[Dixielandjazz] Union or Not.

[pat ladd]

Since that time, "right to work" laws were passed making mandatory union
membership (the union shop) illegal. New picketing laws were passed making
secondary picket lines illegal, etc., etc., etc.>>

Hi Steve,

Thats about what happened here under Maggie.

I suppose it is the usual `power corrupts`, whoever is in the driving seat.
A lot of this was deliberately fomented by the Communist Party. Probably the 
worst excesses were in the print unions. They had hundreds of non existent 
people ( Mickey Mouse, Joe Stalin etc..) on the wage bill of the leading 
publishers.. All working night shift at overtime rates and the money being 
split up on the shop floor. The unions were so strong that the bosses 
couldn`t do anything about it without facing closure.
The coal miners were as bad. Non existent shifts being worked. Long 
holidays, free coal etc. They had it well organised. When Prime Minister 
Heath tried to stop it there was a nationwide strike which brought down the 
Government. Not until Thatcher took them on, and won did the country 
recover.

Many of the shop stewards and union officials found themselves out of a job 
and emigrated to Australia and became the original `whingeing Poms` when 
they tried to get things organised their way down under. I expect Bill 
Haesler could conribute a comment about that..

I think that is enough about that.  Back to the music

Just an aside. Mention of Joe Stalin reminded me that there is a story that 
communist agents reported back to Russia that the British Army was ripe for 
revolution on the basis  that there were messages in support of Stalin 
scrawled on barrack walls.  Quite correct. There were. I remember them well. 
They read  "JOE  FOR C.O." (Commanding Officer for the non military out 
there)  What wasn`t reported was that it was almost always followed by " 
BETTY GRABLE FOR BILLET ORDERLY"

Cheers

Pat