dependence on the labor union financially. According to the statistics, the political fund given by the labor union has taken part 75% of all the labor party?s total political fund. In 1996, this proportion drops to 50%, in 1997 to 40% and only 30% in 2002. For example, in May 1997, the MPs of the parliament have no any direct financial support from the labor union, however in 1974, 40%of them receive the financial support from it.7 Also, the labor party gradually accepts the individuals and companies? donations and gains the trusts from some companies. During the reign of Prime Minister Blair, the donation the labor party gained from the labor union reaches 15million pounds. Blair also raises the party membership dues from the 10 pounds per person per year of Kinnock?s period to 18.5 pounds.

C. When Smith being the leader of the labor party, he cancels the group voting in the election of the labor party, and begins to practice the policy of one person one vote. Blair enlarges the scopes of application and consequently reduces the influences of the labor union on the business of the labor party and strengthens the right of the labor party?s independent decision-making. Smith realizes that the group voting sometimes cannot truly reflect the original ideas of the union members. The leaders of the union party have too much power and usually meddle in the business of the labor party?s political affairs. The worse thing is that the election system cannot reflect the ideas of the general members of the labor union, which leads to the make of the unrealistic policies and which are not in accordance with the union members? benefit. And this leads to the continuous fails of the labor party in the general election. After consulting with the labor union, the labor party?s leaders come up with the solution of the labor union still participating the election of the labor party with decreasing ratio. The ratio remains the same with the parliamentary groups? and the CLPs(members of constituency of the labor party).Mr. Smith boldly proposes the practice of the one person one vote policy. With the help of Blair and Brown, he leads the labor party to fight unremittingly with the labor union. At last, he passes the proposal with 47.5% to 44.4%. The labor union and the CLPs adopt the method of one person one vote. The group members of the labor union only can gain the rights of voting when they become the individual union members.8 Blair being elected as the leader of the labor party is owing to the one person one vote policy. Therefore Blair has a firm determination to implement the policy of one person one party in all fields of the business of the labor party. Blair deems that the group voting system causes the breaks between the labor party and the voters which consequently lead to the mistakes of the labor party and the loss of the voters? support. Blair clearly states that one person one vote policy should be

7

Steve Ludlam, Martin J. Smith; New Labour in Government, Macmillan Press LTD,2001,p.74.

8

刘靖北、张文成，“当代英国工党的组织变革及评价”，《中国浦东干部学院学报》，第一期

implemented in every field of the business of the labor party. Also the implementation should be put on more efforts. For example, the amendment of the Article 4 of the party constitution is passed under the one person one vote policy. The efforts of Blair greatly push the implementation of the one person one vote policy. The leap from group voting to one person one vote policy has important historical meaning. It indicates the history of the labor party being charged by the labor union will no longer exist. And it also helps the modernization of the labor union.

D. Blair tries hard and finally amends the Article 4 of the party constitution. Blair proposes the amendment of the Article 4 of the party constitution on the first annual conference of the labor party after he takes the office. But due to the objections of the labor party?s left wing and the labor union?s left wing,9 and also due to the fact that Blair doesn?t make adequate preparations, the propose is vetoed down with 41.9 to 50.9%. Even though the proposal is vetoed, Blair doesn?t give up. He makes speeches to the vast individual party members saying that the abolishment of the stipulations of public ownership will greatly facilitate the modernization of the labor party. He wants people know that the outdated ideology has become the labor party?s heavy burden and is absolutely not keeping up with the development of the times. It is the high time to drop this heavy burden. He also warns the members of the labor party that if they don?t give up the principle of public ownership, the labor party will again be marginalized and elbowed out of the political arena. The labor party?s returning to power needs the amendment of the Article 4of the party constitution. With the efforts of Blair, the proposal of the amendment of the party?s constitution is passed with 65.23% to 34.77%. 90% of the CLPs and 54.6% of representatives of the labor union vote in favor of this proposal. However, the top two biggest labor unions vote against it. The resolution abolishes the pursuit of the public ownership of the labor party. In the new Article 4 of the party constitution, the value goal of the labor party is illustrated as the following. “The labor party as a democratic socialist party believes that the labor party will create a society with the power, wealth and opportunities owned by the majority not the minority. The labor party will create an economic entity which works for the public profits. In this economic entity, the market entrepreneurial spirit and fierce competition will be closely related with the cooperative partnership. The party will create wealth needed by people and provide the opportunity of working and making wealth for all the people. We will have flourishing private sector and public service of good quality.” The new Article 4 of the party constitution adopts the positive attitudes toward the mixed economy, market, competition and the private sector of the economy. The amended party constitution?s goals and values cover more contents than the old one. It basically reflects the changed situations of the nation and the abroad. The statement is more flexible and good for the labor party to confront the changing situations. The amendment of the Article 4 is an event of great importance. It marks the transformation of the labor party from the traditional state socialism to the European social democracy.10

III. the Influences of the Adjustments of the Relations between the British Labor Party

9

Brian Brivati, Richard Heffernan,The Labour Party : a centenary history ,Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire : Macmillan ; New York : St. Martin's Press, 2000 p312 10

Brian Brivati,Richard Heffernan ,The Labour Party: a centenary history, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire : Macmillan ; New York : St. Martin's Press, 2000 p316

and the Labor Union on the labor union

The adjustments of the relations between the British labor party and the labor union has bad influences on the labor union as well as the good ones.

A. The labor union changes the position of never cooperating with the employers by promoting the partnerships with them. The reformation of the labor party boosts the reflections of the labor union and propels them to adjust their own policies to adapt to the development of the new situations. The British labor union has long been only putting emphasis on the bargaining with the employees by representing the workers but ignoring the workers? right of participation in wider areas and ignoring the labor union?s adapting abilities. Since the reformation of the labor parties, the British labor union has begun to realize these problems. The union deems that with the rise of the workers? unemployment rate in the 1990s, it is protecting the actual benefits of the workers when they solve this practical problem. Therefore, the labor union changes the position of never cooperating with the employers by promoting the partnerships with them. In November 1996, the chairman Monks of the Trades Union Congress attend the annual meeting of the EEF (Engineering Employers Federation) and put forward 7 principles concerning the economic issues. The contents include making the macro-economic stable, lower inflation, lower unemployment rates, expending the education investment, developing the technologies, and improving relations with the EU. In March 1997, the Trade Union Congress holds the “partnership” conference with the EEF.11

B. The labor union begins to distance itself from the labor party so as to lessen the influences from politics and to enlarge the labor party?s political base. Monks is elected as the chairman of the Trades Union Congress in 1994. He has been stating for many times that the labor union or the labor party is not subordinate to each other. They just has close ideologies and goals. And the labor union will not merely depend on the labor party taking office again. The labor union will focus on the opposition to privatization and improvement of working conditions. To expand the mass base, the labor union abandon the past insisted All the Membership system—all the workers the employers employed should be the member of the labor union. Also the labor union begins to build committees to represent the employers in the companies.

C. The labor union still wants continuous support from the labor party with the precondition of not harm the profits of the labor union. The reformation of the labor party distance the relationship between the labor party and the labor union, but the traditional special bond between the two lead to the great financial dependence of the labor party on the labor union. They need mutual support from each other. The loss of the labor union will cause the unique characteristic loss and working class supporting loss to the labor party. The labor union also doesn?t want to completely break away with the labor party.

D. There are also bad influences of the labor party?s reformation on the labor union. They have public disagreement on some concrete issues, such as the inhibition of the strikes, the settlement of minimum wage standard, the objection on privatization and the overthrowing of the laws enacted by the conservative party which are bad for the labor union. These matters are important for the development of the labor union. If they fail to do business as

11

佘云霞，“九十年代英国共党的改革及其对英国工会运动的影响”，《工会理论与实践》1999年2月第13卷第一期 P67-69

what they want, the contradictions and disputes between them will deepen.

The special relationship between the labor party and the labor union causes many problems for the labor party. Blair has tried various means to adjust the relationship between them. The adjustments of the relations between the British labor party and the labor union during the times of Blair government has backgrounds of economic slowing down, fast development of technology and the policies against the labor union taken by the conservative party. The methods taken by Blair includes the moderate break off with the labor union, the change of the voting system and the amendment of the party constitution which leads to both good and bad influences on the labor union. Though there?s still many problems existing between the relations of the labor party and the labor union, the methods adopted by Blair reflect the advances of times and boost the development of both labor party and the labor union.

References

Brian Brivati,Richard Heffernan ,The Labour Party: a centenary history, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire : Macmillan ; New York : St. Martin's Press, 2000 p316

David Marsh , The New Politics of British Trade Unionism: Union Power and the Thatcher Legacy, p. 164.

Duncan Tanner and others, eds, Labour?s First Century, Cambridge University Press, 2000,p.235.

Henry Felling, Alastair J. Rcid, A short history of the Labour Party, 11th edition. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan Press, 1996, p. 193.

Ludlam, Steve, J.Smith, Martin eds., New Labour in Government, New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001.p.114. 李华锋，“布莱尔对英国工党与工会关系的定位与调整论析” 《聊城大学学报（社会科学版）》2 0 1 2 年第 2 期 林建华，“英国共党和工会间关系演变及走势”，《河南师范大学学报（哲学社会科学版）》1997年第24卷第4期P1-5

刘靖北、张文成,代英国工党的组织变革及评价”,《中国浦东干部学院学报》,第一期 佘云霞，“九十年代英国共党的改革及其对英国工会运动的影响”，《工会理论与实践》1999年2月第13卷第一期 P67-69 王凤鸣，“试论英国工党的现代化”，《欧洲》1996年第3期

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