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LET’S PARLEY ABOUT PARITY
For the last 20 years or so, Unite and its predecessor, the Transport & General
Workers Union in Gibraltar has campaigned vigorously to achieve parity with
their UK counterparts in pay and other workers benefits. Their success at
achieving the introduction of the minimum wage in 2001, just 2 years after its
introduction in the UK, was testament to the local Union’s lobbying power. At
the same time the Union highlighted the importance of keeping a firm hold
of other local benefits such as summer hours, which their UK bretheren had
never enjoyed.
Over the years, the local minimum wage converged ever closer to that of the UK
and the Union proposed additional benefits. Nevertheless, the minimum wage
has become an accepted cost of doing business in Gibraltar and many workers
have benefited.
What is less widely acknowledged is that a significant proportion of those
on the minimum wage in Gibraltar actually live in Spain where housing and
general living costs are much lower than those on the Rock. These workers have
benefited from the Union’s lobbying as successive increases in the minimum
wage have outstripped inflation considerably.
In his 2019 budget speech, the Chief Minister proudly announced that the
minimum wage had increased by 25% in his first seven years of office putting
Gibraltar comfortably in the top third of the 22 EU countries, which have a
minimum wage. Inflation over the same period was just over 14%.
The Union has continued to bang on about the importance of parity with the UK
but only in terms of wages and other benefits. Commensurate improvements
on productivity have been conveniently ignored. In Gibraltar, the Union
escaped the structural changes which were imposed on its UK counterparts
by Margaret Thatcher’s administration. In the 1980s strike ballots in the UK
became a legal requirement; walkouts were no longer possible on a show of
hands in a car park; flying pickets and secondary action became outlawed;
and perhaps most importantly of all, a union’s assets were at risk if they took
unlawful action.
In the UK, trade union recognition is not mandatory, and for good reason.
Forcing a company to recognise a trade union would be an unnecessary
encumbrance to their day to day operations. Existing legislation is sufficient
to protect the rights and welfare of UK employees. Gibraltar should aim for
parity in this regard and not seek to give the Union greater powers than its
UK counterparts. Should a union in the UK wish to obtain recognition from a
company there is a tried and tested mechanism to do so, but the union needs to
demonstrate that the need exists. This approach makes perfect sense and in the
spirit of parity with the UK is one which should be adopted here in Gibraltar.
The fear among Gibraltar’s employers is that mandatory trade union
recognition will lead to the introduction of a 1970s style of closed shop by the
back door; this is where an employer agrees (or is forced) only to hire union
members. Not only would this remove the flexibility which local employers
need in a fast-changing world, it would also be an enormous disincentive to
new companies wishing to invest in the Rock. At a time when the economic
sands are shifting rapidly, we should not put up additional barriers which
might weaken an economic model that has worked so well