Press Release

Transport union RMT announced today that it is backing a “Bury Thatcherism – Join a Union” initiative which will officially launch next Wednesday, the day of the former Prime Ministers funeral.

The initiative is designed to use the frenzy and polarisation that has developed since Margaret Thatcher’s death to encourage the angry and disaffected to do something positive on Wednesday, that is join a trade union and if you are already a union member encourage others to join and get involved.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

“Since Margaret Thatcher died there has been an endless parade of Tory MP’s and right-wing commentators across our TV screens mouthing off about how, with the support of the full apparatus of the state, her Government set out to destroy the trade union movement with the intention of weakening working class strength and giving the boss class a clear run.

“Successive waves of anti-union laws were bulldozed through aimed at shackling the union’s and turning working people into serfs while business and the bankers were de-regulated and given the green light to destroy the British economy culminating in the collapse of the banks in 2008. Those responsible for driving the economy over the cliff are still soaking up double-digit pay and bonus increases while working people, boxed in with Thatcher’s anti-union laws, are left struggling to survive in a climate of attacks on public services, jobs, the welfare state and pay and working conditions. That is Margaret Thatcher’s legacy today.

“So on Wednesday, while millions of pounds of public money that could go on schools on hospitals is blown on a nationalised, state funeral for Mrs Thatcher, those feeling angry and ignored can do something positive – join a union and encourage those around you to join to.

“Margaret Thatcher, and the class interests she represented, hated trade unions for one very good reason – the organised working class, against a backdrop of a Labour Party bought and sold by Thatcherism, is the only effective point of resistance to greed, exploitation and corruption. That’s why she sought to destroy us and that’s why her legacy has to be a resurgent trade union movement prepared to pick up the cudgels and turn back the tide.”