George on Unions

We haven't blogged on too many Garth George columns of late, but today's, on the subject of unions, is a beauty. He begins:

How exciting! The trade unions are stirring. Already wisps of smoke are wafting from their nostrils and sooner rather than later they will be fully awake and breathing fire and brimstone.

After a decade of hibernation during which they poked their heads above the parapet only sporadically, their leaders are girding their loins.

They're strapping on their armour, sharpening their swords, restringing their bows and fletching new arrows to do battle with a National Government and the nation's employers.

Quite so. But with tongue firmly inserted in cheek, George reminds readers that there is an issue of balance to be redressed - read on:

And so they should. They've had it far too easy for far too long under a Labour Government for whom the workers are always right and the bosses invariably wrong.

The Andrew Littles, Matt McCartens, Graham Cooks et al must be rubbing their hands with glee that after all these years they have a target to attack - the John Key Government's determination to change a few things in employment law and practice.

Then there's Sue Bradford. She must be beside herself with joy at having a protest to get stuck into.

Freed from the constraints of parliamentary decorum (such as it is) she showed us at the weekend that she's still up for a bit of stoush.

It was deja vu on Sunday when she led a cohort of 40 protesters in a breach of the security lines outside SkyCity and proudly proclaimed that she had been "belted in the face" by police. "I'm sure I will end up with a few bruises," she enthused.

Ah yes, Sue Bradford, Matt McCarten et al; the more things change, the more they stay the same, and our friends from the unions seem stuck in an ideological time-warp.

Now Garth George has been around for a while; even longer than we have! And he evokes a bit of nostalgia as he compares today's crop of union heavies to those of days gone by - he opines:

These men and women (with the exception perhaps of Ms Bradford) are, of course, but a pale imitation of their predecessors - the leaders of the old Federation of Labour, the wharfies, the miners, the meatworkers, the seamen, the railwaymen.

These were tough, uncompromising, resolute men who for decades held the nation to ransom at a whim and stymied any chance of real economic growth - until they were blown out of the water by the National Government's Employment Contracts Act in 1991, one of the most significant and far-reaching pieces of legislation ever to be passed by the New Zealand Parliament.

Indeed. Today's union leaders are no match for the likes of Tom Skinner, Bill Andersen, Jim Knox, Dave Morgan and Ken Douglas. Some of their clashes with successive governments, but most notably with Sir Robert Muldoon were the stuff of legend. They don't make 'em like that anymore!

This is an excellent piece from Garth George, who is a bit of a relic from bygones days himself. He may be a bit long in the tooth, but he brings a healthy dose of common-sense to this particular debate.