When I watch Mick Lynch being bombarded by ridiculous questions and claims from both journalists and politicians, and having to explain the basics, I have to cheer for him. As he says, sometimes you have to strike if you want to improve conditions, not only for yourself, but for everyone. It’s lucky that some trade unions are still active in Britain.
Some years back, when I was still working in the UK, I had a discussion with another HGV driver, who got very angry at strikers. He said:
It’s always only those who have it better than others who do it. Petrol tanker drivers earn twice as much as I do. Train drivers are among the best paid in Europe. And how is it that it is always British Airways staff that go on strike, and never Ryanair people?
My response was, “Maybe they have it good because they are prepared to strike? Maybe we should go on strike too, so we earn better.”
He laughed at the idea of agency drivers going on strike. “People in this country don’t stick together; that’s never going to happen,” he said.
Back then, I was toying with the idea of joining the union, but everyone told me, “it’s not worth it.” I could see why. With workers’ rights being eroded, it’s hard to build a movement when everyone is struggling to survive and working zero-hour contracts for agencies.
The Finnish way
When I moved to Finland, I was told I have to join the union. In my first job, I instantly understood why. After years of working in the UK, I was surprised at the high quality work clothes and PPE they gave us, the level of training we received, and the support we got from the company. More important was how relaxed and friendly the work environment was. And all that in the most ordinary, first-step-on-the-ladder job, paying the minimum wage for that industry. (In Finland, the minimum wage is industry specific, as per trade union agreement.)
Yet, even as a minimum-wage driver, in Finland, I earned more from my average hourly rate plus the additional perks and allowances, than I was getting when I worked in Scotland just a few months earlier. There, I was pulling tankers of flammable liquids around Scotland at night – and that was one of the best paying jobs around. The next shock came when I became unemployed: jobseeker’s allowance in Finland is nearly five times higher than in the UK.
So how is it that in Finland, it is possible to have a decent life and good working conditions, but in Britain, it is not? I believe this is because of solidarity. The very few strikes I witnessed during my 17 years in Scotland were basically a group of angry people shouting and shaking placards by the side of the road – and nobody took any notice. In Finland, when there is a strike (and we’ve had a lot of them recently, as the new government attempts to curb workers’ rights), it can’t be ignored. During the recent transport strikes, everything stopped. I spent over an hour driving around Helsinki on that day, and I saw no trams at all and only one bus – and it was ‘out of service’. There were no trains – regional or metro – and while the city bypass was unusually busy, there were very few trucks, and most of them were foreign.
Here in Finland, everyone stands up for the common cause and nobody is left behind. True, petrol tanker drivers here don’t make twice as much as guys who handle pallets of Coca Cola bottles, as in Britain. But they have no reason to complain, as here, every driver, from the 18-year old who drives a sprinter van, to the experienced driver pulling a 76-tonne road train, makes enough money to ensure a decent standard of life.
Britain’s worker difficulties
Britain is facing further erosion of workers’ rights – from the introduction of free ports to government threats of leaving the European Court of Human Rights. This is a crucial time for Britons to stand up in defence of their rights.
What is needed is solidarity. But what is normal in many countries is illegal in the UK. Here, train drivers can go on strike to defend ticket office workers, but only because they are in the same industry. Over 30 years, Conservative legislation has worked to undermine solidarity. It has eroded workers’ rights, and made secondary action illegal. So, things might get better for everyone if well-earning tanker drivers started fighting for all those parcel delivery drivers pushed into fictional self-employment. But they would be breaking the law. So, it won’t be easy.
Finland is often cited as the happiest nation in the world. It’s not because there are many rich people. It’s because everyone can have a decent quality of life here. The wealth and happiness of the nation was not built on trickle-down economics, but on solidarity and ensuring that nobody gets left behind.
