Like the Romans in a Monty Python sketch, Labour politician are well used to the "what did they ever do for us" question.
With many members beginning to grumble about everything from the health service to public transport, it's a question that now crops up in union circles, especially in unions that, like BECTU, are affiliated to the Labour party.
The stock answer in our case has always been that, as far as BECTU's industries go, Labour has actually been better for our members than any alternative government would have been - despite the fact that we had to take the government to the European Court to win freelancers the holiday rights they were entitled to under the Working Time Directive.
Now, on two fronts, Labour faces decisions which could either make the "what have they done" question much easier to answer, or consolidate the growing discontent that has already led to BECTU reducing its contributions to the party.
Members across the union will be affected by a government review of the Employment Relations Act, which closes on May 22, and in ITV particularly, there could be profound changes once the Communications Bill is finally approved.
For ITV members the issue is straightforward - will Labour have the courage to stand by the network's tradition of regionally-based programme-making, or will Carlton and Granada be allowed to fight to the death in pursuit of a single company which could, along with Channel 5, eventually be taken over either by one of the US major players, or an offshoot of the Murdoch empire?
As the Bill has progressed through Parliament, the government has stuck doggedly to the notion that ownership is irrelevant, and the future of commercial TV in Britain now hangs on a campaign against key sections of the Bill in the House of Lords, led by one of BECTU's own members Lord Puttnam.
When it comes to employment law, it would be wrong to say that Labour has done nothing for us since 1997, and its first round of legislation in the last Parliament was a milestone for union recognition rights. In the last three years BECTU has taken full advantage of the new system of membership ballots to win support for union representation in industry workplaces, and our only defeat has been in BSkyB's call centres, where the company demonstrated just how nasty a resolutely anti-union employer can be.
On the day that the recognition ballot began in BSkyB management told staff that their work would be transferred abroad if they voted to allow BECTU in.
In the consultation over the legislation that made recognition ballots legal, one of BECTU's central demands is that the government should outlaw "unfair labour practices", as they are called in North America, including threats by employers to cut jobs if their workforce votes to be represented by a union.
We are also arguing that once unions are recognised by employers, they should be entitled to negotiate on pensions, training, and equality, not just issues of pay and working conditions.
Another of the union's demands is that freelance workers should have full employment rights, so we don't have a repeat of the debacle over the Working Time Directive. As far as BECTU is concerned, freelancers in the industry are not the economically independent entrepreneurs that the government seems to think, but are wage-slaves just as much as any permanent employee.
Over the next few weeks BECTU will be looking for signs that our concerns, expressed sincerely on behalf of thousands of workers, are being taken seriously by the government.
When the Romans were in charge, one thing they didn't have to do was listen - the Labour leadership doesn't have that luxury.
Tony Lennon
May 2003
