Dixon: GMB pub strike will end in tears

The GMB trade union has been active in recent times in recruitment within the licensed trade and in promoting a confrontation with the pubcos. For Phil Dixon such an approach is nothing less than a crying shame

What does GMB stand for? The official answer is the General Municipal Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union, which is a bit of a mouthful, hence GMB.

In my semi political life (1974-92), I was actually a GMB branch chairman (Coventry General) when the APEX trade union merged with the GMB in 1989. I can even recall addressing their annual conference on a couple of occasions.

Soon after the amalgamation there was a routine investigation and the outcome was the sacking of a secretary. I was shocked at the treatment of the lady in question and took her case to an industrial tribunal. She negotiated a substantial settlement, but I left the union feeling pretty disillusioned with the activities of certain individuals.

I have to say my misgivings have only been reinforced over the years. However, the latest general secretary, Paul Kenny, has been at the forefront of improving the GMB's standing and image.

He certainly faced a daunting task, for, prior to his election, the GMB had earned itself a bit of a reputation in the trade union movement for its employee relations.

There can't be many unions that have had more than 60 cases taken to tribunals by its own staff — one of which dominated the headlines in July 2005, when the GMB was criticised in a damming report for "systematic victimisation, bullying, harassment and sex discrimination".

I do find the marriage of self-employed licensees and a major trade union a strange one. The late Bill Price MP (NLVA parliamentary adviser) and I would stand at the back of the National Licensed Victuallers Association conference aghast at the blatant racism, sexism and unanimous desire to restore public executions for the theft of bar towels!

"Dixon," he would exclaim, "this has to be the greatest gathering of Fascists since Hitler's ar*e sat in Nuremberg!"

In analysing the difficulties facing BII members over the past three years, two issues among others are constant; rising costs (especially wages) and, for wet-led pubs, the negative effect of the 2007 smoking ban. Let's examine the GMB's approach in these areas.

Previous GMB policy​

In 2007 the national minimum wage was set at £5.52 for those over 22 (£4.60, 18-21). The GMB argued for £7 an hour across the board. They had been campaigning for £6 per hour since 2004.

GMB has always suggested the rate is too low. In 2005 Health Secretary John Reid had ensured the Labour Party manifesto contained a promise of a partial ban on smoking in pubs and clubs (ie pubs with no food could choose to continue smoking).

His successor Patricia Hewitt favoured a complete ban. Reid won the argument in Cabinet, but lost the vote in the House of Commons where many Labour MPs voted for the total ban. Who were lobbying these MPs? Yes, you've guessed it the GMB!

"GMB calls for a total smoking ban in England and Wales's 113,370 licensed premises", 26/10/2005; see www.gmb.org.uk and search for smoking.

Paul Maloney (GMB national official) is clearly passionate about the injustice he perceives in our sector. His solution — to initiate a rent and purchase strike — is a flawed one. While it is true all strikes involve a breach of contract, ie the withdrawal of labour, the tenant-landlord contract is one based on property law and, as any trade unionist worth his salt will know, property law was written for the "ruling classes" by the "ruling classes".

Punch, Enterprise and any other company will have little difficulty in presenting cut and dried cases and obtaining easy verdicts with costs being levied against their tenants. (I note the GMB is not offering to cover all the financial penalties.)

Administration​

Mr Maloney appears to be reliant on the classic trade union view that if all workers (in this case tenants/lessees) act together, they can destroy a company.

Has anyone considered the fate of licensees in a pubco put into administration? With their deposits taken and lost, they and their families would be sold off like tied chattels to property companies, who would immediately and brutally enforce their agreements.

This is an arrangement based on desperation — desperate licensees seeking a miracle, an organisation desperate for members. It will inevitably, in my opinion, end in tears.