Scottish referendum – what the unions say

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Scotland’s historic independence referendum has captivated the entire United Kingdom.

As some four and a half million Scottish voters take to the polls, the Yes (pro-independence) and No (pro-union) campaigns remain neck-and-neck, with some commentators suggesting that the winner could be decided by just a few hundred votes.

But what do UK trade unions – the country’s largest democratic non-governmental body –make of the whole affair?

Naturally as one might expect, opinion is divided, even amongst unions affiliated to the Labour party.

Two of the biggest, the general union GMB and the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) have come out firmly in favour of the No campaign.

After consulting with their respective Scottish members, both unions unequivocally supported staying in the 307-year-old union, primarily on economic grounds.

Lawrence Wason, Usdaw’s Scottish Divisional Officer said following the result: “Our members in Scotland are rightly concerned about the future of their jobs in an independent Scotland. They are not prepared to take that gamble, particularly in the face of the warnings coming from leading retail employers.”

The UK’s largest unions however – Unite and Unison, representing between them nearly 2.5million workers – took a neutral position on the issue, preferring their members to actively engage with the issues independently.

Public services and how they are secured in the interests of members featured highly in advice given by both unions to help members decide.

This stance is similar to the one put forward by non- Labour affiliated union, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), who consulted their Scottish membership and decided “active neutrality” was the best approach.

Only the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) and the Scottish Prison Officers Association have thrown their full weight behind a Yes vote.

Meanwhile, both the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) and the UK’s Trades Unions Congress (TUC) have remained neutral on the issue with STUC General Secretary Grahame Smith telling delegates at the TUC Annual Congress earlier this month:

“Neither side of the debate has a monopoly on social justice or of trade union values such as unity and solidarity….voting Yes does not mean that you have no concern for the cause of workers elsewhere in the UK or further afield just as voting No makes you no less of a patriot.”

 

Pragmatism and division

So why has the UK labour movement expressed such a divergent range of views?

Left Economic Advisory Panel (LEAP) co-ordinator Andrew Fisher believes the diversity of opinions reflects a mixture of pragmatism and division between political parties in the debate.

“Some unions don’t want to get involved in an issue that divides their memberships and so will want to stay silent or neutral so that whatever the result they are not tarnished in some members’ and potential members’ eyes,” he tells Equal Times.

“They would argue, rightly, that whatever the outcome workers need to be organised and neither side offers a magic bullet.

“There is also a genuine political divide within the labour movement.

“The Communist Party is backing No, the Socialist Party is backing Yes. The organised Labour left in Scotland is backing No, while the Scottish Socialist Party (and related organisations) and Scottish Greens are backing Yes. In other words there is no clear left line.”

Other industrial relations experts worry that the debate has centred around national issues rather than social class, not allowing for a proper analysis of the policies of the Scottish National Party (SNP) – Scotland’s largest political party and the leading force for Scottish independence from the UK.

Professor Roger Seifert, who lecturers in industrial relations at the University of Wolverhampton Business School told Equal Times: “If Scotland votes for independence, what are the consequences for the Scottish working-class and labour movement?

Firstly, Scotland will remain a capitalist country, and a SNP government will encourage more of the same. It will be dominated internally by a handful of large multi-national companies that will feel they are able to have stronger arrangements with a small economy than with the wider UK economy. Secondly, inward investment will be limited and only come with serious handouts by the Scottish government to would-be investors. Thirdly, the SNP is funded by big business and will become the equivalent of the Tory-Lib Dem coalition in the UK.”

Professor Seifert adds that independence will impact, he believes, negatively on workers in England and Wales.

He adds: “If it is a Yes vote on Thursday, the UK working-class movement, without its Scottish parts, will be weakened. Overall the national question is largely bogus, while the class struggle, which is real, will be weakened.”