Help Sitemap Home Skip Navigation Contact Us Disability Statement

 
 
Sunday, 7th September 2008

Premium Article !

Your account has been frozen. For your available options click the below button.

Options

Premium Article !

To read this article in full you must have registered and have a Premium Content Subscription with the The Scotsman site.

Subscribe

Registered Article !

To read this article in full you must be registered with the site.

Sign In
Register

Between the lines - Is a return to the 'Social Contract' on the cards?



Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image

Published Date: 25 June 2008
By George Kerevan
NOW that we have seen the return of stagflation, are we also going to see a return of the massive strike wave that characterised the 1970s? At first glance, there is certainly evidence of increased industrial militancy.

On Monday, Unison, the main public-sector union, announced that its local authority members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland had voted to strike after rejecting a 2.45 per cent wage rise – which is already above the 2 per cent norm being tout...



The full article contains 1086 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 24 June 2008 9:28 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: George Kerevan
 
1

Mise,

Scottish Borders 25/06/2008 10:34:41
I feel sorry for the poor public sector workers - for years they've had poor pay and below inflation rises.

Restricting them to 2% when the RPI is well above that, and as we all know the RPI is artificially managed to stay lower than inflation, seems madness; an insult to these workers.

However, some exceptions: chief officers in the public sector - eg directors in local gov, NHS, senior civil servants, and MPs have received well above inflation rises for many years.
2

Sedov,

Peffermill 25/06/2008 14:35:43
There is a big difference between the situation now and that of the 1970's. New Labour has totally isolated its core support- those who were still around when the Tories came to power at the end of the last strike period and who helped New Labour to victory in 1997. The writer of this article, George Kerevan who was a Labour Party activist during the period should recall how and why the Tories got to power following the winter of discontent which ended the period of wage restraint under the social contract -or as it was called by the workers -the social con trick where the workers were ordered by Callaghan to tighten their belts whilst the bosses grew richer ( whats changed?) - Not only did Thatcher and her crew put all the blame on the 'greedy' trade unions and the left within the Labour Party ,but so did the leaders of the Labour Party at that time including Callaghan and the arch witch hunter of the time, Neil Kinnock. This paved the way for the New Labour Project which thought that the only way the LP could get back to power was to throw the socialist out of the party and capture the middle ground from the Tories. The Tories became unpopular in the mid 1990's and New Labour swept to power thinking that they now had the answer to Britains economic problems at the same time dismantling rank and file membership interests within the LP and castrating the democratic processes within the party. Now New Labour is in melt down and the same process that affected the tories in the mid 1990,s is happening to New Labour - their number is now up - so who is to blame? the left? the militants? Now make way for Cameron and the same process will happen again thanks to Kinnock, Blair, Brown and the rest of the leaders who work within the capitalist system thinking that it can be reformed on behalf of working people. It cant. but who will now rescue New Labour as they did in 1997 as all principles that might have still been there in 1979 have been destroyed by the Kinnoc
3

Jardine,

25/06/2008 15:33:20
Ah, Social Contract, nationalisation, Bay City Rollers, flares, platform soles... it's all coming back to me.


It seems like only yesterday ...
4

WJohn,

West Lothian 25/06/2008 23:57:52
It started off as "social compact" but because pollies like to be a bit shifty in their statements they let it change to "social contract" despite there being no document and no signatories.

 

Comment on this Story

 

In order to post comments you must Register or Sign In

 
 
RSS Feed of this article's comments
Delivery formats: RSS, Atom, Javascript & Email
 
  

 
 


Sister Newspapers:
Press Complaints Commission

This website and its associated newspaper adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then contact the Editor by clicking here.

If you remain dissatisfied with the response provided then you can contact the PCC by clicking here.