In September the TUC Congress voted overwhelmingly for a referendum on the European Constitution. The generals of the TUC might not like the policy – but a growing list of union branches clearly want to see it implemented...
London's guides point the way over the Constitution
WORKERS, JAN 2008 ISSUE
While the TUC prepares to abandon any remaining vestige of democracy by reneging on its own massive vote for a referendum on the EU Constitution (on the grounds that some people don't want one!), the list of grass roots union members demanding their say grows by the day.
The latest London branch to speak out is the Association of Professional Tourist Guides, part of Unite. Guides are worried that the unprecedented scale of the transfer of powers to the European Union, including the surrender of the tourism veto, will mean that the campaigning work of Unite to progress the interests of its members will become a meaningless exercise if policy can no longer be decided in Britain. They don't want the European Court of Justice preventing them from regulating and protecting their profession on the grounds that what would be good for Britain is anti-competitive.
Guides have recognised that the Constitution hands irrevocable powers to the EU to implement anti-trade union competition rules under the Single Market, the Services Directive, and other directives which substitute individual contracts for collective agreements. Although working almost entirely within the private sector, guides regard themselves as offering a public service, and are horrified that the unelected Commission sees them only as a commercial enterprise.
No escape from EU law
In practice, with the penetration of EU-driven privatisation into every sector, virtually no one is exempt from the EU's "competition principles", and on 20 November in Brussels the Commission took great satisfaction in ramming this down the throats of gathered trade unions petitioning for protection of public services. This prompted one NGO to declare: "We need something to counterbalance the competition legislation and its philosophy without always waiting for the verdict of the European courts".
The Constitution institutionalises undercutting, at the expense of quality, professional standards, health and safety, and public liability. Right across Europe collective agreements are being torn up by the European Court of Justice. On 11 December came the news that the Finnish ferry operator Viking Line has been given the right to ignore national union agreements, re-flag its vessels to Estonian ports, and recruit Estonian crews on lower pay. Unions have been told that any action against "flags of convenience" will be regarded as restricting the right of "freedom of establishment" (see "EU rules against right to strike").
Tourist guides are also becoming increasingly aware that the EU Constitution would consolidate a pernicious system of competitive regional funding, to the exclusion of needs such as training or marketing at a national level. The recent 18 per cent cut in funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to the national tourist board VisitBritain represents a downgrading of national tourism policy. It makes the regeneration of the British seaside impossible, and the hoped-for opportunities presented by the 2012 Games (an estimated revenue of 2.1 billion pounds) will not be realised.
While the TUC tries to retreat, London's unionised tourist guides have spoken out to demand a referendum. While total DCMS funding increased by 61 per cent over the last 9 years, that of VisitBritain grew by only 9 per cent. By the time of the Olympics, it is estimated that there will have been a reduction of 45 per cent in real terms. The Tourism Alliance has called this "perverse in the extreme". It points out that some Caribbean islands have a larger budget than Britain, and that the UK is 26th in the American league table of national tourist board budgets (despite the USA being the most important market). Meanwhile the marketing of flights to European destinations receives every encouragement.
Devolution of tourism funding under EU edict has benefited Scotland, Wales and the English Regional Development Agencies, but there is no requirement for the RDAs to work with VisitBritain on national programmes and initiatives. Nor do cuts in national funding offer any incentive for the regions to work with the national body.
There is nothing wrong with promoting regional culture, but in practice RDAs have no obligation to use funding directly to promote their regions – or on tourism at all. "In fact we don't know exactly what they use it for", says Stephen Dowd, head of the trade body UK Inbound. Tourism funding is wasted by the RDAs, he says – they should be more transparent. The RDAs are so lacking in accountability that their marketing budgets are not known.
The emphasis on EU regionalisation has led to the erosion of government leadership at a national level. A tourism industry, which contributes £85 billion to the British economy and employs 1.4 million workers, is in sharp decline. The difference between what tourists spend here and what we spend abroad has spiralled from £5 billion to £18 billion over the past ten years – equal to 40 per cent of the British balance of payments deficit.
This is the context in which the Unite tourist guides are calling for their union to honour the TUC vote and demand the promised referendum. Without it, they say, the Constitution will have no democratic legitimacy.