http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/damianreece/8001185/The-unions-risk-losing-the-publics-sympathy.html

The unions risk losing the public's sympathy

The TUC risks overestimating public support for strike action in a move that could hasten the movement's demise.

By Damian ReecePublished: 6:00AM BST 14 Sep 2010

Rail unions recently held a two day strike on the London tube network. Photo: PA

Trades unionism periodically picks a fight with the government of the day. For a while our media are filled with the faces of angry old men shouting about pay and jobs.

After winning the odd battle, the war goes against the unions and their movement takes another step backwards, fading in relevance with every unsuccessful confrontation.

 Another such "battle" is upon us judging by the TUC Conference in Manchester. But how much more self-inflicted punishment can the unions take?

The legacy of the movement's leaders, past and present, is membership down to just 25pc of the UK workforce. Within that, only 16pc of private sector workers are in a union while the public sector has a 56pc membership rate.

Even more striking (excuse the pun) is the fact that, although public sector workers account for just 20pc of the total workforce, they are currently behind 79pc of days lost to industrial action.

From the 1960s through to the early 1980s heavy industry provided a heartland for unions, which was lost as the economy was forced to restructure to reflect a changing post-war world. The movement retreated to the public sector.

But as that is being forced to change, the unions appear to be adopting the same unsuccessful tactics of the past. The lessons of history seem lost on TUC general secretary Brendan Barber and his fellow union leaders. During the past 40 years private sector employers and employees have moved with the times.

That process has not been without friction but we arrived at a point during this recession when strikes and mass redundancies were noticeable by their absence. Private sector union membership tells us that union leaders have failed to remain relevant. If they insist on promising to force the Coalition into a U-turn on public finances, and fail, their standing among public sector workers will plummet too.

The TUC risks overestimating the level of public support for strike action that affects essential services. Health, education and transport represent investments we have all paid for.

The population is likely to increasingly resent unions capable of damaging these investments through strike action voted for by an often small minority of members. And if unions lose the public's sympathy then that will make it all the more easy for the Coalition to force through changes to legislation that will curtail their already generous protections in law.

Negotiating a degree of compromise on cuts would be the modern, sensible way of proceeding that might preserve jobs and avoid further erosion in union membership.

Taking the opposite stance will surely hasten the union movement's already alarming demise.