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| Photo by Dennis B. Doris Jr. |
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Chris Harding GPMU |
He delivered fraternal greetings from his membership, noting "It becomes clear that the GPMU and the GCIU are confronting common issues and in ever increasing instances confronting a common employer in our industry."
And speaking on the need for political action among labor unions around the world in this American presidential election year, he added that his union has had similar "political problems" from anti-worker lawmakers as the GCIU has had in the U.S. and Canada.
"When in the U.S.A. you had Reagan and Bush, who led anti trade union governments . . . we have had similar problems with Thatcher and Major. Equally, we are well aware that in Canada there is no union friendly government at national or provincial level and they have their own anti-trade union legislation."
But since the union-supported victory of Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1997, "despite our criticism of him not doing enough, (Blair) has certainly started to change (for the better) the face of industrial relations in the UK" with legislation that his Labour Party government has introduced.
Among the new laws, Harding said, "is for the first time ever in the UK there is a legal right to union recognition where the union can establish 50 percent plus one of the workforce membership within a company or a collective bargaining unit."
And with this more friendly labor climate, the UK has had an influx of "American anti-union lawyers holding seminars for employers in the UK" who are spreading the message that any union organizing effort should be regarded as an "economic heart attack" for a British firm.
Harding considered the rapid expansion of multinational operations in the industry over the past few years. He noted that U.S. and Canadian companies such as Quebecor, American Greetings, Big Flower Press Holdings, RR Donnelley, Hallmark, Printpak, US Can, House of Questa, Moore Corporation, and many others are operating plants in the UK with a GPMU workforce.
And in the past year, Gannett purchased two major provincial British newspaper groups, Newsquest for over 900 million British pounds and Newscom for an additional 450 million making the corporation "the largest regional newspaper publisher in England and the third largest within the UK as a whole, all within just over 12 months," the GPMU national officer said.
In contrast to the company's attitude in Detroit, the GPMU won an agreement from the company to let union officials visit every plant and talk with the workforce. If the union wins the new 50 percent plus one threshold, the company agreed to recognize and bargain with the union. The GPMU had just signed the first recognition agreement with Gannett and is optimistic of reaching other plants in the group in the next few months.
"We are increasingly of the view that the GCIU and the GPMU should be examining how we develop a common agenda of tackling these and many other multinationals," Harding told the convention delegates.
Industry business leaders "do not have the same inhibitions with regard to breaching national boundaries that we in the trade union movement have "(so) we have to look beyond the shores of the UK and Ireland," he said.
"We can't take decisions in isolation without consulting our friends and colleagues in the trade union movement in Europe and North America in particular because if we don't start developing a common strategy, then our members will not be getting the representation that they both deserve and need to combat come of the worst anti trade union actions of these multinationals," Harding added.
"The GPMU looks forward to working closely with you on an ongoing basis for the common good of our respective membership," he said.
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