The value of nothing
When government is urged to change the law by very interested parties, the least they should do is come up with some evidence. Recently however, quite dubious ‘facts’ are being created by lobbyists who seek the cost of everything and appreciate the value of nothing.
On 25 November 2011, the Irish News and the Belfast Telegraph, both ran the ‘exclusive’ story that trade unions were receiving £4 million in ‘hand outs’ from the taxpayer. Not coincidentally, these reports were published days before the largest ever day of industrial action seen in Northern Ireland.
The ‘evidence’ of the Taxpayers’ Alliance was based on a series of requests under the Freedom of Information Act, looking for the total cost of government grants and time off for union representatives. The UK total concocted by the TPA was £113 million.
Union reps have a legal right to get “reasonable” time off work to do certain activities on behalf of their union, without having their pay docked. These include negotiating with employers over pay and conditions, representing workers in grievance and disciplinary procedures, providing training, doing health and safety work, and attending training sessions themselves.
There is no legal right for a union activist to get paid while he or she takes time off to vote in a strike ballot or attend a political rally.
£33 million of the £113 million is the unionlearn programme, state funding for training in essential skills administered by the unions and praised for its efficiency by all parties.
Research carried out in 2007 by BERR (the then UK Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform), found considerable savings for taxpayers. Union activities offer concrete advantages to employers as well as workers, such as better training, commitment, retention and safety. A well-trained union rep adds value to workplaces through swifter resolution of issues and disputes, better morale among the workers, and improved productivity.
That BERR report found that trade union reps facilities and facility time resulted in efficiency savings and productivity gains of between £2 and £5 for each pound invested in facility time e.g.
£136-371 million saved through reducing working days lost due to workplace injury and productivity gains worth £4-12 billion to the UK economy.
Using the same methodology as the 2007 BERR report, the ICTU found that the total benefit to the Northern Ireland economy is between £14.24 million and £37.44 million per annum. Of this, the benefit to the public sector is between £8.19 million and £21.53 million.
There has also been a tendentious survey, carried out on behalf of the CBI, on the ‘cost’ of employment rights to job creation, which found that “84% of respondents believe that employment law in Northern Ireland has become overly burdensome.”
Should we be really surprised that four out of five of those motivated enough to respond should give the ‘correct’ answer to the question: “Considering the development of employment obligations generally, would you say that Northern Ireland has become an easier or harder place to do business since 1997?”
Why 1997? Why ‘obligations’ rather than ‘rights’, or ‘duties’?
Another finding was that 60 per cent of respondents spend up to £25,000 a year on employment law compliance, 27 per cent spend up to £50,000 and 12 per cent spend more. There was no breakdown on the size of the companies with larger spends. Therefore, they argue, “the Assembly should consider recent proposals by the UK government in addressing qualifying service for bringing claims and in asking aggrieved employees to pay small deposits to take claims.”
The actual question asked was this: “Please provide an estimate of how much you think compliance with employment law costs your organisation annually (e.g. sending staff on training courses, obtaining legal advice, implementing compliance programmes, paying out of court settlements, etc).”
The question was not about tribunals. It was about legal fees, health and safety and other ‘compliances’, and staff training.
Finally, it should be noted that those 140 managers who responded to questionnaires sent out to over 1,500 businesses may be more motivated than the vast majority – over 90 per cent – who did not bother, and did with the questions what policy-makers should do with the answers: throw it in the bin.
