Union ‘bosses & barons’ A language of class
The aspect of Tory union law that Tory MPs and media find hardest to grasp is the requirements for ballots and elections, requirements implemented in the Thatcher era. Trade union leaders are referred to as ‘bosses’ or ‘barons’. Yet while, unfortunately, such people are not elected, General Secretaries are. There is also frequently a call for union leaders to call off strikes or tell members to return to work. But the days when such orders came from the top have passed at the Tories behest. Strikes are voted for by union members with far more stringent requirements for success than any other balloting process in the UK.
The past Co-General Secretary of the National Education Union Kevin Courtney posted on social media:
I am not a union boss; not the “boss” of any member of the NEU.
I am an elected representative of NEU members.
Why do you call union leaders “bosses”?
Why do you call company chief execs “leaders”?
Why union “barons”?
Why “captains” of industry?
The name calling continues however. On May 12th Dave Ward, General Secretary of the CWU appeared on Kuessenberg. The BBC website described him as the postal workers boss. On the same day the Guardian reported that TUC President and FBU General Secretary Matt Wrack had criticised Natalie Elphicke for not having Labour values. He too was described as a ‘boss’
Turning to the Rupert Murdoch owned Times we find (15th May) ‘Union bosses take on Starmer over retreat from workers rights’
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