Frances O'Grady, the TUC general secretary, in her New Year message called for a 'triple alliance' of labour unions, progressive politicians and civic groups to renew and revitalise union membership in the private sector. This idea directly follows from what has been done in the US, where some unions have successfully mobilized, notably in the fast food industry. O’Grady says 2014 will be a year full of big opportunities.
Describing the Grangemouth dispute row (see article No. 7895) as a wake-up call for workers because government ministers failed to criticise Ineos’ brinkmanship, O’Grady said: ‘It confirms my view that we cannot organise company by company and that we cannot fight alone. We need a much bigger campaign that is supported by civic society and a government that recognises that the balance of power has gone too far against workers. It was pretty shocking that a company that overtly threatened the energy security of this country was backed by this government’.
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