Labour union members have always been subjected to more or less constant assault from the wealthy on the grounds that they interfere with free markets and therefore with the creation of wealth. In Britain, the Daily Mail hails a renewed round of legal restrictions on union ‘militants’ as ‘war on the trade unions’.1 In the US, the National Right to Work Foundation suggests that labour unions indulge in ‘unreported campaign operations to elect and control congressional majorities dedicated to higher taxes and increased government spending’.2
Unions have played a vital part in democracy, in the struggle against unemployment and injustice, and in international solidarity
