Brendan Barber wins plaudits for the calm, conciliatory way he champions trade union rights. But although the TUC boss wants to protect employees from coalition cuts, he's also keen to work with employers to promote economic growth
Brendan Barber laughs when I suggest he is the moderate voice of the trade union movement. "I don't know how other people see me, but within the TUC you will always have different voices and styles, so I have to reflect all the unions," says the quietly spoken general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Intent on building bridges between business and workers, Barber is widely respected—even Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways, thanked him publicly for his contribution to talks in the airline's longstanding dispute with the Unite union.
Brendan has a strong consensual style and patience as has been shown in recent disputes," says Paul Noon, general secretary of the Prospect union. "He is a strong believer that the trade union movement needs to win intellectual battles as well as industrial ones."
When we first meet, Britain is preparing for a first coalition government in 70 years and it is becoming clear that it won't include Labour, the union movement's natural allies. But how important is it who holds power? "The relationship with the Labour Party has always been closer than with other parties for many of our affiliates," says Barber. "We have almost 60 affiliated unions and some of them are affiliated to Labour, but the TUC has never been party political. It is our responsibility to represent the interests of working people regardless of who is in government."
While details of the coalition were still being thrashed out, Barber
expressed a hope that, whatever the shape of government, the deficit would not be reduced through immediate large-scale cuts. But a week later he concedes that it is clear the TUC will not get its way. "Although the government has said it wants to make these changes and reduce the deficit in a way that doesn't hit ordinary people it is clear, from the initial £6bn cuts, that it will hit ordinary people very hard," he says. "We are hugely concerned about the major programme of spending cuts and the implications they will have for jobs, living standards and growth."
Unsurprisingly, he favours tax reform. "There ought to be more emphasis on raising revenues through tax reforms rather than spending cuts," he says. "We need to see a focus on real economic growth, and we worry that the strategy the government has embarked upon could lead us back into a position where growth slumps and the economy gets us back into recession and things get worse."
He is an advocate of a so-called Robin Hood tax on transactions in the financial system. "We have had to put such huge amounts of public money into stabilising the banks and the financial system. It seems right that we should expect a bigger contribution from that area to get the public finances into good shape," he says.
Barber expects to discover the impact of cuts when the comprehensive spending review is announced next month and, among warnings from some union leaders, he won't rule out the risk of strikes. "I tend not to go in for blood-curdling predictions, but there is a risk that we could have difficult disputes if there is a sense that the government is not open to dialogue and if cuts are being forced through, doing profound damage to the quality of services that people deliver."
But he is keen to work with the government. "My hope is for genuine engagement with unions. We represent a public sector workforce of around six million people and this is a big part of the working population. It is important how decisions are made as well as what decisions are made." He insists that striking is a last resort. "A strike is when industrial relations have failed. The generality of industrial relations is people working together constructively so a strike is not something to take lightly. I prefer to see problems resolved without the need for difficult clashes because they do damage to everybody."
They may also soon be curbed. The government has made noises about restricting workers' right to strike, a development that follows several companies' successful court attempts to call off walkouts. Barber is concerned at the prospect. "We see a lot of employers trying to use court actions to overturn that right and I think it is an unwelcome development. Recently there have been cases where employers have tried to overturn industrial-action ballots. BA and Network Rail were highly publicised, but we have seen many more," he says, pointing out that ballots were invalidated for relatively minor irregularities.
"Neither called into question that the clear majority had voted to take action and sometimes these were irregularities that were extraordinarily difficult for the unions to avoid. In some cases, it would have required the employer to provide information that they are not prepared to do, so the union is placed in a catch-22 situation and finds itself at the wrong end of a court ruling."
Barber insists unions must work with businesses. Does he trust directors? "I want to trust them," he says, noting there is too much emphasis on the negative side of the relationship. "I want to see a good focus on areas where the relationship is handled well; headlines tend to appear when disputes arise, but there are many examples where relationships are good and directors have a huge role to play in determining what the relationship is going to be like."
Likewise, he says, business chiefs ought to trust unions. "I think the wisest business leaders have realised the real contribution that a good relationship with the union can bring to an organisation. It takes two to tango and the best industrial relations are where there is real leadership on both sides to give priority to building trust, and where both are genuinely open to managing change by agreement and to having a reward system that is seen to be fair."
Besides, there are areas of common interest. "The area of training and skills is hugely important for trade unions. It is an area where working with employers we have been able to deliver some of the most imaginative successes. We know well that what matters most to people is, of course, pay and getting a reasonable pay rise every year, but with some of this work around learning and skills we are able to change people's life chances," says Barber, who is one of a group of Employer Champions promoting diplomas to 14- to 19-year-olds.
Miles Templeman, the IoD's director general, backs this shared interest between business and unions. "It is important, particularly now, that we find common ground," he says. "We need to work with unions, and particularly with Brendan, who I see as a very moderate leader who is trying to control a range of different union leaders. I have always found my discussions with him very constructive."
Barber admits that with falling membership, many commentators believe the union movement is weaker than it used to be. Is it still relevant? "We have around seven million people in unions in Britain; there was a period when we had over 12 million members, so I would like to see more, but are we as relevant? I would say, absolutely. At a time when there is economic uncertainty and worries about people's security, the safety of their jobs, and the security of their pension, they look to the trade union as a powerful voice on issues that matter and to help give them more confidence in their workplace. All our research shows that the basic values of trade unionism are as well supported now as they have ever been."
Members range from low-paid workers in health services through to high earners, including senior civil servants, top managers in local government, doctors, nurses and radiographers—60 to 70 per cent in the public sector. "All those who feel strong professional loyalty to the services they deliver are well represented in unions. They see unions not only as a voice speaking up for their interests in terms of how much they are paid and their conditions of employment, but speaking up for the quality of the services they provide as well," says Barber.
Having joined the TUC as a policy officer in 1975, he says he has been "fantastically fortunate" in his career. "As a young man I was
interested in the ideas that gave rise to trade unionism. I was lucky enough to get a job within the TUC, but I hadn't understood it was possible to make a career in trade unions. It was a shock," he laughs. "I don't think it was a clear ambition for me to become general secretary, but I have spent most of my working life here. I have done different jobs and suddenly realised that I might one day become general secretary, so I got used to the idea, but it took me a while. It is a fantastic job, it is endlessly surprising, every day is different and brings different demands, but I feel very fortunate to have the job."
His predecessor, John Monks, general secretary of the European TUC, is impressed with his progress. "Brendan is bright, capable and imaginative, and he is very aware of others. He handles problems very well, finds his way through complex issues and is the source of excellent advice with which he is very generous," he says.
A life spent in the TUC says something about Barber's commitment. "The trade union movement is a force for good, for equality and for dignity for people who work, and who stand up for decent workplace treatment and try to build successful businesses on the basis of good relationships," he says. Much of this work is intangible, so is it challenging to measure success? "Since becoming general secretary there is a whole number of areas of public policy where I can point to changes we have made as a result of effective trade union campaigning. But there are many less tangible achievements. The less tangible things are about the effectiveness of the TUC and how much we retain the reputation for being a centre of ideas and imagination."
The agency workers regulations, coming into force next year, is a notable win for Barber. It is a result of working with business, government and with other European governments, underlining the need for co-operation across borders. Much of Barber's work has an international flavour; the TUC is an active player in the European Union. "International work and using our seat at the table to assert an influence on social and employment policy on a European level is important. In responding to the crisis, we have seen the G8 supplanted by the G20 as the forum that matters, bringing the Bric economies to the table."
He says many battles remain, one of them exploitative employers. "At the bottom end of the labour market we still have problems with
vulnerable workers being badly treated and being paid below the minimum wage," he says. "Employers complain about having to face
employment tribunals, but it astonishes me how few tribunals there are. The figure is a little over 100,000 a year, but evidence suggests that many times that number of people would have a valid claim but they don't know how to file a claim, or they may not be supported if they don't benefit from union representation."
Templeman disagrees: "Tribunals are a very expensive, undesirable outcome when other things break down. I'd like to see fewer tribunals and more of the cases where resolution is reached well before that."
As the union movement heads for tougher times, Barber seems
intent on staying to meet the challenges. "There is a lot to do so, yes, absolutely," he affirms.
Brendan Barber is speaking at the IoD Annual Convention 2011
