Election '97: INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: Strategists fudge issue of right to union recognition

One of the few areas of policy where there is "clear blue water" between the Conservative Party and Labour is the issue of industrial relations.

In its manifesto, however, there are signs that Labour may be watering down its policy on union recognition, following pressure from employers.

In previous policy statements, Labour has indicated that unions should have the legal right to recognition where a majority of employees vote for it. In the manifesto yesterday, however, Labour strategists seem to have "fudged" the issue so that unions might have to show they have more than half the workforce in membership before bargaining rights are granted.

The document also makes it clear that there will be no instant legislation, prescribing a period of "full consultation" before a law is introduced. That would also give a Blair administration further scope to amend the proposals. The delay is also an acknowledgement that there could be substantial difficulties in framing the legislation and arriving at system of penalties for employers who flout the law.

Labour makes clear there would be no return to the "flying pickets", secondary action and strikes without ballots of the 1970s. Key elements of the union legislation of the 1980s would stay, the document says.

Despite its "new Labour" flavour however - and despite Labour's keenness to show no favouritism towards unions - the proposals on industrial relations are considerably different to those of the Conservatives.

In their manifesto, the Tories registered their determination to strip away legal immunities from unions so that employers and members of the public could sue them over industrial action which had a "disproportionate or excessive" impact. Arguably this would amount to the most restrictive union law passed in peacetime for 90 years and would make effective industrial action impossible in a wide range of services and industries.

A further difference lies in Labour's support for the Social Chapter of the European Union, although the manifesto makes clear that a Blair government would not be wedded to traditional interventionism. The document says a Labour government would use its influence in Europe to ensure that the chapter promoted "employability" rather than "inflexibility".

While the Conservative manifesto explicitly rules out a statutory minimum wage, Labour yesterday reiterated its intention to introduce such a law. It would remove the "worst excesses of low pay" and cut the bill for in- work benefits through which taxpayers subsidise employers who pay low wages.