I’m a Union Man: 1973: The Strawbs

 Unions are important.

A marriage is a Union.

A friend of mine calls his band Hadrian’s Union because he was born at one end of Hadrian’s Wall and now lives at the other end and the band members come from various towns along the wall.

Unions are important as I discovered when I was in dispute with an employer, with the support from the Union I was able to defend myself, reject some of what had been falsely claimed and leave with my dignity intact and all the false allegations dismissed.

In the light of this inadequate and failing Government it is clear that, as shareholders, business leaders and bankers are unfairly rewarded, the people who create the wealth that the employers share amongst themselves are being punished by pay rises far below the rate of inflation amidst calls for ‘pay restraint’ from the same shareholders, business leaders and bankers.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer appears to be completely out of ideas as to how inflation can be managed and the associated cost of living crisis abated. He may be on The Sunday Times rich list but sadly we cannot all marry ourselves a wealthy wife, some of us have to work for a living. And living, as in ‘living wage’ is all that railway workers and health workers are asking for.

So as a society we are in a complete fix, with a Government whose only promise was to get Brexit done. As a friend once commented, ‘I’m always suspicious of people who cry ‘let me be in charge, let me be in charge, because when they are in charge always ask in desperation, what do we do now’? 

So where do we look for a sensible managed response to our current cost of living crisis?

The rail strike is a problem, it is inconvenient for travellers, it makes life difficult for commutors, whether for work or for school, and as we have heard, for those taking exams.

But the right of workers to withdraw their labour as a way of ensuring that their reasonable demands are heard is (curently) enshrined in law. Although that right is being challenged.

One of the most ridiculous observations emanating from this conservative government and its supporting press is that we are seeing a return to the seventies! 

A return to labour crises of the past!?!?

Of course the tories who are using this ridiculous argument are forgetting that they have been in power for 12 years. This is their crisis, their responsibility, their mess.

Which is why the dignified way in which Mick Lynch is dealing with the press, responding to the Government and offering the rail companies a way forward is so important.

It must never be forgotten that the Thatcher Government’s war in the Union’s leading as it did to the Miner’s Strike and Orgreave was a political strategy, classic divide and rule.

What followed, de-industrialisation and the rise of the markets, including the creation of artificial markets and the de-regulation the public sector has led to the current situation.

So now we  have inflation that is out of  control, a cost of living crisis that forces people to choose between feeding themselves or their children or as the tragic cliche has it ‘heating or eating’.

I am not even mentioning the poverty of the elderly in our society, the breaking of the triple lock promise and the recent offer to increase pensions in 2023 by the rate of  inflation, which if it is true (bearing in mind that so much of what is promised by the Prime Minster is not true) then surely, if pensions are set to rise by the rate of inflation why shouldn’t wages?

Care workers, Health care workers, Nurses, Doctors, shop assistants, workers in both the public and private sectors need to protect themselves and their families, put food on the table and clothes on the backs of themselves and their families.

It is clear that so many of those employed in the gig economy on zero hour contracts, so many drivers who drive under the Uber banner, so many who work for Amazon, so many who work in-non unionsised industries will be watching the outcome of the rail strike with interest.

As I look in my rear view mirror I see and hear The Strawbs singing. 

So altogether now:

Now I'm a union man
Amazed at what I am
I say what I think, that the company stinks
Yes I'm a union man

When we meet in the local hall
I'll be voting with them all
With a hell of a shout, it's "Out brothers, out!"
And the rise of the factory's fall

Oh, you don't get me, I'm part of the union
You don't get me, I'm part of the union
You don't get me, I'm part of the union
Until the day I die, until the day I die

As a union man I'm wise
To the lies of the company spies
And I don't get fooled by the factory rules
'Cause I always read between the lines

And I always get my way
If I strike for higher pay
When I show my card to the Scotland Yard
And this is what I say

Oh, oh, you don't get me, I'm part of the union
You don't get me, I'm part of the union
You don't get me, I'm part of the union
Until the day I die, until the day I die

Before the union did appear
My life was half as clear
Now I've got the power to the working hour
And every other day of the year

So though I'm a working man
I can ruin the government's plan
And though I'm not hard, the sight of my card
Makes me some kind of superman

Oh, oh, oh, you don't get me, I'm part of the union
You don't get me, I'm part of the union
You don't get me, I'm part of the union
Until the day I die, until the day I die

You don't get me, I'm part of the union
You don't get me, I'm part of the union
You don't get me, I'm part of the union
Until the day I die, until the day I die